Author(s): Bill Laws

Gardening

Every tool has a tale to tell. The garden shed shelters some improbable stories, from the Mayan and Mediterranean clay pot makers to the tale of the tailor, trimming the uniforms of English Redcoats, who invented the lawn mower; from the manic evolution of the seventeenth-century Dutch bulb planter to the plant container that created a movable orchard at Versailles; from the back story of Henry David Thoreau's favorite hoe to Gertrude Jekyll's homemade daisy digger. The History of the Garden in Fifty Tools is a historical, horticultural journey, told through fifty pieces of garden gear, which also provides some useful and curious insights into their care and preservation.