INTRODUCTION The Power of Garden Structure - 1 Part I: The Garden's Boundaries Boundaries are the garden's beginnings. To define them is to lay claim to a spot of earth, to signal our intent to cultivate and nurture, to circumscribe our labors. Boundaries protect. They frame. They shelter. They embrace the garden, and welcome all who enter. Chapter One: GATES AND DOORWAYS: On the Threshold - 9 Chapter Two: FENCES: The Garden's Guardians - 31 Chapter Three: WALLS: Shaping a Sanctuary - 59 Chapter Four: EDGINGS: Setting Limits - 87 Part II: The Garden Above Gardens are rooted in the earth, but the sky beckons. To send plants climbing is to lift up the garden, to elevate it above the sprawl and damp.

There, the sun can coax forth the berry and beckon the rose to flower. In the process, we benefit: from an arbor's shade, from a pergola's shelter, from an increase in the garden's bounty. Chapter Five: TRELLISES: Climbing Lessons - 101 Chapter Six: ARBORS, PERGOLAS, AND ARCHES: Seeking Shelter - 123 Part III: The Garden Underfoot We connect with the garden through our feet. Toes in the new-clipped grass. Clogs crunching on gravel. Soles on brick pavers. To set our feet upon any one of these is to savor the garden's pleasures, lured by a well-mown path or lulled by a sun-blessed patio. These form the floor of our out-door home, the foundations on which the garden--and the gardener--rests.

Chapter Seven: PATHS AND WALKWAYS: Guides to the Garden - 147 Chapter Eight: PATIOS, DECKS, AND TERRACES: The Middle Ground - 177 Part IV: The Living Garden The growth of the garden follows our lead. To plant and nurture and prune and tie is to bend the garden to our own designs, to shape it to our bidding. It rewards.