3 comments about Home Planners Complete Book of Landscape Plans: 50+ Garden Designs to Transform Your Yard.

1. This book is great for garden ideas. Plenty of interesting designs shown in graphic form, plus an artist's illustration. Lists of plant material have to be ordered. Some may find this a shortcoming. In our case, it's great as most of those lists contain plant material that is inappropriate for our region.



2. While this book does not have comprehensive information on each plan, it still provides some interesting ideas. Additional information such as comprehensive blueprints as well as plant and material lists customized to your region is available for purchase, but I found this useful without having to order the additional material. The different plans provide a wealth of ideas and act as a catalyst in designing your own landscape. You won't get substantial information on the plant life itself, in fact in most cases you don't get anything but a picture, but this allows you to substitute a more appropriate item suited to your tastes and region. This is by no means a "how-to design a landscape" book, but if you are looking for some ideas and basic landscape plans then this book delivers.



3. I bought this book expecting the 50+ garden design plans they promised. Well, they had 50+ garden designs, all right. You got six for free and you had to pay at least $10.00 apiece for the remaining plans. It is essentially a catalog of plans and you buy the ones you want.

   Not worth the money!!!!

4 comments about Color in Garden Design.

1. This is an excellent book. I am ordering 5 more as reference for my students in Landscape Design. Sandra covers color systems , names, hue, value and saturation in detail. Color diagrams are included for easy understanding of all concepts presented. This is by far the best color book I have seen.



2. I just recently ordered and received "Color in Garden Design". I struggled through the first 26 pages and finally put the book down uninspired and totally uninformed. It's not because I don't have a good working knowledge of color. I do. I have painted with oil paints for many years. I just thought "Color in Garden Design" would give a fresh perspective on color for the GARDENER. Was I wrong. The author goes off in "left field" somewhere when she tries to explain color. The text is very, very wordy, unclear and not concise. I don't know what point Ms. Austin is trying to make. I'm sure Ms. Austin has a wonderful KNOWLDEGE of how to use color in the garden for herself and her clients. However, the problem lies in her trying to TEACH color in the garden to others. This is not a book to learn from. Also, the pictures are very uninspiring. Don't be seduced by the table of contents as I was! Beginners: there are much, much better books out there on color in the garden. Those with a working knowledge of color: don't waste your money nor your time!



3. Ms. Austin has taken the scientific complexities of color and condensed them to the point where almost anyone can understand them. The beauty of this book is that not only is the scientific nature of color explored but also how to apply this knowlege in a physical sense. I enjoyed the discusssion of how light, shape, texture and other physical properties of plants (and really all things) effect how our eyes interpret the colors that we see all around us.
   This knowlege has been very helpful to me personally, not only in my own attempts at landscaping but in other aspects of design.



4. A fabulous book! Reading it is like taking a short course in the study of color. Sandra Austin explains the various ways color has been "harnessed" historically through the use of color systems, and then she proceeds to free your mind to intelligently explore color combinations on your own. I felt enlightened and liberated after reading this book; no longer plagued with insecurity, I proceeded to compose a perenial garden on my one acre with delightful results. Despite a few "typo's", the book is written with painstaking clarity. An intense subject,I found reading a few pages every night was all I could absorb. And that kept me craving more. I look forward to another book from Ms. Austin on the subject of color! How about COLOR IN GARDEN DESIGN BOOK 2?

No comments about Ecological Planning: A Historical and Comparative Synthesis (Center Books on Contemporary Landscape Design).

No comments about Overland Partners: Building on Value.

1 comments about Water Gardening (Burpee American Gardening Series).

1. I'm a huge fan of Ken Druse - all his books have been great and this is no exception. It has great photographs that definitely inspire, lots of good practical information on designing different types of water gardens (formal as well as informal, tips on "finishing touches" such as lighting, how to set-up/install your water garden, how to create moving water etc. Its a good overall book. The part I like the absolute best (and the reason why I bought the book) is the section on plants. There are great pictures of the plants as well as information about how they grow, what they need, if they are fragrant or not etc. I'm only going to plant native plants in our water garden so I think this will be a great place to start (I'll have to double check that they're native but that's one of Ken Druse's themes so I' figure it's probab;y a good starting point). I'm only giving this 4 stars because I wish there were more in here specific to frog ponds rather than just focusing on koi. From what I've heard - you don't need to buy frogs (and really shouldn't since the frogs that the nurseris sell are generally bullfrogs which are not native to the US and eat all our native frogs but instead - build it and they will come. Friends have said that if you set up a frog p[ond (even in the middle of the woods) within a week or so frogs will be in there splashing about. Anyway, the other reason I gave it only 4 stars is because its 10 yrs old now andthere are so many new tools/techniques out there that just were not available when this book was written in 1993. Even still, a great reference and th price is right!

2 comments about The Harmonious Garden: Color, Form, and Texture.

1. In addition to more than 140 attractive combinations, with color photos and drawings to illustrate exactly what makes up the plantings in each photo, this book contains a load of practical and insightful observations. It's a treasure for UK, European, and US gardeners with its careful and accurate attention to zones; it's an inspiration to gardeners everywhere because of the education it offers about what underlies this author's ideas about combining plants.

   Each planting combination has a photo and annotated drawing, as well as three to six or so paragraphs which are loaded with tremendously valuable data points. How much space might the combination be expected to occupy? What foliar changes occur as the plant occurs? What is unique about the combination's color, form, texture? Do any of the plants re-seed? What compatible plantings would extend the season of interest? When in the season was the photo taken?

   There is a separate section with details about specific plants included in the combinations. Three appendices (bloom options by exposure, season, and color [which increases the value of this book far beyond the combinations it suggests]); foliar options; an extensive cross-reference between common and botanic names) add much more value. Finally and typically for publications of Timber Press, a fine index makes the book easy to use over and over.

   There are less expensive books about planting combinations, but no book that I know of that offers broader and deeper information to help gardeners find their own beautiful planting harmonies. One good thing about this book's price point is that you can be virtually assured that few novice gardeners own it; thus, it would be an excellent and much appreciated gift.




2. Generally, an excellent reference. The author methodically and analytically (if you appreciate that sort of thing) takes the reader through combinations of color and form and explains why the combinations work. The author's taste in color is subtle, however, and you will not be shown high contrast or exciting color combinations. The same restraint applies in the author's use of form. There are appendices that discuss various plants and combinations, although not in depth.

4 comments about Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden.

1. If you are new to gardening but want classic borders, this may not be the book for you. To understand this book, you need to have a thorough understanding of garden plants, especially those that are grown in England. This is not a "plug and play" kind of book. Here's an sample:
   "The undergrowth of such a group may be of Solomon's seal at the back, and, if the bank or border is in the sun, of a lower groundwork of Iberis and Corydalis ochroleuca, or, if it is shaded, of Tiarella, woodruff or Anemone sylvestris. With these, for the sake of their tender green foliage, there may well be Uvularia grandiflora and Epimedium pinnatum."
   If you didn't follow that sample, and understand the subtlety of composition here, imagining the composition of color, plant form, leaf texture, moisture and sun requirements, and seasonal variation, you'll need several good plant books and visits to arboreta to understand this book. There aren't photographs to illustrate the prose. It would be even more difficult to translate this into your specific garden.
   
   That being said, it is fascinating to read Jekyll's own words, and even more so to see her drawings. Each plan is augmented by watercolor which helps in understanding. Each plan could take hours of study to begin the understand the genius of Jekyll. I agree with another reviewer in that it was a mistake to eliminate the scale on the drawings.



2. A very enjoyable read Gertrude Jekyll was the great female designer who has been lost to wider public



3. For those who are truly crazy about making and playing in flower gardens, this Gertrude Jekyll book is one of the best. It's not a practical how-to book. Few gardeners will share the climate she was writing about, or have her enviable resources, like a tidy trust fund, 10 acres and a small staff of gardeners. Ms. Jekyll was the most famous garden writer of her day, producing many books in addition to writing articles and designing a lot of high-end residential flower gardens.
   
   This book is a fascinating and surprisingly relevant record of how she contrived her own flower gardens a hundred years ago. There are detailed planting plans of her gardens, drawn by her, and also some fantasy garden designs. In addition to the classic flower border (which she had a strong hand in inventing) there are designs for bulb and annual flower gardens, and many, many other ideas for landscaping. If you think the gardens of an elderly lady in England a hundred years ago would be filled with washed-out colors and fussy ornaments, you are in for a huge surprise.
   
   Like Russell Page's 'The Education of a Gardener', this is the chance to get inside the mind of a great artist: how they think, how they see, and how they tranlate their insights into garden design. As originally published (with plan drawings and photos by Ms. Jekyll) her original is an all time classic.
   
   I'm not completely enthusiastic about this edition. Some plant names are updated (fine), many color pictures are added (nice pics, but none of Ms. Jekyll's gardens), modern watercolors of plants mentioned in the copy are scattered about (OK, but more decoration than education) and a few additional Jekyll designs not included in the original book were added (very nice).
   
   Negatively, they edit her plan drawings a bit, coloring them in, and removing the original scale marking, so you can't tell how big the beds are. The coloring will help those not super-familiar with plant names to get the jist of the designs. They have also removed some of her original B&W photos. That's not good. I'm sorry I lent my original version to someone and lost it.
   
   This edition is a colorful and largely satisfying replacement, but I will probably try to hunt up a true reproduction of the original. I'd rather get a clearer version of Ms. Jekyll's voice.



4. As an Engish Gardener "displaced in Kansas" this book was a delight. Anyone who wants to plan a garden large or small should turn to this little gem written over 80 years ago. Miss Jekyll was the definitive garden planner, her ideas of colours and seasonal planting will inspire you to create a beautiful garden of your own. Quite the best of her kind.

1 comments about Complete Garden Guide to the Native Perennials of California.

1. This book is essential to any California gardener who wants to learn how to introduce some of California's many beautiful native perennials into his or her garden. Mr. Keator, a guru of native gardening in California, offers practical advice on selection, propagation and culture of the most garden-worthy native perennials. The text is interesting (riveting for native enthusiasts) and well-written. Only the black-and-white line drawings and lack of photos leave the reader wanting more.

3 comments about A Quest for Life: An Autobiography.

1. Ian McHarg has written an autobiography that informs while successfully capturing his bold character. Ian McHarg minces no words. He recalls the incident where he gave public testimony claiming that highway engineers seem to "have a deep insecurity as to their masculinity which can only be appeased by mutilating nature", among other similar ventures.
   This autobiography informs us how a person of such outspokenness has emerged and gained respect. His childhood outside Glasgow, Scotland at the city's edge where homes met nature made him realize, at an early age, the advantages of an environment outside of blocks of treeless tenement homes. Possessing neither an undergraduate degree nor a high school diploma, he entered Harvard's graduate program in Landscape Architecture by telegraphing them and requesting that arrangements be made for his arrival and entrance into their school. He repaid his department by becoming Student Council Chairman and pushing through a resolution of no confidence in his department. Upset that the Landscape Architect faculty focused on designing gardens for the wealthy, Ian McHarg became an advocate that landscape architecture is for all. Further, he would argue, we all should respect nature.
   People familiar with projects where Ian McHarg had a hand will appreciate learning about his eventful life. Among the projects where Ian McHarg was involved include Baltimore's Inner Harbor, the creation of 110 more acres in Manhattan through landfill, the first Earth Day, and his milestone book "Design with Nature". Many credit "Design with Nature" as a major force in creating legislation requiring ecological considerations when planning construction.
   People unfamiliar with Ian McHarg's work will appreciate reading of his life's struggles, from combat in World War II, fighting tuberculosis four decades ago when survival rates were much lower, and founding the Landscape Architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania with no faculty, no office, and no students. A fascinating person has written an excellent book.



2. Ian McHarg is both famous and infamous. Well-known among environmentalists, ecologists, landscape architects and designers, he is Peck's bad boy, even persona non grata, to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, developers, numerous (all?) corporate executives, governmental officials (all levels), and a few university departments. No one believes McHarg to be a benign force, and his autobiography testifies to his lifelong snappish testiness. Born in Scotland on November 20, 1920, he grew up in the thrall of nature and became a Naturist (sic). His long, active, and productive career as a "nature-intoxicated" landscape architect is recorded in this detailed solo cantata, a well-deserved forte encomium of one man's dedication to his own odyssey, his quest for life. It will be a surprise if this tome fails to become a rallying point for future ecological revolutions, for future Earth Days, for a Cult of the Living Gaia. McHarg is 18 months younger than I. Many of us "American" GIs of WWII who grudgingly served a mere 3 or 4 years (1942-1945) must stand aside for our European brothers. McHarg, along with uncounted fellow Brits and other allies, served in sometimes hellish combat conditions for six or seven years, a long period out of young lives. McHarg's account of his war experiences are alone worth reading his story, told in dramatic, gripping terms. Come to realize, so is the entire book. McHarg's besetting sins are his arrogance and his conceptual pugilism. On the other hand, his modus vivendi, that determined his astoundingly productive successes, are his arrogance and conceptual pugilism. As he fights for the right, he generally is right-not exactly a social or political asset. Recipient of numerous academic and civic honors, he includes an impressive bibliography of his publications and works. Design with Nature (1969) is his other important book-to date. A tenacious survivor, he no doubt will yet fire off another volley worth hearing. (Reviewed by Allan Shields in Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol 15 No 2, Winter 1999-2000. Copyright © by Allan Shields.)



3. Ian McHarg is the founder of the field of environmental design, a branch of or approach to Landscape Architecture. His book "Design With Nature" opened the eyes of a generation of planners and architects to the possibilities of environmentally sane design and planning. McHarg's autobiography makes a wonderful read for anyone who read and loved "Design With Nature". And is is a first class read! He has never been a man who pulled his punches, and this book is full of hilarious stories of his run-ins with the establishment. I loved it!

No comments about The Afterlife of Gardens (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture).