1 comments about The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland.

1. James Howley has done us a great service in writing about these unusual architectural sites in Ireland. We are surrounded by built things, but so many of them built with the severity of practical needs: domestic boxes, repetitive, hard-angled offices. His book reminds us that not all buildings were made so.

   He educates us in these matters by maintaining scholarly momentum without sacrificing readability. Indeed, reading this book involves a curious deception -- you feel as though you have been tramping through the bushes all day and examining fascinating old buildings, then sitting tired but satisfied with a cup of tea, going over drawings and notes. Yet what has happened is that you have absorbed an array of both historical and social lessons.

   Although the book is of course aimed at a specific area (Ireland) and specific topic (idiosyncratic buildings called 'follies'), the information is transferable into our daily lives. After having read the book, I found myself sensitized to the unusual in architecture in New England, where I live.

   Qualifier: What we may think is unusual is not always a "folly" -- in glancing into the lifeways of our predecessors, we are looking with mystery into that which others saw as perfectly ordinary (a medieval castle privy may be to us a mysterious or amusing construction, although 800 years ago it was just a smelly crapper). In such cases, we need to educate ourselves in the definition of "unusual" and what it means for us and for the people of other ages.

   Yet sometimes we find a truly unusual construction from whatever historical and local point of view you want to take. I drove by a yard in Shutesbury Massachusetts in which the owner had used his farm tractor to stack a series of huge flat stones on top of boulders to form a beautiful front-yard pyramid several feet high. My mind flashed instantly to the interesting people and odd places mentioned in Howley's book, and in this union of time and place and human dynamics, we see the ultimate practicality of this book. -- Wade Tarzia

No comments about Planting the Perfect Garden: Beautiful Designs for Pots, Borders, Town and Country Gardens.

No comments about The Balanced Garden.

No comments about Designing the Reclaimed Landscape.

No comments about Beatrix Farrand's Plant Book for Dumbarton Oaks (Dumbarton Oaks Other Titles in Garden History).

No comments about Water Spaces of the World: A Pictorial Review (Water Spaces of the World).

No comments about Graphic Standards for Landscape Architecture.

2 comments about Dictionary of Landscape Architecture and Construction.

1. I was extremely disappointed with this book. It was unavailable for preview at my local library, so I took a chance.
   
   First, there are no pronunciation guides. Granted, several of the words are common ones, but still, shouldn't a dictionary have them? Particularly in an Appendix that offers a selection of Latin-derived adjectives frequently used in a plant's botanical name?
   
   The back cover states that "300 illustrations illulminate both definitions and methods." Hmmph... Several of them are poor quality photographs of items one learned to identify in pre-school. To wit: bench, statue, pickup truck, hard hat, and the like. You're out of luck, though, if you'd like to see an illustration of something less common like a sheepsfoot roller. Plant-related drawings are adequate. Drawings used to illustrate mechanics are frequently too small, or poorly drawn, to offer much detail.
   
   At least this book's format is consistent: if it takes too much effort, don't bother. Caveat emptor.



2. This book is exactly what its title announces. It is an excellent source for students and professionals of design. Plenty of terms, well explained. I truly recommended. It is very useful for the foreign designer, for it explains technical terms one finds in lanscape books and doesn't understand. Very good.

2 comments about Garden Ornament: Five Hundred Years of History and Practice.

1. This book is amazing! The photos are so beautiful...it's like being in Europe, experiencing the scenery for yourself. 90% of the photographs are full page spreads. All the ornamentation and statuary that was used is so breathtaking.



2. A well designed, documented, illustrated catalog of ideas and masterpieces. The good thing here is that you can apply all these beautiful ideas. You can buy statues, chairs, fountains and plant the right vegetation around it (or the other way around). You will love this book. You might even keep it for yourself if you planned to offer it to your parents. Buy two of them. You won't regret it.

1 comments about Rustic Garden Architecture.

1. If you like gardens and nature you will enjoy this book. My girl friend gave it to me and now I am buying a copy for a friend. I have already made one bench from ideas in the book. A must have for the creative gardener