No comments about Urban Development: The Logic Of Making Plans.

2 comments about Introduction to Landscape Design, 2nd Edition.

1. "Introduction to Landscape Design" is a very comprehensive, theoretical and philosophical introduction to Landscape Design. It is composed of 4 parts (concepts and overview, design influences, contemporary application, and the future) including 17 chapters. It covers a number of subjects such as landscape meaning (method of study, meanings, axioms for reading the landscape, and landscape interpretation), people, attitudes and perception, education and design thinking, landscape process, available resources and technology, sensual and temporal aspects of perception, visual arts, geometry and circulation as ordering mechanism, spatial development, architecture and site development, placemaking and community building, professional practice, site design as problem solving, an ecology of design and landscape design education.
   
   JOHN L. MOTLOCH, PhD, ASLA, is very knowledgeable. He is a licensed landscape architect, architect, and interior designer, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture in the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin, Texas. He is able to give a very comprehensive discussion on landscape design as a synergism of art and science, and the interplay between buildings and sites. He also discusses aesthetic, human, environmental, and technological issues associated with landscape design and various forces that influence land design.
   
   "Introduction to Landscape Design" has 352 pages and many line drawings and interior black-and-white photos. It is a very comprehensive, theoretical and philosophical introduction to Landscape Design.



2. This book is an excellent introduction to the practical aspects of landscape design. After every chapter, the student can find an extensive bibliography for further study or reference. All concepts are clearly explained, especially spatial perception and projects. If you are looking for a one-in-all book, this is it. However, do not expect it to say much about the history of landscape design. This is a practical book only, but first quality!!!

1 comments about From Aztec to High Tech: Architecture and Landscape across the Mexico-United States Border (Creating the North American Landscape).

1. (From Planeta.com Journal) - Subtitled "Architecture and Landscape across the Mexico-United States Border, this book is tour-de-force that gives visual explanations of the great changes at the heart of the US/Mexico Borderlands. The book is expertly illustrated with maps and black-and-white photos, but the majority is space has been crafted by the author. It's a wonderful medley of observations, historical anecdotes and interviews with the architects themselves. Highly recommended.

3 comments about Native Texas Gardens: Maximum Beauty Minimum Upkeep.

1. For one who loves books they visit libraries and book stores to just smell the paper. Well that works for lovers of gardens also. This book contains picture of beautiful and practical gardens. I have to admit I bought it for pictures of my favorite garden that people come from neighboring states to see. That is Weston Gardens (designed by Randy Weston). Ninety percent of my plants and ideas come form walking through Weston gardens. Many of the other gardens also have practical ideas for Texas gardens.



2. An eye-opening look at what can be done with natives. This book probably couldn't have been done ten years ago, but clearly the native plant movement is alive and well and growing by leaps and bounds. Common sense gardening. A must for any Texas homeowner.



3. I was disappointed in latest Wasowski book. Projects by landscape architects using Texas natives seemed more like Texas architectural guide.Pictures were small and one did not recognize xeriscape award recipient,Ron Bolton of Dripping Springs. References in back were useful.Good coffee table/novice gardener book.

No comments about Mosaics - West 8.

2 comments about Site Work & Landscape Cost Data (Means Site Work and Landscape Cost Data).

1. This cost data is very useful for estimating the cost of demolition and remediation of plants and facilities sites. I believe it is the best information available at a reasonable price.



2. The R.S. means Landscaping and Site Work, 2002 cost data guide can help and hurt. It is full of wonderful data and prices that are a general standard in the industry. It is not a guide though, for the beginner. I made the mistake of using the guide for estimating purposes. If used in this manner, you end up with an over-inflated bid. I now understand that this is just a reference guide and not an estimating tool. Overall it is packed with a wealth of information, but on the downside it takes some time to understand, and use properly.

No comments about The Oxford Companion to the Garden.

2 comments about Patios and Walkways (Do It Yourself).

1. Step by step pictures are easy to follow and informative. This book is set out in a user friendly manner and one of the best of it's type I have read.



2. The organization is excellent; the presentation of a series of sample projects makes the information very accessible to the novice, while providing some flexibility in how you can use the book. If one of the projects is exactly what you want to do, just read that section and plunge right in. If you don't know what you want to do, or want to do something a little different from what is described, read the entire book and get a good understanding of both basic principles and the variations that are possible. I had nothing bad to say about this book immediately after reading it (several times), but imagine my surprise when, while researching concrete pavers online, I ran across a familiar photograph - from this book - at a paver manufacturer's website. Reading the acknowledgements and copyright info for the book confirmed it - a number of the supplemental photographs are marketing materials provided by manufacturers. No wonder that this book seems to imply that pre-cast concrete pavers are the greatest thing since sliced bread! It seems obvious in retrospect that the book is biased by this manufacturer input. For this reason, if you are hoping to save a lot of money with DIY, this may not be the book for you. It doesn't cover the cheapest patio/walkway options (gravel and concrete), and the emphasis is more on saving money on labor so that you can spend extravagantly on materials. If you already know that gravel and concrete aren't quite right for you, then this might be just the book you need.

4 comments about The New American Swimming Pool: Innovations in Design and Construction: 40 Case Studies (New American).

1. I think the book's inside cover is close to correct...
   
   "Lavishly prodiced, The New American Swimming Pool is an invaluable and practical refernce book [Pool Owner - maybe not practical]. It is a fresh, important source of inspiration for architecture and landscape architecture enthusiasts, homeowners, architects, landscape architects, landscape designers, and pool contractors."
   
   [...]



2. This is a great pool book if you're contemplating building a classy pool with beautiful landscaping.



3. ...there is absolutely nothing on construction. It's a coffee table book at best!



4. Not just great photos and ideas. This book give details on all the pools, including geographical location, size, depth, color of plaster, type of coping and decking/terrace, etc. Although there are a lot of great books out with wonderful pictures, this one doesn't have all tropical pools, which is nice for those of us who don't have a jungle of palms! Very nice designs for those who live in temperate climates or with more traditional yards/homes. Best pool book yet.

3 comments about Gardening with Prairie Plants: How to Create Beautiful Native Landscapes.

1. Searching Amazon for horticultural books on native and prairie plants? Look no further, this is the best of all the offerings.
   
   Part how-to, part field guide, and part history lesson; the Wasowski's have quite effectively authored a book about a large topic that can be enjoyed by experienced professionals and newcomers alike. Just by reading a few pages one can tell Sally Wasowskis' passion for the prairie, this is obviously a person who loves what they are doing. There is a lot to learn from her experience.
   
   Refreshing and unlike other books, is the mix of science into common place language. Plants are listed by scientific family--not the color of their flower. Then by common name with the scientific name following. As a departure from every other prairie book, the scientific names are given their pronunciation in parenthesis (YEA!). Then a description of habitat range, unique features, and often reference the medicinal uses by Native Americans or a little science of leaf structure, for example.
   
   Gardening With Prairie Plants is not written from the perspective of let's say Illinois, where the prairie goes full throttle. It includes native plants that extend into the South, the West, and notably Canada. So if you don't live in the Midwest the reader certainly won't feel left out. The Wasowski's have traveled to all these areas and the plants are discussed on the basis of prairie plants being part of a hemisphere.
   
   Much of the success of this book, and this may go unnoticed by other reviews, is the wonderful photography. All photos are in color. Andy Wasowski has done a superb job whether its the detail of a complex flower or a wide sweeping vista of the American West. The pictures are well placed and compliment the the text well. This book also makes for an interesting coffee table book too.
   
   The best of the prairie gardening books, this is a well spent $30, you won't be disappointed!



2. This book gives general principles of gardens with prairie plants, examples of actual gardens, a few plans and lots of information on specific plants. The information on the plants is the highlight of the book. The plans that they show are excellent.



3. [Gardening with Prairie Plants by Sally Wasowski], Native Plant Society of Texas News, 20 (March April 2002): 5.

   Convincing people that native flora are ideal for their home landscape should be easy. Colorful native plants flower as early as late February and continue to bloom until late June. After a respite during the intense heat and withering drought of summer, a riot of blossoms emerge again from September until the first frost of late autumn. Few gardens comprised of commercially popular non-native plants can compete with the duration of such a showy display. And few can match the low maintenance, the reduced water requirements, and the environmental benefits of native-flora horticulture.

   Sally Wasowski's latest book, Gardening with Prairie Plants, is aimed at converting skeptics who doubt that native-plant landscapes can make any difference in the world. These are people who argue the futility of trying to reverse the course of things in any given region. In reply, Wasowski points to native-plant landscaping as one way to preserve biodiversity. Biodiversity is like the human auto-immune system; it provides an eco-system with the means for successfully adjusting to disruptive new conditions.
   Wasowski has a good chance of succeeding against the skeptics because her volume-reasonably-priced and readily available in Texas bookstores-is excellently produced. Not only is her well-informed commentary accessible to the average reader, but Andy Wasowski's accompanying color photographs are spectacular. The publisher wisely opted to print large illustrations, and the 241 that appear in Gardening with Prairie Plants prove the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Since Texas is a prairie state, there are attractive photos of Brown County, Quitaque, Gruene, Fort Worth and Lubbock, among other Lone Star State locales.

   Gardening with Prairie Plants commences with several instructive definitions, such as the difference between short-grass prairies, which tend to be found in dry regions subject to very hot weather, and long-grass prairies, which tend to be found in wet regions subject to very cold weather. But such distinctions can become somewhat more complex, and Wasowski negotiates various qualifications in an easy-to-understand way. Her book then proceeds to consider the design, installation and maintenance of prairie gardens. This section is highlighted by photographs of homes, schools and museums exemplifying successful transitions to native landscaping. The impressive experiment at Selah Ranch in Johnson City is also featured.

   Most of Wasowski's book is devoted to plant profiles, which comprise a richly illustrated section of the volume and are accompanied by helpful horticultural data and numerous floral distribution maps. The flowers populating this portion of the book are so appealingly presented that it will be hard for some readers to resist wanting to adopt all of them. Consider, for example, the allure of the beautiful photograph of needle-and-thread (Hesperostipa comata), accompanied by this description: "Needle-and-thread sways in the slightest wind with a motion like water, and the awns have a silvery cast. ... Wind blows the `needle' onto the soil. The threadlike 5-to-8-inch awn is twisted behind the needle, and as it unwinds, the seed is literally drilled into the soil."

   Gardening with Prairie Plants is an admirable work. It will be cherished by anyone devoted to native flora, but it will appeal equally to those who have as yet made only a modest foray into native-plant landscaping. Gardening with Prairie Plants is not only extraordinarily useful, it is also exceptionally beautiful-a lavishly designed book for enthusiast and dreamer alike.

   William J. Scheick, a former NPSOT vice-president, is also a member of the Central Texas Horticulture Council and a frequent contributor to Texas Gardener.