Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Can we have an extended edition please? August 12, 2008
P. R. Scott (UK)
I have just borrowed this from the library. I found it an interesting and easy-to-read book and the short 'chapters' on each garden are great for busy gardeners on a tea break, as it stops you reading too much at once! However, I found the lack of photos disappointing, especially as Don would sometimes explain at length how a particular planting scheme or garden area was so effective...but the only photo would be of something else! And like many other 'celebrity' books, an irritatingly large number of views were obscured by Monty in the foreground! I haven't seen the accompanying tv series, so it might perhaps be a more satisfying read if you have seen the gardens on screen. It's well worth reading, and I might possibly buy it in the future, but what I would really like to see is an expanded version with lots more photos...yes, it would be more expensive, but well worth the price. The current edition leaves me feeling a little short-changed (and what a hideous cover!)
 A great ambassador for the gardening world August 9, 2008
Marshmallow (Croydon, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
We had Percy Thrower, for those that can recall him, then along came Alan, almost a Percy Thrower. And now we have Monty ... a veritable Percy Thrower in the making. He gives a grat book here that makes no claims of sending the reader to gardening euphoria. What it does do is take a look at some great gardens and gives us what we want to know, anything more is a bonus, which this surely is. Worship him while you have him, lest Alan comes back.
 Doesn't live up to the standards of the TV programme it is based on June 18, 2008
MaxC (London, England)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm an admirer of Monty Don and I enjoyed the TV series this book is based on. But the book is far too sketchy to be satisfying; there's simply not enough material here, not enough photographs, too few insights.
If this is an Around the World trip, it's one of those lightning coach tours full of camera snapping tourists ("If it's Tuesday it must be Paris").
Worth a read, but not worth the asking price. As someone has commented before, just borrow it from the library; the publishers have let Monty down with this one.
 Disappointing April 30, 2008
Shoreham girl (Engand)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought this book after being captivated by the images in the first programme in the TV series. But I was deeply disappointed to find that there are very few photographs of the stunning gardens, and most of these contain Monty! I'm a big fan of Monty but would have preferred to see the gardens without him. The writing is good, but as I bought it (unseen) for the photos I wish I had borrowed it from the library first.
 Read it but don't buy it April 25, 2008
Undergardener (Scarborough)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I bought this a couple of months ago. It is very literate and clear, but contains so many spelling mistakes that I wonder if it was properly proof-read. The illustrations are very amateurish. Worth reading - not worth buying! In other words, GTTL (Go To The Library).
|
