Better Against a Wall : Garden Writings

by Ursula Buchan

The entertaining and practical pieces which make up "Better Against a Wall" are selected from the best of Ursula Buchan's journalism from the past fifteen years and demonstrate her highly individual take on gardening and modern gardeners. Politics, practicalities and personalities of the gardening world all find a place in this collection, alongside flowers, garden design, ecological friends and foes. She shivers at the thought of grass snakes, warms to the soft perfection of Shirley Poppies, hunts for plants in Nepal, fails to master machinery, pulls a fast one with climbers and somehow manages to give seaweed a good press.

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

2/2/26 - I have previously read two other titles by Ursula Buchan which contain a selection of her newspaper articles - "Good In A Bed" and "Back To The Garden." "Better Against A Wall" is not nearly as witty and humorous as "Good In A Bed." The articles in "Good In A Bed" are from The Spectator. The articles in "Better Against A Wall" are from several other British publications, plus a few from The Spectator. The articles compiled in both books are from a similar range of dates. "Better Against A Wall" contains ten chapters, five of which are focused on specific plants - unlike "Good In A Bed." Those five chapters are "Plants From Seed" - "Herbaceous Perennials" - "Bulbs" - "Trees & Shrubs" - "The Kitchen Garden." Because of the focus on specific plants in "Better Against A Wall" I did not enjoy reading this book as much as the two other titles mentioned above.