A personal story of
Autobiography of a Garden details how Patterson Webster, a neophyte gardener, moved from copying the ideas of other people, to learning from them, to striking out on her own.
Combining traditions from French and English eighteenth-century gardens with contemporary perspectives, the author shares the concepts and ideas that underpin the garden’s design, outlining a process that evolved over seasons and years. She explores the meaning of creating a garden and the meaning that a garden can create, linking ideas about aging and the passage of time to the reality of growth and death in the landscape, and thinking through how art in a garden can reframe questions of memory and our relationship to nature. With engaging personal anecdotes, she describes the thinking behind each part of the garden and the examples that guided her, the mishaps and successes she encountered, and her plans for the future.
Beautifully photographed and full of inspirational ways of thinking about gardens and gardening, this unique memoir blends history, horticulture, and art.
Order your copy of Autobiography of a Garden today! You can order directly from McGill-Queen’s University Press (https://www.mqup.ca/), online through Amazon and other online distributors, or from fine bookstores everywhere.
Live interview with Patterson Webster on The Thoughtful Gardener with Heather Andrews
