Garden design and planning Books

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Book SynopsisThe bench: a functional object that rarely features at the forefront of our minds, even when we are sitting on one in a garden. And yet (as this book will reveal) benches have surprising significance, regarding the specific places where they operate, and in a more general sense. The bench is more than a convenient sitting point. It is the domain where aesthetics, garden history, architecture, spatiality and subjectivity interfere. The bench acts as a powerful visual machine and regulates the reception of surrounding landscapes to its visitors. By transmitting verbal messages (through inscriptions), citing other benches and being part of a complex walk circuit, by providing rest and inviting its users to discover new aspects of the site, the bench is a highly polysemic element of a garden, which orients and disorients the visitor simultaneously.

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Book SynopsisNatural stone is the new garden “fashion statement.” Stone paths, walls, steps, dry streams (and more) are low maintenance and enhance a homeowner’s property like no other landscape feature. The element of stone in a garden has two important qualities: function and beauty. It also conveys a sense of permanence and place. Since ancient times, stone has been revered for bringing a special “feel” to a garden. In The Spirit of Stone, award-winning designer Jan Johnsen presents a richly photographed, authoritative guide to creative and practical uses for stone in the landscape: steps, paths, garden walls, dry streams, benches, rock gardens, driveways and more. Stone’s practicality is especially appreciated by homeowners concerned with low maintenance, sustainability and water conservation – with the side benefit of enhancing property value. The Spirit of Stone is an essential idea book and how-to for designers, stonemasons, builders, homeowners and DIYers.Trade Review"If you are planning a project this season, The Spirit of Stone is worth reading before you get started. It will change your perspective on the role of rocks and gravel in your garden." - Christy Wilhelmi "Stone is beautiful, useful, and artful. So writes the author, Jan Johnsen, who then proceeds to illustrate this premise with outstanding photographs. There are so many ways to use stone in our landscapes and Jan offers inspiration as well as technical advice for installations of different types." -Bobbie Schwartz "[Johnsen] has clearly taken her experiences with varied types of stone and turned them into ideas for utilitarian, decorative and accent elements in the garden. Her book comes with instructions for making dry stream beds, stone steps, walkways and rock gardens." -Pat Leuchtman "Johnsen has written a detailed book that is enjoyable to read. Topics range from cactus rock gardens to gravel paths to karensansui—a Japanese “dry landscape.” Inspirational photographs and installation instruction dominate the text, culminating in a plant pallet at the end. Those who are curious about using more stones in their landscape—including those curious about rock gardening as a style—will very much enjoy The Spirit of Stone." -Esther Jackson "As a horticulturist, I must have seen a thousand gardens and not one stone. Fortunately, after reading The Spirit of Stone, I now have “rock awareness” as Jan calls it and I can now see – I even went back to photos I took — that the stones were there all along." -Peggy Riccio "This book is filled with ideas for adding small to large stones to gardens to enhance their beauty." -Joanne Kempinger Demski "If you are looking for inspiration for your own landscape, along with the background on the many ways to add stone, The Spirit of Stone is a great place to start." -Susan Mulvhill

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Book SynopsisHere is a bright new take on foodscaping your garden. Brie Arthur’s Gardening with Grains is a passion project that grew from a light-bulb moment. That is when she realized we’ve been missing a dynamic piece of the burgeoning foodscape movement.We’ve learned the joys of interplanting our blooming flowerbeds with veggies, herbs and berries, but what about the grains, those ancient and beautiful grasses that practically gave us civilization? Why couldn't we grow wheat, barley and oats for winter; corn, rice and sorghum for the warm season?Gardening with Grains is a pioneering book, a companion to Arthur’s The Foodscape Revolution. Richly illustrated, it combines history, environmental benefits and personal stories with simple how-to’s for planning, growing and harvesting those six important grains...plus 12 chef-tested recipes for inspiration. This is a design book, too, with planting patterns and suggestions, no matter how much or how little garden space you have. These grains are ornamental grasses, and they show off beautifully in any setting. The grouped plantings reveal the grains’ varied colors and textures, interplanted with flowers like poppies, larkspur, snapdragons, nigella, zinnias, sunflowers and marigolds. Not only flowers, but salad greens and other decorative veggies play well with grains.Gardening with Grains is foodscaping for fun, beauty and bragging rights. . . and maybe even some homemade beer and bread.(Genus illustrations and garden plans by landscape architect and botanical artist Preston Montague.) Trade Review"Brie Arthur is the one person this world needs now more than ever when it comes to gardening and growing! Her fearless, can-do, pioneering spirit, combined with her infectious enthusiasm and professional horticulture background makes her my go-to source for gardening wisdom. Whenever Brie crosses your path, you just can’t help being inspired to start a garden, grow food, or try something new in your garden." * Joe Lamp'l, Creator & Executive producer: “Growing a Greener World”®; Founder: joegardener.com *"Brie Arthur’s new book, Gardening With Grains is filled with fascinating observations on the beauty, culture and use of a wide variety of grains, coupled with brilliant recommendations for their creative integration into the residential landscape. Her passion for the topic is infectious and will inspire many to make space in their gardens for these important, beguiling plants." * Patrick Cullina, Principle, PATRICK CULLINA HORTICULTURAL DESIGN + CONSULTING, New York, NY *"Brie Arthur has the vision that the landscape can be functional and food producing, as well as decorative. This idea of increased functionality alters the model that home owners and land managers have of the typical landscape. Brie is enthusiastic in promoting the idea that the inclusion of non-traditional landscape plants, for instance grain species, can enhance the target landscape, which becomes more fully utilized for the benefit of home-grown food production and the local environment." * Dr. Gary Bachman, Mississippi State University, Extension/Research Professor of Horticulture *"Brie has a contagious passion for pushing the limits of the role of edible plants in the landscape. Her creativity, optimism, and knowledge have been at the cornerstone of the Foodscape Revolution. Her latest endeavor on grains is not only timely but an interesting way of looking at using some of the world’s most abundant crops as ornamental plants worthy of a place in the residential garden." * Matthew Ross, director, Continuing Education, Longwood Gardens *"In this era of rampant urbanization, Brie Arthur has reignited the cultural conversation around home landscapes and food. Her work calls out the foundation planting or side yard, the often unruly leftovers from construction, as a glaringly missed opportunity to cultivate sustenance and connections." * Kelly D. Norris Director of Horticulture and Education, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden *"Brie Arthur is the real deal. She is extremely knowledgeable. She has worked in all aspects of horticulture under the guidance of some of the gardening greats of our time. Brie is the cheerleader we need to inspire us to action. And, most importantly, she practices what she preaches." * Pam Beck, author of Best Garden Plants for North Carolina *Gardening with Grains is a pioneering book. …Brie Arthur is a leading voice in edible landscaping. You can follow her inspiring, upbeat adventure with growing six key grains in her home garden. From design to planting to harvest, you’ll learn along with Brie how rewarding it can be to add grains as ornamentals or edibles to your own farm-to-table garden. Part One highlights the author’s journey in growing grains and provides an overview on the history of grains in human consumption. Parts Two and Three give detailed directions on how to grow these six grains and suggestions for companion plants. The final Part Four details how to decorate your home with grains, and how to cook with grains using provided recipes. * Christine Thomson * Brie Arthur, author of The Foodscape Revolution, is one of the foremost recent promoters of edible landscaping, or adding beautiful plants you can eat to a garden of ornamentals. … Most of us don’t think about using grains like barley or sorghum as part of our landscapes. This book demonstrates how lovely and also how useful these plants can be. … -- Erica H. SmithIf you are familiar with the name Brie Arthur, then you probably know that she is the author of “The Foodscape Revolution,” [which] explains how and why vegetables should be incorporated into your flower and shrub gardens. Brie is back with a new book: “Gardening with Grains: Bring the versatile beauty of grains into your landscape” (St. Lynn’s Press, 2019). Pause for a moment when you realize how amazing it is that landscape designers have completely missed the point of incorporating grains into the landscape. Is it time? … Growing grains in your landscape is another game changer, in the same manner as using vegetables outside of the typical rows and raised beds that are usually isolated from a “pretty” landscape. …[S]o too can gardening with grains be both decorative and edible. … If you are in a hurry to learn how to garden with grains, then perhaps you should start your search halfway through the book with chapter 7, “Designing with Grains.” But to really get a feel for what grains are all about, then read chapters 5 and 6. [They] provide ample reason for the understanding of grains. Here you will find just six (out of hundreds) different types of cool season grains, including barley, oats and wheat. Then you will read about three warm season grains that have a lot of visual appeal and may even surprise you. These are corn, rice and sorghum. … All of the plants noted above are garden-worthy in many respects. Grains are considered to be the easiest and lowest maintenance edible product to grow and they are attractive-looking plants. …They show off their colors, texture and structure. Grains will also supply food for humans, domesticated animals and wildlife. This is like a horticultural win-win. … Not to be overlooked is a chapter on companion plants such as annuals, perennials and shrubs that work well with grains. Having this type of balance in your garden will provide biological diversity that is the mainstay for having a living ecosystem. And for the piece de resistance for those who like to cook, Brie included a mini cookbook filled with 25 mouth-watering recipes that use the grasses included in her book. You can dine on breakfast, lunch and supper delights. -- George Graine (Graine On Grains)Brie Arthur’s Gardening with Grains Good news! We have an excellent, new resource to glean for tending and keeping ancient grains. Horticulturist Brie Arthur has gone before us, with practiced methods in how to grow agricultural crops at home, in more intimate garden spaces. Gardening with Grains is a thorough, lively reading adventure, a how-to for incorporating pockets of standing grain in our everyday landscapes. Arthur brings us to her home and heart, sharing information, successful gardening advice, best-adapted varieties along with much needed coaching on processing methods. She ends the book with garden-to-table recipes and ways to bring the harvest into home decorating and family diets. Through her eyes, we see that gardening with grains is truly a “pleasing to the eye and good for food” endeavor. Arthur imparts delightful urgency, eerily relevant in today’s economic upheaval. -- Shelley CrammTable of ContentsIntroduction: “Greetings from my sunny front yard in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.” PART ONE: The Story Chapter 1: My Grain Journey Chapter 2: What are Grains and Why Should You Grow Them? Chapter 3: The Entwined History of Humans and Cereal Grains (briefly told) Chapter 4: Ancient Grains, Heirloom Grains, Chemistry and more PART TWO: Meet the Grains Chapter 5: Six Great Grains To Grow: Cool Season: Barley, Oats, Wheat; and Warm Season: Corn, Rice, Sorghum *Genus illustrations by Preston Montague Chapter 6: Other Grains I’ve Grown (or tried to grow!): Amaranth, Buckwheat, Millet, Quinoa, Rye PART THREE: In the Garden Chapter 7: Designing with Grains and Companion Plants *Landscape drawings by Preston Montague Chapter 8: Harvesting, Processing and Storing Your Grains PART FOUR: What’s Your Pleasure? Chapter 9: Decorating with Grains: Bringing the Beauty Indoors Chapter 10: Cooking with Homegrown Grains: 12 easy recipes for a yard-to-table adventure Conclusion Resources Acknowledgments About the Author

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Book SynopsisBuffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers "the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens.Who knew? Buffalo, New York, is the new Ground Zero for free-spirited garden innovation? Learn from the stories of everyday, non-professional gardeners who have unintentionally transformed Buffalo’s urban neighborhoods into a 21st century garden design laboratory. It’s all about seeing your space with new eyes and not letting existing limitations on the ground stop you from being out-of-the-box creative. Each July, over 400 private gardens open to the public to show off their fresh, often quirky, take on outdoor living. There’s nothing quite like “Garden Walk Buffalo,” the largest garden tour in North America.With hundreds of design, planting and DIY tips, authors and show-garden experts Sally Cunningham and Jim Charlier reveal how fences and furnishings, trees and shrubs, art and whimsy – and the element of surprise – work together to change an ordinary space into something uniquely yours: your own unforgettable Buffalo-style garden.Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: Buffalo Style: a New Kind of Garden…livable, relatable, original, free spirited PART ONE: Secrets of one-of-a-kind, unforgettable gardens, Buffalo-style! Chapter 1: Other People’s Gardens: what you can learn from a garden walk Chapter 2: Great Little Gardens and How They Grew Chapter 3: Good Garden Design (in the beginning…) PART TWO: You and Your Site Chapter 4: What Do You Want Your Garden To Be? Chapter 5: What Does Your Garden Want To Be? (your site’s challenges and opportunities) PART THREE: The Bones of Your Unforgettable Garden (design features that make all the difference) Chapter 6: Set the Stage (Frame it!): walls, hedges, fences and more Chapter 7: The Big Bones: immovable objects Chapter 8: Find Your Path: lines, contours, walkways PART FOUR: Let’s Decorate! (making it personal) Chapter 9: Furniture and Hardscape Define Your Style Chapter 10: Art, Collections & Themes Chapter 11: And Now We Choose Plants! PART FIVE: Gardening for the Greater Good: from the neighborhood to the world Chapter 12: Gardening is Transformative…and Contagious Appendix Destination public gardens; U.S. private garden tour listings; Recommended reading Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisIn the 1970s, in the region of the Landes, between Bayonne and Peyrehorade, on the banks of the Adour River, the photographer Jeannette Leroy and the art dealer Paul Haim created a sculpture garden around a modest farm, La Petite Escalère. With the help of the faithful gardener Gilbert Carty, amidst canals, bridges, paths made of railway ties, and many trees and flowers, they installed about 50 works, some of them monumental, by artists such as Rodin, Maillol, Niki de Saint Phalle, Zao Wou-Ki, Françoise Lacampagne, Cárdenas, Mark Di Suvero, Léger, Matta, Zigor… Paul positioned the sculptures, and to help them vanish into the natural environment Jeannette would plant a shrub, a rosebush, dahlias, an oak, a maple, a gingko, a Caucasian walnut… “I don’t want this garden to become ridiculous!” she said. Paul Haim has evoked the bewitching beauty of La Petite Escalère better than anyone else: “The nonchalant visitor will pass from the shade of Les Barthes to the brightness of the Moura, from the freshness of the fountains to the suffocating heat of the forest. Coming around a bush, he allows himselfto be surprised by an unusual presence. Immutable. … Far from the agitations of the world, sinking into nothing-ness, watching the clouds go by, contemplating the places of joy.” Text in English and French.

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Book SynopsisThis beautifully presented monograph features a selection of gardens created between 1982 and 2020 by visionary garden artist Michel Delvosalle. Passionate about nature and the harmony of landscapes, Michel Delvosalle completed his studies as a landscape architect in 1972 and has since enjoyed an extremely varied career as a garden artist, creator of spaces and atmospheres, painter, sculptor and landscape architect. Whilst each garden is unique in its setting and design, they all share the artist’s signature hallmark: the search for harmony and the flexibility to adapt to places and people. Luxuriously bound in natural linen with exquisite full colour photography throughout, this curated selection will inspire designers and garden fans alike.

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Book SynopsisJapanese gardens are found throughout the world today—their unique forms now considered a universal art form. This stunning Japanese gardening book examines the work of five leading landscape architects in North America who are exploring the extraordinary power of Japanese-style garden design to create an immersive experience promoting personal and social well-being. Master garden designers Hoichi Kurisu, Takeo Uesugi, David Slawson, Shin Abe and Marc Keane have each interpreted the style and meaning of the Japanese garden in unique ways in their innovative designs for private, commercial and public spaces. Several recent Japanese-style gardens by each designer are featured in this book with detailed descriptions and sumptuous color photos. Hoichi Kurisu—transformative spaces for spiritual and physical equilibrium. Takeo Uesugi—bright, flowing gardens that evoke joyful living. David Slawson—evocations of native place that fuse with the surrounding landscape. Shin Abe—dynamically balanced "visual stories" that produce meaning and comfort. Marc Keane—reflections on human connections with nature through the art of gardens. Also included are essays on the designers and mini-essays by them about gardens in Japan which have most inspired their work, as well as commentaries by patrons and visitors to their North American gardens. The book focuses on recently-created gardens to suggest how the art form is currently evolving, and to understand how Japanese garden design principles and practices are being adapted to suit the needs and ways of people living and working outside Japan today.Trade Review"Profusely and beautifully illustrated throughout, Visionary Landscapes focuses on recently-created gardens to suggest how the art form is currently evolving, and understanding Japanese garden design principles and practices. Informed and informative, Visionary Landscapes is a delight to browse through and will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Gardening & Horticultural collections in general, and Japanese Gardens supplemental studies reading lists in particular." --Midwest Book Review"Visionary Landscapes caters to gardeners who treat horticulture as a craft or artistry, but also serves as an eye-opening piece for the average reader … It's refreshing to read from an author so passionate about his subject." --Washington Gardener magazine"In Visionary Landscapes: Japanese Garden Design in North America, Kendall H. Brown explores the work of five contemporary Japanese-style garden designers whom he has designated masters of the art … Several of the book's featured designers evoke Japanese landscape painting in their work." --American Society of Landscape Architects

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Book SynopsisBring a mini Japanese garden into your home—whether as a stress-reducing desk accessory, interesting centerpiece or beautiful addition to any space!Bring the tranquility of Japanese garden design into any space in your home or office. Miniature Japanese Gardens shows you how to create simple Japanese-style container gardens using inexpensive plants and materials that are available everywhere!A detailed plan of each "garden" provides a basic template, along with information about plant types and containers. The container itself can be an old pot, ceramic bowl, or just about anything you might have lying around. Such "found" objects lend themselves to the Japanese art of wabi-sabi—the beauty of imperfection. Add rocks and other elements to produce mini Zen gardens that bring a relaxing vibe to any interior space.Miniature Japanese Gardens contains step-by-step instructions and photos of over 40 different projects, including: Kokedama (moss ball) A miniature bamboo grove A variety of bonsai trees And many more! Plus, get inspired by accompanying photos of the Japanese landscape. While you may not be able to have a waterfall in your house, you can channel the same sensation with the help of just the right bonsai plants from this book. Miniature Japanese Gardens will appeal to gardeners, Zen students and small space enthusiasts alike!Trade Review"[Miniature Japanese Gardens] shows you how to create simple Japanese-style container gardens using inexpensive plants and materials that are available everywhere. Diagrams demonstrate how to organize the plants, and step-by-step instructions on how to build and care for your mini gardens." --Desire To Inspire blog"…this book is a great resource about bonsai plants for both newcomers and those experienced in this art." --Self Taught Japanese blog"…And what, to me, is even more important is that once one has read through these pages, and maybe tried to create a few micro-gardens, one can use one's favourite images--maybe taken on a trip to Japan--and construct a living memory." --Shakkei, the journal of the Japanese Garden Society of the UK

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Book SynopsisThis book is a classic of theoretical writing on Chinese gardens by Tongji University Professor Chen Zongzhou, a well-known authority on Chinese gardens. Here, the author sets forth new and novel concepts in garden design and propounds a set of distinctive and penetrating ideas on the subject, including the arrangement of scenes, "in-motion" and "in-position" types of gardens, the handling of hills and water, the planning of buildings, and the laying out of flowers and trees. It elucidates the arrangement of gardens and shows how these relate to human sentiments, and how what is tangible in the garden relates to the intangible. With its unique style this book is not only a theoretical work of garden design, but also a work of rare literary value. This book is published both in Chinese and English. The Chinese version is first written in exquisite handwriting, using the traditional writing brush, then reproduced in photocopy. Included here are photographs of Suzhou Gardens and 32 plates of ancient Chinese garden designs which vividly complement the literature. The book will acquaint the reader with the art of Chinese garden design and will serve as a reference for modern garden designers and tourists. Text in English and Chinese.

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Book SynopsisYangzhou, an historically important site in the Jiangsu province, is one of the most affluent cities in China. This book explores the historical background of Yangzhou gardens and traditional houses in detail, through architectural surveys that offer targeted research and analysis of garden and residential projects. From early on, Yangzhou underwent several economic booms and the rich material base provided great opportunities for its development in art and culture. The unique characteristics of Yangzhou gardens and houses are presented through a wealth of archival images, in addition to a text by the renowned Chinese academic Chen Congzhou. Text in English and Chinese.Table of Contents Foreword Overview Cases of Gardens Summary of Gardens Cases of Residences Summary of Residences Pictures of Gardens Pictures of Residences Pictures of Details Notes In Lieu of Afterword

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the illustrious gardens in Suzhou as both an important page in the history of Chinese gardens, and as a place of recreation and cultivation for the people. Based on architectural surveys of Suzhou gardens and an analysis of Zhuozheng Yuan (the Humble Administrator's Garden) and Liuyuan (the Lingering Garden), this abundantly illustrated book presents the overall gardening characteristics and gardening skills of Jiangnan Garden. Included here are 196 rare archival images of actual gardens, echoed by Song lyrics and calligraphic writing, which provide a comprehensive interpretation of the art of traditional Chinese gardens in both form and shape. The essays are characterised by an urbane and elegant narrative style and occasional passages of lyric expression, and touch on the fields of history, architecture, literature, and painting. The finalised English version faithfully transmits the original meaning, making the whole book a wonderful reading experience. Text in English and Chinese.Table of ContentsIn Lieu of Preface Analysis of Suzhou Gardens Zhuozheng Yuan Liuyuan Other Gardens Notes of the Survey Drawings Afterword

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Book SynopsisIbiza is about beauty, not just the natural beauty of the landscape, the coast and mountains, the abundance of nature, but also the beauty in the spirit of the island. Water is a precious resource in Ibiza, and continuously pouring it into a lawn, or plants that need a lot of water, is both wasteful and time-consuming. If you want an abundant, lovely garden despite the Mediterranean heat and arid landscape, your best bet is to seek out drought-resistant garden plants. Not only will you save water and energy, but they are far more likely to survive long term and create a garden with character and complexity.

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Book SynopsisJacques Simon is unmistakably a very important link in the renewal of French landscape architecture. For the first time in an oeuvre, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian garden culture are combined with typically Latin structures, with classic architectural landscapes. He works as often as possible in situ, and does not shy away from driving the excavator himself. Since the eighties, he has also been creating transitory landscapes: with heavy and less heavy equipment, he brings patterns in fields, cultivated fields, snow-clad grounds, and so on. The list of important realisations by this landscape architect is impressive, and so is his influence.

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