The Gardener's Labyrinth

Lavishly illustrated with beautiful color reproductions of Renaissance artwork--including oil paintings and stained glass windows--and with over a hundred black-and-white drawings, this classic gardening book, now over four hundred years old, offers a delightful view of how Elizabethan gardeners practiced their craft. The Gardener's Labyrinth was the first popular gardening book published in the English language, appearing around 1577. From the very first pages, The Labyrinth's descriptions--how to test soil between the fingers, build a rose arch, or mulch a vegetable bed--leave no doubt that Thomas Hill was a man who loved to get his hands dirty. Surprisingly enough, much of Hill's practical advice is still relevant today--indeed, one of the charms of the book is to see how far back some traditional gardening tips go. But Hill was also an astrologer, and it is striking to find, among detailed accounts of the varieties of soil and the qualities of herbs, complex zodiacal schemes for planting and harvesting, and bizarre suggestions for deterring pests and controlling the weather.