No comments about Dartmoor seasons.

No comments about Beazley's Design and Detail of the Space between Buildings.

No comments about American Garden Literature in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (1785-1900): From the New England Farmer to Italian Gardens, An Annotated Bibliography (Dumbarton Oaks Other Titles in Garden History).

No comments about The book of landscape design,.

No comments about For Your Garden: Seats and Benches (For Your Garden).

No comments about Architecture and Landscape: The Building of Finland.

No comments about Yearbook of Landscape Architecture: Private Spaces in the Landscape.

1 comments about Garden Projects in a Weekend: Projects for 1, 2 or 3 Weekends.

1. I have read several garden project books and none of them have satisfied me as much as this book does. Here are practical projects and ideas for small and small-ish gardens that go beyond decking and basic benches. I felt the book could have been a little more innovative, but overall, that it was creative and realistic.

   The book begins with basic information about the value of adding height, a terraced area, seating, paths, shelter, water, light, and a children's area to your garden, then offers tips on planning a garden out, working with what you already have. There's also a section on buying and using "hard landscaping" (like stone and gravel). Tips on choosing plants and using containers are given, too, along with info on laying a lawn down.

   Then we get on to the really good stuff: The projects. Here you'll find a "chamomile seat" (something mostly unknown in the U.S., but basically a seat with herbs growing in it that will release a wonderful fragrance when you sit down), a very formal lawn, a rather boring and basic oak bench, a rather mundane wildflower border, a simple water feature that doesn't require the pumps and such of a full out pond, a pretty decorative screening made with wire and ivy, a children's "wigwam" made of willows and plants, a basic color-themed border, a "low maintenance courtyard" with an Asian flair, very basic lighting with mason jars and tea lights, obelisks, a formal knot garden, steps with herbs growing from them (again, they release a great scent when stepped upon), a very basic sun canopy, something called a "children's play fort" that looks more like a fenced in area surrounding a tree, a Japanese-inspired screen, an Asia-inspired mosaic made from pebbles, some turf sculpture (grassy mounds and the like), a cute kitchen garden, an easy-to-contruct pergola made from ropes and a few pieces of timber, some pathways, a more formal fountain and pebble stream, and a paving maze.

   I'm glad to have this addition to my library, and am sure it will inspire me to spend more than a few weekend adding personality and pizzazz to my garden.

1 comments about Designs for American Gardens.

1. Alice Recknagel Ireys provides a personalized glimpse into the art of designing gardens. Peppered with descriptions of the gardens of friends and acquaintances, she describes how each tackled the problems of a particular lot. She provides color photographic shots from different angles, both close-up and from a distance. The garden schematic layout is also provided for each in a colored drawing, complete with the names of the specific plantings used. Lest you feel that Ireys's book is too specific, the photographs and descriptions act as inspiration. The combinations of plantings, all listed with the cultivars, show these specimens in their mature stages and thus provide a good guide for planning one's own garden.
   
   The book includes multiple examples on one-half acre, one to two acre, three to five acre, five to ten acre, and more than ten acre lots. The final section describes some of Ivreys's favorite plantings in the categories of trees, shade-loving shrubs, and flowers arranged by their month-by-month bloom times.
   
   This design book is not comprehensive enough to act alone as a guide if you are deciding your own landscaping; however, it makes a fantastic supplement. I don't recommend this book if you live in planting zones further south than Virginia, or in climates that differ greatly from the Mid-Atlantic States and southern New England.

1 comments about Waterfalls and Fountains.

1. This book was very nearly useless. Few pages, not do it yourself help, very few photos or ideas. Really worthless.