Pleasant Place No. 8: Garden Tools turns the implements of horticulture into a subject of genuine philosophical and aesthetic inquiry, tracing the garden tool from its functional origins to its place in the hands of some of the world's most celebrated gardeners.
About This Book
The eighth issue of Pleasant Place takes the garden tool as its subject — not as mere utility, but as an object charged with vision, craft, and continuity. An introduction by Norbert Peeters sets a philosophical tone before the issue moves through a visual essay on the vintage tools and ephemera of Garden and Wood, intimate conversations with gardeners Piet Oudolf and Jonny Bruce about the tools they reach for instinctively, and a visit to Sneeboer, the Dutch tool-making dynasty where the trowel has passed through four generations of the same family. Artist Floris Tilanus illustrates each featured tool in careful detail. For anyone serious about garden design, craft, or material culture, this is a quietly essential read.
Key Features
- 40 pages of illustrated essays, visual profiles, and maker portraits
- Introduction by Norbert Peeters; illustrations by Floris Tilanus
- Features gardeners Piet Oudolf and Jonny Bruce on their favourite tools
- Visit to Sneeboer, the renowned Dutch garden tool maker with four generations of craft
- Published by Pleasant Place, ISBN: 9789083284361
What You'll Discover
- How Piet Oudolf and Jonny Bruce each relate to specific tools as extensions of their design thinking and gardening practice
- The material and cultural history of Sneeboer, where handmade Dutch trowels have been passed through four generations of a single family
- A visual archive of vintage garden tools and ephemera from Garden and Wood, examined as objects of beauty in their own right
- A philosophical framing, via Norbert Peeters, of what it means for a tool to help a gardener realise a vision — rather than simply perform a task
About the Author
[Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 40
- Dimensions: 180 x 245 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9789083284361
- Publisher: Pleasant Place
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Landscape architects, garden designers, horticulturalists, and readers drawn to material culture, craft history, and the intersection of utility and beauty.