City Gardening: Planting, Maintaining, and Designing the Urban Garden

Urbanites will want to study this comprehensive garden-planning book. Colby, a garden and travel writer, presents the peculiarities of urban gardening for both the backyard and elevatedterrace, balcony, roof or penthousegarden. Particular plants are recommended and general gardening advice proffered, but this information is not central to the book nor detailed. Rather, Colby ably discusses concerns specific to the city gardenpollution, integrating architecture and neighboring gardens into a motif, container gardening, city codes and weight restrictions, proximity to garden-supply centers. For city dwellers too inexperienced or busy to take on the time-consuming work and responsibility of a garden, Colby suggests hiring professionals for carpentry (building platforms), lighting and maintenance (watering and pruning). Occasionally, the writing is clumsy, but that is more than counterbalanced by the appealing design of the book and the beautiful photographs of many exquisite gardens. (March)