There's an old expression in gardening, a folksy piece of advice that states: "Don't fight the site." 





James Golden has been guided by a more nuanced version of that idea in creating a much praised garden, a wildish, unexpected landscape in New Jersey called Federal Twist. It was even featured on the hit BBC program “Gardeners' World" with Monty Don. I've been reading James's new book about Federal Twist, and just like that old garden adage, a lot of his philosophy of garden making is about acceptance, about letting the place tell you what it wants to be. 



James Golden came to garden making later in life, when he was preparing to retire from a writing job in the corporate world. His new book is “The View from Federal Twist: A New Way of Thinking About Gardens, Nature, and Ourselves.”