1 comments about Reinventing the Garden: Chaumont--Global Inspirations from the Loire.

1. Reinventing The Garden: Chaumont - Global Inspirations From The Loire by gardening expert Louisa Jones magnificently showcases cutting-edge garden designs in the Loire valley in France. Outstanding designs drawn from a ten-year span are grouped together in six themes that reveal the thought and inspiration behind them. Additionally, concepts, techniques and materials of more than 36 main examples are discussed and illustrated. A superb addition to any dedicated gardener or landscape designer's reference shelf, Reinventing The Garden is enhanced with 229 beautiful color illustrations and a comprehensive reference section.

1 comments about The Cottage Garden.

1. This book covers many topics related to the traditional English cottage garden without alienating the modern gardener. There are a great many color photographs which include overall garden shots and pictures of individual traditional cottage garden favorites, many of which are easily available in the U.S. There are also many color drawings with various cottage garden designs (aerial views) including the traditional cottage garden with primarily vegetables, a garden with fruits and vegetables and flowers, and flowers only and flowers and vines.

   The book is well organized and is both charming and useful. If you are very visual you won't be disappointed with the combination of pictures and drawings.

   The end of the book contains information on what garden tasks can and should be completed during the four seasons, and how to accomplish them, including a brief section on pruning. There is also a section included in this part of the book which gives traditional recipes and ideas about how to use the bounty from your garden, including dandelion wine, and mead. This book is a good read and there is plenty to return to again and again.

No comments about Essay on Gardens: A Chapter in the French Picturesque (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture).

No comments about The Essential Ian McHarg: Writings on Design and Nature.

No comments about Regency Gardens (Shire Library).

No comments about Allain Provost: Invented Landscapes.

1 comments about Stonehenge: Making Space (Materializing Culture).

1. Everyone should read this book. Because identity, power, and the present are so wrapped up in how we interpret the past, the book is essential for understanding how there are multiple valid interpretations of history that can exist and be interwoven. Warning: some knowledge of Stonehenge is required to comprehend certain parts of the book.

No comments about The Pleasure of Gardening Courtyards and Containers (Pleasure of Gardening).

1 comments about The Water Gardener: A Complete Guide to Designing, Constructing and Planting Water Features.

1. Don't waste money on multiple lesser books. Buy this one! You won't regret it. Especially if you want a natural look, such as plants to the edge of the water or easing into the water. This is my key reference for constructing my water garden. Excellent construction techniques for natural edges - no necklace of rocks - and stream flow and finishing to mimic natural creeks and streams. Very inspirational photos of water features that will surprise you that they are man-made, and sized for average gardens as well as larger acreages. Line drawings detail construction techniques showing placement of liner, underlayment and structural (concrete) support for heavy rocks, etc. Several options shown for each. Written such that homeowner could do it themselves. Only caveat is that the designs are based in Britain and may (or may not) need adjustment for severe winter regions. Although primarily a construction guide, excellent photos of completed gardens provide inspiration for plantings. There is a brief review of major species adapted to this sort of garden. I am looking forward to the new edition, due out in Fall 2002, which promises inclusion of some U.S. information. Don't accept less. Raise your expectations of what your water feature can look like. Buy this book.

1 comments about Human Nature: The Japanese Garden of Portland, Oregon.

1. Delightful, exquisitly illustrated story of the development of "the best japanese garden outside of japan". Includes a few design sketches and photos of the work-in-progress as well as photos through the seasons.