of narrow interest but I wish this was an ongoing field of research
3 stars
Oddly satisfying, surveys of outdoor living and gardening space in poor rural south in 1990, detailed planting census and interviews covering aesthetics, materials, goals. Historical analysis of influences of colonizing and slavery and sharecropping and land ownership - throughout, emphasizes the ephemeral nature of gardening as a built environment, always on the cusp of changes in function or technology - indoor plumbing, lawn mowers, big box stores.