Product Description

Whether it's introducing the soothing sound of water to your garden or choosing plants for graceful winter silhouettes; whether you are landscaping a brownstone backyard or a dry desert retreat, there are lessons to learn from these contemporary garden masters that will forever enhance where you live. The two hundred glorious full-color photographs by Erica Lennard and the engaging text by garden writer and designer Page Dickey capture the spirit and genius of each artist, his or her sources, inspiration, style, philosophy, and method of creation. From the bold southern California designs of Nancy Power to the urban geometries of Maddison Cox to the romantic country gardens of Nancy McCabe, Breaking Ground profiles ten artists who are redefining garden design categories. In addition to the stunning photographs, sketches and garden plans that include ideas for walls, alcoves, borders, planters, ponds, paths, courtyards, and rooftops help inspire ideas and adaptations for the home gardener. In an unusual and practical afterword, Page Dickey describes how she is applying what she learned to her own garden in New York State.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1037293 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

From Amazon.com
This lush book features 10 dynamic modern garden designers who have exploded the boundaries of formal garden design. Some--such as Southern Californian Nancy Power, who designs gardens for Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry, and desert dweller Steve Martino, whose gardens often include large monuments and earthworks--start from a tradition that is less formal and rigid, and it is entirely natural for them to design with bold strokes and startling shapes and colors. Others, including Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, whose gardens often contain very structured hedges and topiaries; French designer Louis Benech, who helped update the garden at the Tuileries; and New Englander Patrick Chassé, who blends Oriental aesthetics with Maine practicality, have found ways to twist formality to their liking and combine it with natural plants and landscapes. The text explores each designer's philosophy, background, techniques, and major commissions with a sense of excitement, and Erica Lennard's photography catches each garden in the perfect light, so that it almost seems to shimmer with dew.

From Library Journal
These profiles of ten international contemporary garden designers reflect ten individual approaches to gardening that coexist to some extent in all gardeners. The designers are each portrayed as distinct individuals, with unique ways of speaking and of shaping gardens, from the bold California designs of Nancy Powers to the urban geometries of Madison Cox to the updated French formal style of Louis Benech. But they also represent current trends in garden design: using bright colors and native plants, especially in xeriscaping; planting in containers; and striving for simplicity. Dickey's detailed descriptions of their gardens and Lennard's sympathetic photographs make each designer's approach so attractive that the reader may be tempted to create ten separate gardens. Dickey, a lecturer and teacher at the New York Botanical Garden and the Horticultural Society of New York, anticipates this with a concluding chapter describing her own reactions. The only flaw here is the lack of a bibliography and index. Recommended for all gardening collections.?Daniel Starr, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
The work here is playful, undaunted by the classical tradition and far more concerned with sensory experience than academic correctness....The excellent text and pictures manage to extract from these gardnes valuable lessons. Michael Pollan, The New York Times Book Review (New York Times Book Review )

These superb photos of contemporary Edens, created by ten garden designers, offer visions of earthly paradise. People magazine (People Magazine )

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable for the garden enthusiast
I enjoyed reading about the different styles of garden designers. It broadens the possibilities in your own garden. Beautiful pictures. It's not for the beginner gardener.