Duck Hill Journal

by Page Dickey, Linda Yang (Foreword)

Recounts one year in the author's nine-year project to create a garden out of an overgrown, rundown patch of rural land

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

286 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 1991

Reviews

[Eden · Rating 2 out of 5]

2019 bk 168. The lovely illustrations drawn by the author are what drew me to this book. The subtitle is "A Year in a Country Garden" and that describes accurately what is in this book - Page Dickey describes in detail (including pen and ink sketches) what plants are in flower each month of the year. The information would have been terrific if I lived in New York state and in her zone. The book would have been improved by more than just the teeny tiny glimpses we get of her family and neighbors. I know that a neighbor requested help in gathering flowers for a wedding bouquet, but nothing of the family's background, what gardens she had put together before Duck Hill (there are allusions, but nothing concrete). If you want plants this is 5 star, if you want to know about the human interactions and how a garden affects people, this isn't for you.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread in fall 2024. Enjoyable and I know enough now to be able to visualize almost everything she mentions.

I stumbled across this at a library book sale sometime around 2010. At first, it frustrated me with the lack of specific how-to-details, but as I gardened and learned I found it very useful. (Duck Hill is only thirty miles away so I have similar soil and climate). Over time, it's become a favorite. The author's voice is strong and her passion for plants shines through and her general aesthetic at the time (colors! flowers!) matches mine.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A month by month account of a woman's garden in upstate New York. Her book is livened up with details of why she has chosen what she chose to plant, what its significance to her is, and whose advice she chose to follow. I wish that I had the space she does.

[Jose Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not the best Garden Diary that I've read. I found it a bit dull. I loved the drawings and the stories about the animals. Though when the author writes about plants it sounds very descriptive. We like to know what she has in the garden but also much more details about the cultivation, not just "I have this and that. I put that there. It looks nice"...
I loved the images of the book.
Anyway. A book to read month by month. It's much easier.

Gosto de ler Diários de Jardineiros onde se aprende muito com as experiências dos outros sobre plantas e métodos de cultivo diferentes e em partes diferentes do mundo e em outros tempos.
No entanto este livro não foi o Diário de Jardineiro mais entusiasmante que li. É um bocado descritivo demais o que o torna aborrecido. Gostei bastante dos desenhos da autora e das histórias sobre os animais da quinta. Sobre as plantas, ou estas não me entusiasmaram ou a escritora não conseguiu dar-lhe a beleza e acabei o livro com a sensação de não ter ficado a conhecer a propriedade de Duck Hill.
Um livro para se ler mês a mês. É mais fácil assim.

[Cheryl S.]

Boring format, couldn't stick with it.