Book Description
In this new book noted grass expert and advocate Rick Darke addresses both the aesthetic qualities of grasses in private gardens and the opportunities and challenges of using them in wild and constructed public landscapes. All the true grasses, sedges, rushes, restios, and cattails that possess ornamental merit or that can contribute to ecological plantings are described, and practical matters of propagation, growth, and maintenance are also covered. More than 1000 stunning photographs show details of individual plants and hundreds of gardens and landscapes in which grasses play a prominent part. This worthy successor to The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses is a new type of design reference that sets a standard for inspired, sustainable use of grasses.
Customer Reviews:
The best ornamental grass book ever.......2007-08-23
This book is the bible of all ornamental grasses, great pictures for referance and identifacation of grass plants !!!!!!!!!!
Interesting and encyclopedic.......2007-07-05
In depth, beautifully photographed and written by someone who obviously cares a great deal about the subject. Great for reference -- also great just to peruse.
Beautiful book.......2007-06-10
Beautifully illustrated book and so specific. I had a hard time getting used to the detail because most books give you just a paragraph on the grass and very little on care, etc.
It's everything you want to know about Ornamental Grasses and more. Very, very complete reference source. Maybe be a bit too much for a average gardener, but if you love grasses and gardening -- this is an excellent book.
Book Description
Perennial combinations are the building blocks of beautiful, successful gardens. Choosing perennials that look great and grow well together is a skill that can take years to develop, but with this book, you're guaranteed to make perfect plant choices right from the start. In Perennial Combinations, expert plantsman, C. Colston Burrell hand-selects 120 of the best perennial combinations for homeowners, then offers his expert advice on how to grow and use the combinations to create great gardens.Each combination is featured in a stunning color photograph accompanied by a numbered photo key and plant list, so it's easy to find and buy exactly the right plants to re-create the combination in your own garden. Each combination features just two to six plants, so they're perfect for even the smallest garden space. You can plant each combination just as it appears in the book, or for a bigger color splash, just repeat the combination or mix it with others that are suited to the same conditions. You'll find combinations for stunning bloom from spring through fall; combinations especially suited to challenging sites like heavy clay soil or seaside gardens; and combinations just for fun, like fragrant combinations and combinations that attract butterflies.C. Colston Burrell has lived and gardened in different climates across America, so he's made sure this book is useful to gardeners from California to Maine. He's also a professional garden designer, and he's applied his talents to create 22 original garden designs that feature the book's individual combinations. Plus every page includes his personal gardening wisdom, so you'll not only know which perennials to plant together, you'll know how to maintain those perennials so your garden will look beautiful year after year.
Customer Reviews:
a huge help for one new to gardening.......2007-09-21
Being pretty new to perennials but having read many books I was having sort of a writers block when it came to WHAT to put in my new garden.
I knew all about HOW but with so many choices I was overwhelmed!
This book has a good number of templates to give you a jump start and many outstanding photos of combinations of flowers that work together. In fact this has some of the best photos I have ever seen in a garden book.
It also covers difficult situations like what works in Heavy Clay and wet sites an so forth.
My plan was a butterfly garden and they had the perfect template for a 12x8 garden.
Excellent book for beginners or people that are looking for new combinations!! My fav book so far. (out of the 30 I have looked at).
Decent book, lousy photos.......2007-04-25
One of the drawbacks of buying gardening books online is that you can't see the photos. If I had thumbed through this book I don't think I would have purchased it. Not that it doesn't have a lot of good information and ideas. It's just that the photos are, for the most part, awful. The color is garish and over-saturated and the images actually look blurry. Also, many of the plant combo photos are very close up, which doesn't help when you are trying to figure out how to place your perennials when planting. For me, a good gardening book has to not only give useful information and how-tos (which this book does for the most part), but it has to inspire with lovely photos! And that is where this book fails.
No Juice.......2007-03-29
This book was (is) a big disappointment, containing as it does nothing new regarding perennnial combining that isn't covered in at least a dozen or more recent and more interesting books, not to mention the classics. This is perennial combining 202 with no spark of imagination in the pairings that can make a garden jump for joy. The photography is so ordinary and the color is extremly garish. Is that due to the Digital Imaging Specialists Dale Mack and Jane Ramsey or what? I can find no photographic credits (except for the cover) which is probably just as well. Obviously in a book this size (351 pages), from someone who is as accomplished as Mr. Burrell, there is useful information to be gleaned but I already have books that serve that purpose. If I had seen this in a book store, having thumbed through it for a few moments, I would never have bought it. However, if you are just beginning your library of perennial books this one may be useful to you.
Love This Book.......2007-03-22
Although I have a plethora of gardening books, this one stands out as one of my favorites. It shows a picture example on every page. It has planting diagrams (garden plans) so you can duplicate what you see and it gives a lot of information about the plants. It's the best of both worlds - you can use the information and get creative, or follow the plans and duplicate what you see. Either way, you'll have a great garden!
Although I've been gardening for a good many years, it's nice to have a reference as to how things will look together, instead of my usual "plant it here and hope for the best" approach! I'm tired of moving my plants every year.
I bought my book over the winter and it's a great "dream" book. Now I can't wait till I can get out there and put it all to good use!
perennial combos.......2007-02-16
This is a wonderful guide to planning and developing a perennial garden. The author gives examples for numerous planting condition,such as shade, sand, clay. I can't wait for spring!
Amazon.com
Tracy DiSabato-Aust's Well-Designed Mixed Garden provides sound direction for plant lovers looking to free their garden from the doldrums and fashion a rich tapestry of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, vines, grasses, and bulbs. Encyclopedic in scope yet unfailingly attentive to essential details, The Well-Designed Mixed Garden effectively summarizes an array of basic garden design considerations and fundamentals. There are particularly useful chapters on color theory and on drawing up a plan, with precise instructions on what size plants to purchase and how to space them. As with her highly regarded Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques, DiSabato-Aust delves eagerly into plant maintenance, a topic too many garden writers overlook. Though many examples are from the author's own garden or other American Midwest locations, they're largely applicable to other plant hardiness zones. Of particular appeal are a nicely photographed section on attractive plant combinations and a series of handy appendixes for plant selection. Beginners may be overwhelmed by this book's wealth of information, but its comprehensiveness renders it all the more valuable for seasoned gardeners seeking greater practical know-how and a surer grasp of the art of gardening. --Jennifer Wyatt
Book Description
The Well-Designed Mixed Garden is a design book with a difference. Written for gardeners who are passionate about plants of all kinds (hence the "mixed garden" of the title), it reflects decades of professional experience and artistic innovation. As with her bestselling book The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, master designer and plantswoman Tracy DiSabato-Aust provides not only inspiration but also scrupulously organized information on design and connoisseur plants — all from original research dating back to her degree work in horticulture.
Her new offering is a master class of design fundamentals, with an emphasis on often-neglected topics, such as site evaluation, color theory, and planning for maintenance. It is also a gallery of detailed design plans that show how ideas are put onto paper and then translated into three dimensions. Lessons learned in its first two parts are strengthened in an "Encyclopedia of Plant Combinations"; each entry notes the design considerations at play and provides tips on how to keep the combination looking its best. And the lifetime care needs and unique design characteristics of featured plants are summarized in the useful charts and lists that conclude the book. The result is a nearly foolproof guide to every aspect of designing superior gardens with superior plants. With more than 250 color photos and illustrations, this book is as much a feast for the eyes as it will be a trusted reference for the library shelf.
Customer Reviews:
A Flower Gardener's Companion.......2007-09-03
Comprehensive and very user friendly. A book every home flower gardner would want to have.
OK, but not as good as I thought it would be.......2007-05-16
I've heard other gardeners talk about Tracy's books and what an inspiration they are, so I bought "The Well-Designed Mixed Garden" expecting to learn some GREAT ideas for my gardens. It has some good information on principles of design and how to work with color, texture, and so on. But I was disappointed at how weak and uninspiring the section is on plant combinations. She calls it an "encyclopedia of plant combinations," and the section is full of photos of flowers and plants she thinks are winning combinations. The combinations mostly have no real visual appeal, the photos (in that section) are plain, and it's a wasted section of the book. I think there was only one of these combinations that actually looked beautiful. Most of these photos were from her own garden, and perhaps she let her personal affection for her own gardens cloud her judgment on what to include.
I like the rest of the book, however, and her examples of garden designs in other parts of the book have good photos and design layout drawings that are quite useful.
Useful no matter what your garden needs.......2007-05-13
This book is so helpful in figuring out how to mix flowers and plants in border-type gardens. It details color combinations and tells what flowers go well together. It provides pictures of various gardens in different season to provide an idea of how the landscape will look in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
Very good information and easy to understand.......2007-02-05
This is the first book I would recomend to anyone! Ms. Disabato-Aust compiles a vast amount of quality information in one book, and she explains abstract concepts in a way that regular people who aren't master gardeners can understand. She also includes insights from her vast experience; it's not a dry recitation seen in other sources. She explains when and why to break the generally-accepted guidelines.
I've been a hard-core gardener for about three years, and I've already gleaned some of the information from other sources. But I had to read a lot of different books and articles to get it, and it was often contradictory. The book not only ties it all together in a cohesive manner, but gives very detailed examples.
I particularly enjoyed the section on combinations, where Ms. Disabato-Aust explains why certain things work together in a converational tone. Far from being a preening dilletante, the author's manner is friendly and warm.
I only had two complaints, and they are possibly unique to me. As you might expect, the "example" gardens shown used Ms. Disabato-Aust's style of gardening. It's wonderful, but I have a different style, and would have appreciated seeing the gardening principles illustrated using different styles. Second, I garden in North Florida. A fair number of the plants that look so beautiful in her Ohio garden wouldn't make it in North Florida.
Destined to be a classic garden reference........2006-03-24
I'm a master gardener from Illinois,and have heard Tracy Disabato-Aust on a number of occasions. Her book The Well-Tended Perennial Garden has long been our bible for perennials. In this new book, she makes accessible for all gardeners the depth of her experience and research in incorporating many kinds of plants in a mixed border. The book is worth buying for the appendices alone: plants by design and maintenance characteristics as well as common/scientific name cross-references. A must-have garden reference book!
Book Description
Encyclopedic in its range of information, this single volume contains everything you need to know to create a breathtaking perennial garden. Hodgson thoughtfully covers site selection, starting a garden, garden pests, and diseases and gives the lowdown on more than 700 perennials. As he says, 'Some give you great value for your money, some are weeds, and some need special care.' Plants are organized by attribute, from bloom time or light needs to low-care and no-care categories. Each plant description includes vital statistics, a list of the problems and solutions specific to that plant, suggested 'neighbors,' recommended cultivars, plus a color photograph showing both bloom and foliage. Learn how to plan your dream garden and follow the 10 commandments of perennial design to avoid the most common pitfalls of perennial gardening. If you are overwhelmed or intimidated by the choices, simply select one of Hodgson's lovely no-fail designs, such as an entry garden, a shady foliage garden, or even a layer cake garden.
Customer Reviews:
Just not long enough!.......2007-05-10
There just isn't anything to dislike about this book or it's author.
The book contains a vast spectrum of useful information for the novice & veteran gardener alike. Mr. Hodgson is very transparent on his views about 100's of perennials & specific cultivars. He doesn't paint a pretty picture when there's not one to paint. He's honest & up front about the woes of various plants & the nightmares they can haunt us unsuspecting gardeners with. He also shares a wealth of positive examples about those that are a great pleasure to grow in any garden & encourages the reader to find a place in our yard for those special ones.
The authors down to earth approach is a pleasure to experience & he certainly has a gift for sharing his many years of travels around the world & testing thousands of plants.
This is the kind of book that should be in every gardeners library as this kind of information is altogether valuable & beneficial at all levels.
My only disappointment with this book...was that it wasn't much longer to include another few thousand perennials & the authors advice on them.
The author has so much to impart...the reader will be delighted in their purchase of this book. A wise investment indeed!!!!
Great book for Beginner Gardeners.......2007-02-03
I'm a Master Gardener who bought this book for my newly married 26 year old daughter who is planning her first garden. This book has great pictures of PLANTS--not just the flowers on them--as well as garden plans for small doable gardens--9 x 7--as well as larger undertakings. The descriptions of each plant are well done and the book is fun to browse. Good investment for any gardener!
Terrific reference.......2006-05-23
A great reference that I turn to time and time again. And frequently peruse leisurely at bedtime. Especially nice for wintertime dreaming of next season's garden!
There are only a few paragraphs per plant (facing pages, large-ish print), plus a table; but the info is presented concisely enough that I get what I need most of the time. If not, I move on to other resources.
Author's style is very readable, pleasant and good-natured.
The only downside is that more photos would have made a better reference (although probably a more expensive one). One picture -- which could be a flower close-up or a wider shot -- really isn't sufficient if the reader is not familiar with the plant.
Oh, and too often the table information will say "varies by species" (or "cultivar") for entries like size, etc. I think that could have been handled better.
But having said those things, I have to reiterate that I love this book (and its partner, "Annuals for Every Purpose"). So much so that I felt compelled to write this review/recommendation when the title crossed my browsing path... and despite shopping at Amazon for years, I've never done so before.
Enjoy and happy gardening!
Excellent guide for choosing perennials.......2005-04-19
If you are confused and overwhelmed by the large number of perennials available to you, then you might want to take this book along with you on your next trip to the nursery.
The first part of the book covers the basics such as getting started, creating a design, growing perennials and keeping them healthy. The last section of the book profiles perennials that can be used in specific situations, such as dry, wet, sunny or shady areas. Each plant profile includes a photograph, a sidebar listing plant characteristics, and suggestions for companion plantings. Also, the top varities for each plant are listed. Seven garden designs are included if you don't want to design your garden yourself. A very informative and helpful book!
Features plants with handy at-a-glance plant profiles.......2003-12-13
There are perennials for virtually any purpose in the garden, and Larry Hodgson's Perennials For Every Purpose features plants with handy at-a-glance plant profiles to help choose the right ones for garden conditions and taste. Color photos accompany details especially valuable in including common problems and solutions to gardening. The sidebar plant profiles offer very quick details on their use and growing tips.
Book Description
Whether starting from scratch or reviving an old, worn-out flowerbed, gardeners will learn everything they need to know to grow beautiful, blooming perennial gardens in their own yards with this book of gardening tips, tricks, and tonics. Revealed are more than 1,000 secrets for creating flowerbeds that will flourish year after year without having to replant, redesign, or reinvest big bucks on more flowers. Topics include picking and planting the perfect perennials; feeding, weeding, and watering correctly; and controlling bugs, slugs, and other pests. Recipes are provided for more than 50 homemade elixirs that help flowers grow to new heights. In addition, mixtures that use perennials in handy ways are detailed, including a perennial-based window wash, closet freshener, insect spray, and homemade dry cleaning tonic.
Customer Reviews:
every gardener should have this.......2006-04-26
I have been gardening with perennials for years
but I've learned so many new methods from this book
I couldn't put it down. great money saving ideas
I have read it cover to cover
Great for the beginner.......2005-03-20
This book offers lots of helpful tips for the beginning gardener. The author includes many practical ideas for everything from planning and preparing the soil to dealing with common problems. The book also includes a number of his "famous" recipes for a variety of uses in your garden.
Book Description
"Hydrangeas have so many winning attributes, it's hard to imagine an easier group of plants to grow, or any other flowering shrubs capable of providing vibrant color for so long a season"
-from the Introduction
The large number of hydrangea cultivars developed in recent years has done much to increase their popularity across North America. Gardeners in colder regions, who could not grow these brilliant bloomers, now have many choices available. Today there are new super-hardy, dwarf and compact varieties; new colors; and new forms of these satisfying plants.
Glyn Church celebrates these developments in this comprehensive guide. Illustrated with lush color photographs on every page,
Complete Hydrangeas features:
- More than 230 recommended clones, cultivars and related plants
- The latest developments in hybridization
- Planting, pruning, pests and propagation
- Choosing the best plant for the location
- Special advice on growing red, pink and blue blooms
- Using hydrangeas in garden design
- Companion plantings
- Growing in containers
- Caring for cut blooms, and enjoying hydrangeas in the home.
The author's advice, guidance and enthusiasm will have readers enjoying these show-stopping blooms in their own gardens.
Average customer rating:
- A good book!
- In defense of a misunderstood book
- Disappointed, incredibly disappointed.
- General Principles of "New Wave" planting
|
Planting Design: Gardens in Time and Space
Piet Oudolf , and
Noel Kingsbury
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Garden Design
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Landscape
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
By Plant
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
| Begonias
| Berries
| Bonsai
| Cacti
| Citrus Trees
| Clematis
| Dahlias
| Ferns
| Grapes
| Grasses
| Greens
| Hostas
| Hydrangeas
| Irises
| Lavender
| Lilacs
| Lilies
| Magnolias
| Orchids
| Palm Trees
| Peppers & Chiles
| Roses
| Tomatoes
| Tulips
English Gardens
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Home & Garden Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Planting the Natural Garden
-
Designing with Plants
-
Gardens by Design
-
Dream Plants for the Natural Garden
-
Succession Planting for Year-Round Pleasure
ASIN: 0881927406
Release Date: 2005-10-15 |
Book Description
Home gardeners with a keen interest in design, as well as professional landscape designers, will find invaluable advice in this new approach. The book focuses on the general principles behind creating successful and beautiful plant combinations in both time and space-working with perennials in the context of trees, shrubs, and the surrounding landscape. The authors suggest looking across, into, and through the landscape. They ask the reader to consider the rhythms and connections in their designs, through such elements as echoes, linkages, and repetitions. More than just theory, Planting Design includes practical discussion of topics such as soil preparation, plant selection, and garden maintenance. Exceptional photographs show growth of a designed landscape over time, opening the gardener to new ways of seeing and thinking about their landscapes.
Customer Reviews:
A good book!.......2007-06-03
Planting Design is the most important aspect of landscape education and practice. It is also a subject that is very difficult to teach or to learn. This book can alleviate this problem. As the author of Planting Design Illustrated, I know how hard it is to do research and write a book on this subject.
In defense of a misunderstood book.......2006-10-26
As an admirer of Noel Kingsbury's prolific work, I was initially put off by this book. In some passages, it reads like a manifesto on a new approach to gardening. On futher reading, however, I have found it stimulating, valuable, and full of hard-to-find information on cutting edge work in ornamental gardening, particularly in Europe. Its emphasis on design of plantings for reduced maintenance in parks and public areas is not at all off point for the home gardener - certainly for this home gardener. I am 61, have only weekends for gardening, weekends often interrupted by other of life's demands, I garden on a difficult site with heavy wet clay and lots of deer. So any gardening approach that holds out a way to have a beautiful, sustainable garden, using plants suited to existing conditions, that I can create and maintain with minimal effort and time is certainly of value. Moreover, Kingsbury introduces me to some exciting names in gardening and to exciting gardens I've not known of: the work of Cassian Schmidt at Hermanshoff in Germany is only one example. This book is a window into a world of planting design and gardening that most of us have no access to (much of the published literature is in German) and Kingsbury brings it to light. I heartily recommend this book. It is a serious book, and gives more and more on successive readings. If your time is limited, you can reread sections that interest you and find more of value each time. I'm not sure what part Piet Oudolf actually played in this book, but he's certainly the preeminent practitioner of this style, and his apparently loose association with Kingsbury should continue. They are doing exciting work, and this book puts their work into a larger context and gives it a theoretical framework.
Disappointed, incredibly disappointed. .......2006-01-16
I would describe myself as a fan of Oudolf - by adopting and adapting some of his raison-être our own garden has changed beyond recognition, with masses of seasonal interest throughout the year. Kingsbury ghosted Oudolf's original work, Designing with Plants with some aplomb, Henk Gerritsen's turn of phrase in Dream Plants and More Dream Plants was always light, witty and insightful and while Gardening with Grasses seemed to bow to certain conventionalities, for European readers, the book opened up new vistas of possibilities. But with this offering the writers have run out of steam, or rather Kingsbury has as Oudolf appears to have participated little in the book's creation. This time Kingsbury's style is leaden - is the book a re-working of his recent thesis? It stinks of academia. Timber Press has done an excellent job re the images on the hard and dust cover (and this time all the pages are in the right order and the captions are all in English - not the case with my copies of previous work attributed to Oudolf that they have published). But as publishers they mislead in their suggestion that in this book `home gardeners ... will find invaluable advice in this new approach'. First of all the approach is not new, secondly the style is so leaden most would start to doze while reading it and thirdly not all home gardeners have the opportunity for creating public amenities for their community. For professionals the book may be of use but, as another reviewer has suggested, the narrative raises more questions than it answers, and the lists are short and somewhat mean.
Next time Oudolf's name appears on the cover of a new book I will wait until I get my hands on a copy so see what, if anything, is new and inspirational. In the meanwhile I will continue to use my dog-eared copies of previous work attributed to him which are well worth purchasing.
General Principles of "New Wave" planting.......2005-12-19
This book further elaborates and discusses the principles behind Piet Oudolf and Noel Kinsbury "New Wave" herbaceous perennial plantings. It is a general discussion for the serious gardner. Their intent is NOT to provide a step-by-step guide to designing, but suggest a "process" for key plant selection and combination. They are not located in North America, so you will find that some of their plant recommendations are difficult to find, or not specifically suited to your North America Plant Zone and no list can be casually taken from the book directly to your yard, but requires considerable effort on your part to identify those plants specific to your zone. For example, their list of 15 small trees to combine with perennials, only six might grow in my zone, I could not find 2 of those listed in my Sunset Western Garden Book, and 3 listed contradictory information to the Sunset Western Garden Book. So while their discussion of their "methods, discoveries and thoughts" are of interest, it will not easily transfer to a newly designed "new wave" perennial garden for the casual user.
Book Description
Every gardener loves perennials. Buy them and plant them, and most will flourish and even expand year after year. But in addition to reliability, perennials offer gardeners a wonderful opportunity to make a stunning visual statement in their home landscapes--if you know how to combine and arrange them. In The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer, Stephanie Cohen and Nancy Ondra, two top garden writers and teachers, offer fun, organized, and--most important--attainable advice on how to create gorgeous gardens using these beloved plants.
Cohen and Ondra walk the gardener step-by-step through the process of creating new gardens, as well as of bringing new life to gardens that have lost their luster. They explain how to pick perennials that suit the site by making the most of plant color, shape, size, and texture and how to create eye-catching plant combinations. Beautiful illustrations accompany the new garden plans, and stunning photographs capture how Cohen and Ondra have redesigned their own gardens. Throughout the book a lively dialogue between Cohen and Ondra encourages readers to experiment and to create their own satisfying designs.
The authors also offer down-to-earth design solutions for 20 specific types of gardens, including everything from a minimum maintenance garden to a more complex container garden, from planting a formal border to indulging in the controlled chaos of a cottage garden.
Whether you are breaking ground for a new garden, or revitalizing an existing bed, The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer can help every gardener achieve great results--year after year.
Customer Reviews:
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!.......2005-12-13
After seeing this book recommended as one of the year's best by "Fine Gardening" and seeing it as the #3 selection on Amazon . Com for bestsellers I bought the book. Both authors have been in the horticulture field for a combination of over 45 years and it shows. I Googled them. Stephanie Cohen has won some very prestigious awards from both professional groups and garden groups. Her co-author ,
Nancy Ondra, worked as a gardening editor as well as writing numerous top selling books. I liked there use of the newest and latest perennials. I liked the authenticity of using real gardens and the befores and afters.The photos are great. I liked the time-saving tips. The chart of flowers on the back of the book is a winner. However, the best thing about this book is the humor-I love it! Hurrah for a gardening book that shows real people wrote it!
Very busy.............2005-12-12
I bought a half dozen new garden books for myself for winter reading, and including THE PERENNIAL GARDENER'S DESIGN PRIMER by Cohen and Johnson. I have felt I got my money's worth with the others, but found myself disappointed with this book. In time, I may come to appreciate it more, but if I was a new gardener, I would find it overwhelming. Too often, when we are filled with knowledge, we are tempted to share it, and too often, others cannot hear, let alone digest it. This book appears to be one of those efforts where everything but the kitchen sink was tossed in. To say these gals are knowledgeable is an understatement. I am surprised the book made it past the editor's desk. Undoubtedly, she fell asleep.
Oh there are some great photos by Rob Cardillo. For me, the best shot is the boot of a station wagon filled with plants. But the authors soon tell the reader that admiring this scene is a "no-no" How often have you gone nuts at the nursery and filled your car with plants then stood and appreciated the arrangement you made? When you got the plants home and planted them, did they look so nice the next year? The authors suggest that planning your garden on the fly can lead to disaster, and well it might, but I am of the "organic" school and I believe you can move plants if you don't like the arrangement at a later date. These gals are into control big time, however. They want you to draw the design (or better...hire a designer), and then follow your design to the letter. They even designed a "cottage garden" if you can believe that, although it comes out looking like knot garden to my eye. If I did what they suggest I would tie myself in knots. The best arrangements I have "created" are serendipitous choices nature made using the seeds tossed off by my perennials and accidental juxtapositions of plants from seeds dropped by the birds.
The next time you are tempted to undertake garden design, check this book out of the library. You will soon be singing, `Tis a joy to be simple.....
Great Design Manual.......2005-11-18
I have purchased many Garden design books. I want something to just give me an idea and Ill go from there. This book does just that. The color ideas, what to plant with what. Has detailed sketched designs as well as many photographs of actual flower beds.
The quick reference Planning Chart has to be one of my favorite things about the book.
Would I buy it again? yes, I think I would
Great book!.......2005-10-17
I am a Master Gardener, and I love this book. The design ideas are very helpful, there are beautiful color photos and interesting sidebars throughout. I'm reading it cover to cover, not only using it as a reference book.
Love it!.......2005-09-05
Haven't really had much time to read this, but I DID "paw through" it, and it looks even better than expected!
Average customer rating:
- Very disappointing...
- Not a great reference book
- Excellent explanation and examples of mature plantings
- Excellent writing and pictures of ornamental grasses
- The most complete book you could buy for ornamental grasses.
|
Gardening with Grasses
Michael King , and
Piet Oudolf
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Landscape
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Ornamental Plants
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Grasses
| By Plant
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Grasses
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Dutch
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Dutch
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Planting the Natural Garden
-
Dream Plants for the Natural Garden
-
Designing with Plants
-
Grasses: Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design
-
Planting Design: Gardens in Time and Space
ASIN: 0881924113 |
Book Description
Ornamental grasses are among the most versatile and sophisticated of garden plants. Planted as single specimens in beds or on the terrace in a container, grasses are striking focal points. Smaller forms bring rhythm and diversity to mixed borders, and clumping forms richly carpet the ground. This beautifully illustrated book by two imaginative garden designers will provide equal measures of information and inspiration.
Customer Reviews:
Very disappointing..........2000-08-26
I must say, I am astonished that this book has recieved the positive reviews that it has. I bought this book with the intent of gaining knowledge in the area of designing with grasses. I read it from start to finish and found that the entire text consisted of rambling, repetative, generalizations that were devoid of any substantial content. I was completely shocked that the authors would dare publish such wishy-washy material.
In addition, many of the photos are out of focus and the corresponding descriptions are often incomplete. The descriptions of specific grasses are very brief and many very popular grasses are not included at all.
I have never been more disappointed with a book purchase of any kind on any topic.
Not a great reference book.......1999-12-26
I'm writing this review to balance out all of the 'great' reviews this book has received. The book is okay, but it is not a great reference book. It has several faults:
First, the book is suppose to be about grasses, yet 25% of the text discusses garden flowers.
Second, many of the photos are cluttered or blurred. There were few species specific photos that displayed a single clear crisp grass variety.
Third, the book rambles and takes the long way to discribe a simple observation. Some readers will enjoy this style, but it's not for me. I want something that gets to the point.
Fourth, the species reference (called 'Selected Plant Catalogue'), is sparse and dated. For example, Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Overdam' is covered in just three words, 'outstanding variegated form'. Gee ... somehow I was expecting more information. There is not one photo of Overdam in the entire book. Likewise, there is no photo of Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'. These are two very popular grasses to have been leftout.
On the positive side, there are some neat winter photographs of grasses, and the book contains some useful information (but it is difficult to find it when you need it).
This is the kind of book that you're suppose to sit and read from cover to cover. A pleasure reading book. Not what I do with garden books, I read them rather like an encyclopedia - and this is not a good choice for a reference book.
Excellent explanation and examples of mature plantings.......1999-11-11
We are a Landscape Design/Build firm specilizing in using ornamental grasses in our design concepts. We have found this book to be an excellent sales tool to show clients how the mature grasses will look in their L/S design. The text is extremely informative and gives a good basic knowledge of grasses to the novice. The photos are stunning.
Excellent writing and pictures of ornamental grasses.......1998-11-30
This book covers all the different types of ornamental grasses; from choosing cultivars to the many ways they can be used in your garden. The best book I have seen in this area!
The most complete book you could buy for ornamental grasses........1998-06-12
An excellent text on the subject of ornamental grasses. The authors acknowledge that ornamental grasses are only a part of the landscape, and they address the other types of plants that work well with them.
They approach the subject from a landscape design frame of reference, how to work grasses into your garden. This information is usually only available through your own trial and error. King and Oudolf take out the guesswork. What puts this book a step above all others about the same subject is that it informs its readers how to plant in combination with other perennial flowers. The 161 color photos and very thorough coverage of ornamental grasses and their companions make this the most complete package you could buy for incorporating these graceful, ornamental features into your design.
Book Description
In association with Jackson & Perkins, Rose Companions is the first book devoted expressly to the exciting variety of plants that can be grown with roses in the garden. No longer must roses be considered appropriate only for the rose garden. Instead, today's roses offer an impressive array of characteristics that make them ideal plants for many landscape uses, including form, color, and fragrance. And the number of plants that make perfect partners for roses is astounding, including:
- Perennials
- Annuals
- Bulbs
- Shrubs
- Vines
Rose Companions will give gardeners of all levels the information they need to create a beautiful landscape, whether they already have an established garden and want to add roses and other plants to it, or if they are growing roses and want to enhance them with companion plants, or if they are starting from scratch and have always dreamed of a garden lush with flowers-including roses.
Customer Reviews:
A Must for the Rose Gardener's Library.......2005-12-09
The author's rose experience gives the knowledgeable rosarian broader understanding and the novice rich new territory to discover. Roses become assets for gardens rather than specimens separated from the whole. If I had this book when I first began my rose adventures it would have been a constant source of help and inspiration.
good guide to integrating roses.......2005-07-01
This is an excellent guide to integrating roses into a garden with other plants instead of keeping them in a separate location in a bare, mulched rose bed. Well written text and good pictures.
Shame on the publisher, though, for such poor copyediting! Next time pay a good copyeditor or proofreader and spare yourself the embarrassment of roses "baring their hips" (bearing, perhaps?) and "while your nose is ravaging the blooms" (really? RAVAGING?) and miscellaneous omitted words.
Books:
- The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition)
- The Nature of Animal Healing: The Path to Your Pet's Health, Happiness, and Longevity
- The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener (A Gardener's Supply Book)
- The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
- Tile Your World: John Bridge's New Tile Setting Book
- Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization
- Turfgrass Management (7th Edition)
- Under the Radar: Talking to Today's Cynical Consumer
- Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology
- Unsaturated Zone Hydrology for Scientists and Engineers
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock
- Humble Bumbles' Baby Journal: A Keepsake Journal for Baby's First Three Years
- Densitometry in thin layer chromatography: Practice and applications
- I And Thou
- I Can Draw People
- Introduction to Animal Science: Global, Biological, Social and Industry Perspectives
- Labor of Love: Mothers Share the Joy of Childbirth
- The Psychology of Art and the Evolution of the Conscious Brain
- Ethno-Techno: Writings on Performance, Activism and Pedagogy
- Fields of Dreams: Travels in the Wildflower Meadows of America
Rain Gardens: Bringing Water to Life in the Designed Landscape
Green Roof Plants: A Resource and Planting Guide
A Pattern Garden: The Essential Elements of Garden Making
Pots in the Garden: Expert Design and Planting
