Planting

As a fan of both Noel Kingsbury and Piet Oudolf, pre-ordering this book was a no-brainer. But the "real thing" has been far and away more than I could have anticipated in a gardening reference.First, it was exciting to see several of my own planting combos shown here - to see that ideas that I came about on my own just by experimenting in our gardens were used by such esteemed designers gave my little plot some welcome credibility and gave me some positive feedback for my own gardening aesthetic. What was especially helpful was to see how I could enhance these groupings with the addition of another plant I would not have thought of on my own.The plant performance chapter and the chapter on groupings have post-its marking them as they are invaluable. They provide critical information for being able to plan what to plant together and knowing the plant is going to look like during all 4 seasons, how it may spread, what you can expect in terms of performance, etc.This is not a basic how to nor a book you sit down and read from cover to cover. This is a book that sits on your nightstand and that you use as a gardening planning and reference guide, day after day, and my guess is, season after season. I find myself walking through the garden, book in hand, looking at different beds in our garden and exploring new options for making them better. Or I will lie in bed, reviewing photos of the garden and comparing my amateur efforts with the designs in the book. There is no shortage of ideas, the photos are spectacular, and the information is a gardener's dream.My one regret is that this book wasn't available in 2003 when I was designing my own gardens. It would have been immensely helpful to have had the benefit of much of this information then. However, I am understanding even better why some things worked and others didn't, and how to make things that I have been struggling with even better.This is not a basic guide, bit for someone who is a serious gardener with some room to plant some serious beds, it's a definite "must have" on your reference shelf.

This is a very enjoyable and informative book about 'naturalistic' planting design. It focuses on the forms/architecture of perennial plants and theories of how to combine them for visually richness. It reviews many well-known designers' styles and techniques and breaks them down into a clear, easy to understand language and syntax. It is focused more on open, sunny planting sites, but does briefly mention woodland edge plantings - in any case, the design language is the same, but the syntax is different. There are many rules of thumb to note, but the whole book is a great collection of planting design theories that have been well tested. I recommend this if you are a hobby gardener looking for the techniques used for 'magazine cover' plantings or if you're a designer who wants to understand the history, evolution, and theory of planting design to inform your own creativity. I haven't found another book that discusses theory so thoroughly and in a manner that is so clear and adaptable.

The planting style described in this book could be used in a home garden but the book is actually about designing for larger public spaces. It covers concepts to consider when designing including: a maintenance plan, local ecology, plant structure & silhouette, species longevity and how plants spread. It also has an interesting section on current trends in garden design.With garden book, I often read only part of the book and then look at the pictures. Not this time, I read it cover to cover and enjoyed the text as well as the great pictures.

The book references large public installations, such the High Line quite a bit, so sometimes it seemed the audience was not intended to be your general home gardener. To be fair, the book is an introduction to new gardening philosophy and must be presented accordingly. All the same, the pictures are lovely and provide wonderful examples of positioning plants, etc. It will be useful, but by no means the end all be all gardening book.

Chock full of great photos and design concepts to help anyone being to undertake a garden design that matches his style. It was more detailed and helpful than I assumed. Can’t wait to hear him speak in Detroit this October about his plans for a local garden on Belle Isle and possibly elsewhere in Detroit. One caveat: this is the first of his books I am reviewing but it meets exactly what I was seeking.

I really hesitated to buy this book, as I really don't care to use exotic and native cultivars in my midwest prairie plantings. But, I was really happy I did purchase it. There are really good ideas for design, and using an artistic filter to create beautiful, cohesive plantings. The book gave deeper info. about the architecture and longevity of various types of plants, which I found very helpful. Though I will not choose many of the plant species highlighted, I can use the guidelines of plant architecture, longevity, and "look" to come up with native prairie alternatives that are similar.I'd say this is a book for people that want to think deeper about landscape design, and not just use cookie cutter planting layouts/plant lists, like so many beginner books do.

I've been researching "naturalistic" garden design. Books I've found are beautiful, but don't list the plants or planting diagrams. This book is written and presented by the best. I am very happy to have this reference.

Great for beautiful photos. Great for in-depth, appropriately technical information that even an experienced gardener would learn from. And a good bedtime read!