Spirit of Place gave me the gardening fix that I needed during this pandemic! There is something so inspiring about visiting a beautiful & well thought out garden. The gardens and their origins, from property selection to the stages of garden design and planting were helpful in thinking about creating one's own garden. The pictures are beautiful and the book is lovely.

An excellent. guide in how to create a garden.Following the authors own garden how he planned it worked on it A guide for anyone who wants to have a beautiful garden follow plans to make it your own.Highly recommend.#netgalley#timberpress

This book is a chronicle of the author's creation of his stunning garden in Vermont. Bill Noble discovered gardening late in life and, after working a number of horticulture-related jobs that included operating a farm stand and serving as a director with the Garden Conservancy, he was eager to create his own garden. He and his partner purchased a 22-acre farmhouse with a mountain view in 1991. Using the knowledge that he had learned from notable gardeners and their gardens, he set about creating the garden that is in tune with its location and one that maintains the “spirit of place”. He writes about these gardens and gardeners who influenced him and how he set about using the same principles in his garden. Helpful lists and outlines of what tasks to do and when are discussed and he writes about mistakes made along the way. The garden includes a 65x45' flower garden, vegetable garden, rock garden, “silver and gold” garden and there is much more. Beautifully photographed vistas and plant combinations as well as informative text will give gardeners much inspiration.

A beautifully photographed garden design book to savour. Bill Noble shares his experiences of becoming a self taught gardener and developing the garden of his own property. Perfect reading for those wishing build on existing gardens and use introduced plants to blend into natural indigenous landscapes.

*eArc supplies by publisher and Netgalley

Spirit of Place is a beautifully presented book, a biography really, of the genesis of the gardens and grounds surrounding the author's home. Due out 23th June from Timber Press, it's 288 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a really inspirational and surprisingly intimate look at the creation of a green space which is a product of the author's vision and creativity and fits into its setting companionably. The author began renovating the gardens in 1991 after he and his partner bought a farmhouse and land in New England. Obviously a garden developed over 30 years (and often following contours laid out over the previous 2 centuries) isn't an undertaking which bears comparison to new gardens. It was valuable to me to follow the development and maturation of these gardens, but also to follow along with the author as he explained in quite detailed fashion about his inspiration and creative process.

The text is erudite and more formal than casual, but always understandable and accessible. The photography is glorious, often breathtaking and filled with inspiration and takeaway lessons for readers no matter what size and shape their gardens. The chapters cover individual areas of the plantings and highlight photos show particular specimens in situ (with botanical nomenclature included).

This is an inspiring and educational book, full of usable advice and help. Since the book is absolutely full of color photographs and the text is relatively small and densely packed, I strongly recommend a color monitor or the hardcover format. I tried accessing the book on three different e-readers and whilst compatibility wasn't an issue, the full effect of the photography was much diminished.

Five stars. Lots and lots (and lots) of inspiration. Aesthetically one of the better garden inspiration books I've seen lately.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

An excellent book about the building of a garden and a fascinating trip into a garden in the making.
I liked the style of writing and the details that can help you to build a garden from scratch.
I loved it and it's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I received an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. D
With the Covid pandemic raging all around us, many are turning to gardening for spiritual, emotional, and even physical healing. Reading of this book couldn’t have come at a better time for me.
Even as my own northern New England gardens are not ready to be worked in quite yet, I needed something to make me feel connected to a hobby I am passionate about. Following the author’s narrative throughout the book, listening to his creative reasoning for particular plants, and he trying to pay homage to the past history of his property really helped me bridge the connections I have to my own gardens. The photography is beautiful, and inspires the reader to try some of the planting combinations that are shown.
This book can be enjoyed solely on doing a picture walk through the book.
Thank you, Spirit of Place, for helping me refocus my inspirations and goals for my own garden this spring.

#netgalley

This book is a very detailed look at the authors journey to create his garden. It is a great guide for someone wanting to create a garden space from scratch. It has pretty in-depth information on just about every aspect of researching creating a garden area.

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
#NetGalley
#SpiritofPlace

This book is extraordinarily detailed. I would not recommend it for light reading, however it would serve as a wonderful guide for those constructing their garden from scratch. It has excellent insight on everything from researching the landscaping practices in your region and town to plants that are successful in rock gardens to an excellent index to search for what you find relevant. This garden also has the advantage of being incredibly diverse which gives it greater appeal. Rock gardens, fruit and vegetables, constructing edges, forested areas, etc. are all addressed.

This is a beautiful and helpful book that tells the story of the author's incredible garden and all of the parts of it. It's filled with endless color photos that will have you wanting to bankrupt yourself buying plants and cursing the fact that you don't have 80 acres to plant all the kinds of gardens Noble has. He is very specific about varieties of plants and provides a wealth of garden information, along with the history of the country property where he rescued old gardens and created new.

I have to admit that I put this book aside a few times in reading it, because it honestly made me a bit sad. Noble has woods, meadows, endless land, help, and resources to create seemingly endless gardens. I love my large corner lot in a tiny town and I have filled it over the years with roses, lilacs, shade gardens, vegetable gardens, hidden gardens, black raspberries, cherries, elderberries, and so on, but it's a little lot in a little town. I can't do a lot of what Noble has done, and this was one of the few garden books I've read that instead of just inspiring me left me a little melancholy, like when your good friend takes another trip to Europe and you really are happy for her but you also decide not to look at her Instagram anymore. :)

All that said, the 5 stars show that I got over that. It's a beautiful book and one that I've loved reading.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.