cover image Living Fences

Living Fences

Ogden Tanner. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), $29.95 (128pp) ISBN 978-1-881527-67-1

Those looking for solitude--or simply privacy--in their gardens as well as beauty will find a host of choices in this comprehensive, accessible, sophisticated and fluidly written overview of the title's trio of naturally growing alternatives to fences. In the main chapters, Tanner (Gardening America) provides information on the three varieties of horticultural fences, following each with a generous listing of species suitable for specific tasks, e.g.,``windbreaks,'' ``espaliers for foliage and form,'' ``fast-growing vines.'' Thumbnail plant ``bios'' include such considerations as hardiness zones, available cultivars, planting procedures and care. Illustrated with lush photographs, the volume concludes with a list of resource nurseries and a bibliography. Gently reminding new yard- and garden-makers that hedges need be neither tall nor evergreen, Tanner offers much to experienced gardeners too: the section on espaliers--one of gardening's more challenging specialties--is itself worth the price of the book. (May)