Loved this book! It took two of my favorite things, gardening and history, and combined them masterfully. If you ever found yourself working in your garden, and wondered about why you were doing it the way you were, you might be surprised to learn people did the same tasks, the same way, hundreds of years ago!
The book had chapters on different types of medieval gardens, and the features you might find in each one. This was interesting.
But where the book really shined was in the description of gardener's tools and techniques. I found it fascinating. Along with how medieval gardeners used the calendar, tips on how they grafted and cultivated, and what plants they used.
There is one part that I would like to share from the book. "Sometimes, a little divine intervention may be required to keep pests under control. One of the most terrible things that could happen to a medieval person was to be excommunicated from the protection and comforts of the church. This punishment was not just reserved for people, it could also be used to clear pests". Bishops have excommunicated caterpillars, field mice, and snails. Why didn't I think of this? Going to put in a call to the minister to come over and excommunicate the darned slugs in my garden!
This is an interesting, informative, and fun read. If you like gardening, I think you will enjoy it. ( )

Pros: lots of photographs, interesting information

Cons: superficial, some chapters could have used more depth

This is a general guide on medieval gardens, specifically in England, that consists of 13 chapters, a conclusion and a quick listing of medieval gardens in England that can be visited. The chapters are all fairly short and to the point. They are: Evidence of Medieval Gardens, Influences of European Medieval Gardens, Monastic and Sacred Gardens, Secular Gardens, Medieval Garden Features, Water in the Garden, Parks and Pleasure Parks, The Plants of the Medieval Garden, The Medieval Gardener, The Gardener’s Tools and Equipment, Cultivation Techniques, The Medieval Gardening Year and Making your own Medieval Garden.

The first few chapters give background on how we know what little we know, and what types of gardens were grown. I enjoyed the later chapters more as they got more specific regarding the types of plants you could find and going over individual tools that gardeners used.

I wished some of the sections were fleshed out more. It felt like just as you got into a topic and wanted to know more of the deeper details the chapter ended. I can understand that there’s limited information but the author worked on medieval gardens at the Prebendal Manor and I would have enjoyed hearing more about things he learned from practical experience trying out medieval tools and techniques. For example, the chapter on making your own medieval garden simply mentions having a water source and gives some general advice. There’s no sample layout with ideas of what plants fit well together. I’d have loved to see a few photos from the gardens he maintained, including what he chose to grow where).

There is a good number of colour photographs illustrating what the author is discussing. I enjoyed the mix of the author’s photos and images from medieval sources, misericords and manuscripts. Not every tool got an image, and in some cases, like the spud, I would have appreciated a photo to better understand the tool as I’ve never heard of it before and the description left me somewhat unsure of what it looked like.

If you’re new to medieval gardens this is an excellent primer that goes over the basics and then some. If you’ve read a couple of books on the topic already, some of the later chapters may still hold useful information for you. ( )