Dirt: The Lowdown On Growing a Garden With Style

By Dianne Benson

Book Overview

This is an Authors Guild/BIP title. Please use Author's Guild/BIP specs. Author Bio: Designer, writer, lecturer, and once-owner of four highly innovative fashion stores called Dianne B., Dianne Benson... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440506093
• ISBN13: 9780440506096
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Dell Publishing
• Length: 374 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

The next Vita Sackville -West!

I love to read books about gardening, and the best ones are also autobiographical.Dianne Benson Has imagination ,guts and grit!!I was hoping by now that she has written a new one because I read this one every year in the spring.She is inspiring about what to plant and how to plant and does her homework about the latest stuff out there.She is funny,personal and very, very sharp. More books Dianne , More Please!!!

Used find

As the ower of a fixer-upper, I was immediately drawn into the book by Diane's description of her own property and house at first view. "The house was awful. Sort of '50s and not even gracious enough to be called ranch style. But the property was so raw and beautiful and overgrown....." I can relate! This book is delightful and informative down to the details of what you should expect to pay and who has the best selection. Who would have guessed that a fashion maven like Diane B. would comparison shop so astutely. I love this book and very happy that it's been re-printed since I'm now telling all my friends about this delightful tomb.

One of the best gardening books ever written

This is the first gardening book I bought and it is still one of my favorites. I knew absolutely nothing about plants or gardening and what I learned from this book was amazing. First, Dianne has fashion background so immediately all the gardening spam is eliminated - no hideous marigolds or alchemilla.Her plant descriptions are superb with correct botanical names AND phonetic pronounciations (to save you embarassment when you are describing some divine little number to Martha Stewart or Penelope Hobhouse).She discusses tools, clothing, soil preparation but most importantly the bones or strucuture of a garden that is really the framework for the plantings. She takes you through the process of how she created her garden but unlike most gardening authors, has a great sense of humor and has the most marvelous anecdotes. It is heartbreaking that this book is no longer in print, because she makes gardening fun and creative and not so daunting to beginners. If you can get your hands on this book, it is worth almost any price. This and a good plant encyclopedia will get you through many years of gardening. Her next book will doubtless be sensational.

Gardening from a different point of view.

Although Ms. Benson is apparently a garden neighbor of the great "Martha", her book is refreshingly different. We get to see not only what worked in the garden but also the things that didn't. There is extensive written information on how plants work together in different combinations. For the next version, I hope there are pictures.I especially liked the chapters on what the well dressed gardener wears and finding a new home in the garden for loved but broken pottery. Alas, I loaned my copy to a (former) gardening friend who has not returned it and am desperately seeking another copy. I can't believe this book is out of print.

A must have.

A delightful romp in the garden with one time fashion maven turned gardener extraordinnaire Dianne Benson. Dirt delivers helpful information with wit and a discriminating sense of style. The hands on advice is appropriate for the beginner as well as the more accomplished gardener. Be warned: Dirt will whip you into an enthusiastic gardening frenzy. A absolute must have. Hopefully Dianne will leave the garden long enough to inspire her readers again with More Dirt