Product Description

A well-designed garden provides pleasure to owner and visitor alike but often eludes even the most experienced gardener. The Essential Garden Design Workbook guides you through every stage of designing a garden, from site assessment to drawing up plans and selecting suitable materials. Here you will learn how to assess your site and experiment with design ideas that fit well with the garden's surroundings. You will find easy ways to measure large spaces, estimate the height of a tree, and determine the right proportions for a deck, pathway, or steps. The book includes clear instructions for drawing up plans from initial concept diagram to final design. This book is tailor made for hands-on gardeners who want to rework their gardens to achieve that sought-after 'designer finish'. Hundreds of explanatory drawings and quick-reference diagrams make this workbook a vital addition to the bookshelves of every gardener, design student, and professional. By working through this book from start to finish, a designer garden is within everyone's reach.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96835 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Turtleback
• 292 pages

Review
Alexander presents an excellent, comprehensive overview of a complicated subject, with many excellent examples.Better Homes and Gardens, May 2005 (Better Homes and Gardens )

Highly recommended as a detailed instructional for learning to blend individually creative instincts with practical necessities to create truly memorable gardens. James A. Cox, Bookwatch, March 2005 (Bookwatch )

This is a comprehensive, almost scholarly guide to the secrets of good garden design.Amy Stewart, American Gardener, March/April 2005 (American Gardener )

About the Author
Founder and Principal of The English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden, London, Rosemary Alexander writes and lectures worldwide on garden design. She has worked on a wide range of gardens throughout the world. For eleven years she was tenant of the National Trust property, Stoneacre, in Kent, where she created a romantic, old world garden. She now lives in Hampshire where she has made a new garden.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
If you would like a water feature in your garden, begin by considering the different types before deciding on the form it will take.Water has a seductive, elusive quality that can greatly enhance any setting and, when used effectively, is able to command more attention than any other garden feature. It has the attribute of reflecting light but also has, in the garden layout, a similar strength to a solid structure. If well designed and integrated, a water feature can be a great asset to a garden, but, if used badly, it can be a depressing mistake. Water should be used with discretion, becoming part of the structure of your design. In small gardens, water is best used formally, either in conjunction with a building or as a sculptural feature or fountain. Using water informally, in free-form shapes imitating natural ponds, requires more space. Decide early on which type of water feature you want, and then decide whether it should flow or be static. The safety aspect, particularly for children, is of prime concern being caged in as a precaution does not enhance any water feature. Although perhaps the single most magical feature in a garden, water is also the most difficult subject to get right. Once you have decided on your concept, it may be advisable to call in a water specialist who should be able to foresee any potential problems. Water has been prized in the design of gardens since ancient times. It was used as an integral part of many early Mogul, Persian and Islamic gardens, cooling down the atmosphere, soothing the spirits and giving an additional dimension to a flat landscape. In Europe during the Renaissance a renewed interest in hydraulics led to a proliferation of water devices, particularly in Italian and French gardens. Fountains had huge jets of water that soared into the air; grottoes had trick water features, which, to the amusement of the host, soaked unsuspecting visitors; cascades tumbled down water staircases; and a series of spouts and rills emitted sounds that imitated music. It was the height of fashion to include an unusual water feature in a garden setting, and wealthy landowners who took pride in their gardens engaged designers with knowledge of modern hydraulics to turn their fantasies into reality. Although today we accept hydraulic systems, such as pumps, as part of everyday life, there is still huge scope for the imagination when it comes to using water in a garden. Water awakens the senses. Its movement and reflection provide a feast for the eyes; the range of sounds it produces, from gentle dripping to loud crashing, has the ability to calm or invigorate; and its tactile quality, whether liquid or in the form of ice, is fascinating. When used in a garden it can provide a home for plants and wildlife, colourful swirls of fish and water plants adding to its visual appeal. Water can also enhance the quality of other materials, deepening the colours of mosaic tiles, for instance, or highlighting the smooth sur

Customer Reviews

A good and very practical garden design book
This book covers all phases of garden design, from original research, obtaining the owner's requirements, site survey sketch, checklist and inventory, to conceptual diagrams, presentation plans, theme plan, preliminary garden layout plan and final planting plans.

It discusses space, light, proportion and scale, color plates, ground plane, vertical plane, overhead plane, materials, texture, principles of planting design, planting styles, practical considerations, seasonal effects, and rendering techniques for various plans. It also has a plant list and plant hardiness zones at the end. This is one of few books that actually discuss the design aspect of gardens / landscaping. Very practical!

Gang Chen, Author of "LEED AP Exam Guide" & "Planting Design Illustrated." LEED AP, AIA