5 comments about The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui for Gardens.

1. What a lovely, positive and uplifting piece of work. As a newcomer to the world of Feng Shui but an experienced gardener, I was so delighted that Lillian was so encouraging and informative. Give it a go, you too will be the recipient of all the benefits of this glorious way of life in your lush gardens.



2. I found this book a wonderful collection of ideas, rather than a 'narrative'. Almost every 2 page layout can stand on its own as a graphic/textual design. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the creative and destructive cycles. This wasn't anything new, but it made sense for the first time.

   The book strongly emphasizes the coordination of garden layout with a southern facing home entrance. There really are no alternatives offered. I found this a bit rigid at first, but the northern exposure of any garden wall will always have limited sunlight, so I concluded it might not be entirely unreasonable.

   Ms Too minces few words when something strikes her as a bad idea. I think at one point, she concludes a misplaced water feature could lead to madness in the family. This is likely to offend some, but one won't be bored!

   The book seems a good reference. Since every 2 page layout is so rich with metaphors and relations between text and graphics, it will be rewarding for study over and over, again.




3. This book flows around its subject matter in much the way that the water dragon formula in Chapter Six identifies "auspicious" water flows with respect to the main doors facing different compass directions. It is well written and concise while still covering a lot of ground. I was fascinated with the collage illustrations. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turns out to be auspicious to read a book that has the word "auspicious" on every page.



4. If you just bought yourself a big empty lot and will be designing and building your house and garden, this is the perfect book for you. For the rest of us with small, non-rectangular lots and existing houses, this book is useless.

   I've never understood why so many people have a hard time understanding feng shui, but reading this book illuminated me. My interest in feng shui comes from Karen Rauch Carter and Terah Kathryn Collins, both of whom take ancient philosophies and practically and usefully apply them to Western culture. Lillian Too's feng shui seems to me to be so rigid as to be impossible for the majority of us to implement.

   For example, this book advises that water elements (ponds, fountains) should go on the north side of your property. Well, that's not where I want (or have room) for my fountain. I want a fountain--where else can I put it? This book doesn't say, leaving me with the impression I'm courting feng shui disaster to place a fountain anywhere else in my yard.

   This book also advises that palm trees, because of their height and the shape of their leaves, are dangerous to have anywhere around your home. As a Southern Californian, I find this very hard to believe. I also don't care for the assertion that cacti and other desert plants are dry and "dead" and therefore bad to have in my garden. Am I supposed to purchase only those plants that grow in China, regardless of my own climate and soil conditions?

   I had hoped to obtain some sound advice to help me design my garden, but this book is filled with inflexible dictates rather than helpful guidelines. There aren't many feng shui gardening books out there, but I'll wait for a good one to be published. I got my money back for this one.




5. The basic ideas in this book are good and the illustrations are great. However several subjects were lacking complete explaination and left me thinking I had missed something. The biggest disappointment for me though was the over-use of the work auspicious. By the end of the second chapter I caught myself counting how many times that word appeared on one page. I realize the word auspicious is a very powerful word, but in a 217 page book that word appears at least once on every page or at least it sure seemed so? I don't think I will be able to get past this and probably will return the book for another selection by a different author.

No comments about Lexicon of Garden and Landscape Architecture.

1 comments about The Garden Path (Library of Garden Detail).

1. Color photos say a thousand words...in this dear book you see the actual gardens in full bloom and are given detailed descriptions of materials used. It's a tiny book but big on inspiration for all garden styles. The gardens photographed are from around the world!

No comments about Organization Space: Landscapes, Highways, and Houses in America.

5 comments about National Geographic Guide to America's Public Gardens (National Geographic Guide to).

1. Mary, Mary quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells, And pretty maids all in a row. The gardens Mary Zuazua describe grow not with silver bells or cockle shells but with a super profusion of color and form. All of us have a garden somewhere buried back down deep in their souls. Like the taste of Proust's madeleine soaked in lime flowers conjured up images of the past,these photos conjure up images of past gardens, real or idealized. Mine a Spanish garden,once lush and verdant,to another an English garden formal, ordered and sterile. But such is the power of these images if one has dreams to dream.



2. "Small enough to travel with and detailed enough to learn from, this book is a must for the garden loving traveler". THE AMERICAN GARDENER



3. I have visited hundreds of gardens on four continents and, at a national level, this guide is the most pleasing to the eye and has the best general descriptions of gardens and their histories that I have used. It is a powerful incentive to travel, and a most useful guide for finding the best public gardens on one's route.



4. I recently had to do a project on different types of plants and gardens, for my biology class. This book was very helpful, and allowed me to complete my project. The photographs were beautiful, and enjoyable to look at. I would very enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone interested in gardening. It was a great book!



5. This book gave me mant great ideas on what to do to make my own garden look as nice as the ones in the pictures. They were all so colorful and beautiful. Anyone who is a gardener like myself would enjoy the book as much as i did.

No comments about Designing Your Own Landscape: Plants and Ways to Use Them in the Garden.

1 comments about Gardening With Soul: Healing the Earth and Ourselves With Feng Shui and Environmental Awareness.

1. "Gardening With Soul" in its most basic form is a book about establishing a garden using Feng Shui techniques. Gardens have traditionally been a place of solace and recharging our energy levels. In this book Gaylah Balter takes us through the steps of planning that place of sanctuary and then creating it. From discussing the qualities of trees, plants, water and soil to a discussion of color coordination, use of rocks, insects, butterflies and wildlife it covers all you need to know to create a garden that is in harmony. I particularly liked the chart that provided a list of plants to be protected, the insects that attack them and the guard plant that will repel that insect.

   While useful for those who are not of the New Age mindset, the last half of the book includes a chapter on communicating with angels and fairies to help with your garden and an extensive section on Feng Shui. The Feng Shui section details various ways to lay out your garden that promote centering and harmony and is very good. For those who want to create a garden sanctuary this is an informative and recommended book.

4 comments about Palm Springs: The Landscape, the History, the Lore.

1. As to Churchwell's history of Palm Springs, here is what was said by Peter Wild, English Professor at the University of Arizona and author of numerous books on the Southwest. "Two of the most reliable [histories] . . . are Frank Bogert's oversized book . . . ;and my favorite . . . , Mary Jo Churchwell's heartfelt work giving us a generally accurate picture of how much was lost when the village was wrenched into a city."



2. Mary Jo Churchwell's history of Palm Springs touches on the familiar Palm Springs of old ....a Palm Springs populated by the beautiful people like Bob Hope and Gig Young, Lucy and Desi, and yes, the lovely Miss Dinah Shore. BUT, Churchwell's Palm Springs is so much more: The canyons, the desert wildflowers, corny street and condo names, and above all, the sunshine that just won't quit.

   All I can say is WOW! I want all my friends to read it - very moving. This reads as if I'm chatting with an old friend that grew up in Palm Springs as I did. I remembered things I thought I had forgotten. Let's hear more from Mary Jo Churchwell!




3. If you've dismissed Palm Springs as a soulless wasteland fit only for golfers, gamblers and creaky celebrities, this book will change your mind. With Mary Jo Churchwell as your good-natured guide, you'll discover the things that truly make Palm Springs unique in the world. This is the first book to focus on the area's awesome natural wonders and its bold past populated with writers, eccentrics and explorers. Whether you're a visitor or a lifelong resident, this book will quadruple your enjoyment of this desert town.



4. If you've dismissed Palm Springs as a soulless wasteland fit only for golfers, gamblers and creaky celebrities, this book will change your mind. With Mary Jo Churchwell as your good-natured guide, you'll discover the things that truly make Palm Springs unique in the world. This is the first book to focus on the area's awesome natural wonders and its bold past populated with writers, eccentrics and explorers. Whether you're a visitor or a lifelong resident, this book will quadruple your enjoyment of this desert town.

No comments about The School in a Garden : Foundations & Founders of Landscape Architecture.

No comments about Apostle of Taste: Andrew Jackson Downing, 1815-1852 (Creating the North American Landscape).