No comments about Women, Design, and the Cambridge School.

No comments about Paradeisos, ou, L'art du jardin.

No comments about Irish Round Towers (Irish treasures series).

No comments about Man-Made Landscape: Prepared in Cooperation With the International Federation of Landscape Architects (Museums and Monuments, 16).

No comments about Uplift, Erosion & Stability: Perspectives on Long-Term Landscape Evolution (Geological Society Special Publication).

No comments about European Gardens.

5 comments about Gaining Ground : Dramatic Landscaping Solutions to Reclaim Lost Garden Spaces.

1. I would highly recommend this book. It has great pictures and wonderful ideas. I see one person commented that the concepts were too broad; my feeling is, with any design book, these are ideas. No one buys a design book, takes it home and does exactly what is pictured. This book gets the creative juices flowing. Enjoy!



2. This book may appeal to a small niche audience: folks with sub-urban homes in planned communities who have a great deal of money and want "instant beauty." No doubt, the pictures are lovely and the spaces shown have been creatively transformed, but I found the examples out of reach for one with a mortal-size wallet. The authors have suggestions in getting around CC&R's in planned communities, which are helpful. However, this book seems to be a portfolio of Glassman's work, rather than a plantsman's book. In an early edition I had, the index was non-existent and some of the plant labeling was incorrect. The title held such promise (good job, editor!), but the book failed to do its job.



3. Michael Glassman's landscaping ideas, which are presented in this book, take their inspiration from very classical sources. There is nothing kitschy or trendy here, so if dramatic to you means 'funky' you should look to other sources. The designs show immense skill and judgment. The examples for seemingly hopeless spaces are a joy to behold, and the problem yards are both small and large. If you can't afford a landscape designer of Glassman's stature (and many of us can't) you will still enjoy reading the book many times over, and probably will find at least one or two ideas that you can adapt for your own yard.



4. In northern California -- where we pay a fortune for a small plot of land -- we want to maximize every inch, regardless of the cost. I found "Gaining Ground" inspirational and extremely useful for maximizing my tiny little plot. The pictures are beautiful and the text does a good job describing the design and the use of the different objects in the design. These are not inexpensive gardens, but they are beautiful!



5. I was inspired by past reviews and the great title to order this book. I was disappointed, and, sadly, have to agree at least in part with the critic from Rochester MN. Whether this book appeals to you may depend ultimately on what you think of as gardening, or, perhaps, what you think of as "Ground." This is a book with suggestions on how to make your garden more usable by filling it with stuff--tables, pots, statues, etc. My own idea of gardening is filling it with plants.

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.

No comments about American Gardens of the Nineteenth Century: For Comfort and Affluence.

No comments about The city is the people.