Garden Guide: New York City (Revised Edition)

Garden Guide: New York City (Revised Edition)

by Nancy Berner and Susan Lowry

424 pages

W. W. Norton & Company, 2010

List price:  $22.95

I visited New York City for the first time in January this year. When you've never been there before, there's a list of iconic NYC landmarks that are de rigueur for tourists. Though the impetus for my visit was to attend a taping of The Martha Stewart Show, in the matter of just a few days, I also managed to fill every spare moment with many of those landmarks: The Empire State Building, Staten Island, Ground Zero, Rockefeller Plaza, Hello Deli, The Gugenheim Museum, Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, "Phantom of the Opera" show, Macy's, and Central Park.

The visit to Central Park was a highlight of the trip, being chauffered around by a local in a rickshaw, then spending some time just wandering around this marvelous piece of green space in the middle of a sea of architecture.  My mother was with me and as enchanted by Central Park as I was.

Snowdrops
(Galanthus sp.)

Though it was the middle of January, we were treated to a rare warm day of 50° F, twelve degrees above normal. I'm fairly certain that the city was working its charms just for the two of us that day - two avid gardeners - because strolling through Strawberry Fields, the snowdrops were blooming. God bless America.

We both commented that we simply had to come back to the city in summer so we could see Central Park in bloom. And The New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, The Gardens at The Battery in Battery Park – a garden tour of New York City. While these places may be on every gardener's itinerary at some point or another when in the city, New York City is a very large place, you know, so it would be helpful if there was a guide to worthwhile gardens to visit. Thanks to Nancy Berner and Susan Lowry, there is, and it's in its revised edition, released in August.

Garden Guide: New York City is a pocket guide and sized as such, a chunky book. The city is divided into its five boroughs, with Manhattan further sectioned into five neighborhoods of its own. Gardens large and small and of all types are highlighted, with just enough vital information for visitors to make decisions as to which gardens they deem worthy of a stop on their tour. Included with the usual fare are some lesser-known plots, including community gardens and neighborhood parks.

While there are some lovely photographs scattered throughout its pages and when reading the enticing descriptions of the gardens, I wished for more, this is not a picture book. It is a compact guide for both residents and visitors alike and the reason for it in the first place is to get you to the gardens, where you can take your own photos.

It's not certain just when my mother and I will make that summer city garden tour, but with Garden Guide: New York City, we'll be prepared when we do.

Nancy Berner has worked as a book editor and an editorial consultant to several non-profits. Susan Lowry was a television journalist in Canada and the United States before switching fields and earning a diploma in landscape architecture. Both Susan and Nancy live in New York City, where they are longtime volunteers at the Conservatory Garden in Central Park. Together, Susan and Nancy have lectured widely in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut on the subject of urban public gardens.

__________________

The publication being reviewed in this blog post was the sole compensation for reviewing the product. All opinions expressed here are mine. If I like it, I'll say so. If I don't, I'll say that, too.