Designing Alberta Gardens: The Complete Guide to Beautiful Gardens

Pleasance Crawford is a Canadian landscape and garden-history researcher
and writer, and the editor of Landscape Architectural Review.

Jan Mather, a professional gardener, journalist, and workshop leader,
wrote this book to help fellow Albertans plan, design, and create
gardens that not only survive but flourish in their climate of extremes.

In a brief introductory chapter on Alberta’s horticultural heritage,
the author acknowledges the railway gardens and experimental farms that
helped to introduce and promote ornamental horticulture in Alberta and
the other prairie provinces. Design and planning principles for
multifunctional home landscapes are outlined in the next two chapters.
In subsequent chapters, Mather provides a more detailed discussion of 10
types of gardens. These gardens are strictly ornamental, designed either
to feature various groups of plants (spring flowers, annuals for
cutting, roses, fragrant plants, and colorful plants) or to incorporate
specific landscape elements (rocks, water, and sculpture). Only “the
children’s garden” incorporates edible crops—vegetables and small
fruits—in an ornamental setting.

The book has more than 120 full-color photographs, and at least one
colorful and informative drawing of each featured garden type. As well,
each garden type is accompanied by a plant list that provides common and
botanical names, descriptive information, and growth characteristics.
Also included in the book are excellent plant-name and subject-name
indexes, and a bibliography of works by other prairie gardeners.
Mather’s book belongs in this select group. Although it, like the
others, is addressed to a relatively small readership, it contains much
good advice for beginning gardeners anywhere in Canada.