From yard to garden : the domestication of America's home grounds /

Occasionally a book is written that explores a topic so obvious that it has been essentially ignored, and yet one finds great meaning and interpretive value in the subject. One of these rare treasures is From Yard to Garden. Most books dealing with garden history concentrate on the exceptional and/or the elite. Not this one. The yard space surrounding a single-family house is familiar to virtually every American, but how has it developed, what does it mean? What are the distinctions between reality and the images of yards presented in popular magazines? These and many other questions are tackled in this extensively researched and well-written book by Grampp (Merritt College), a practicing registered landscape architect as well as an educator. Grampp guides the reader through the three stages of the American yard--agricultural, utilitarian, and domestic--always with his eye on the larger relationships to American culture. Recognizing a unique contribution to America, the author divides the book into two parts, "American Yard" and "California Garden," and it all makes sense. This book deserves a wide readership. It is a story of us all. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General, professional, and academic libraries, upper-division undergraduates and up. I. Richman emeritus, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg Campus