No comments about Mulch It!: A Practical Guide to Using Mulch in the Garden and Landscape.

1 comments about Sowing Empire: Landscape and Colonization.

1. Those of us who have been south of the United States know parts of Latin America fit a stereotype of how tropical countries look. In my case, the stereotype's from old black-and-white movies on television and foreign films. In Latin America, I found the lush greenery I was expecting to find. What I didn't know was quite a bit of it wasn't native. Instead, much of what I thought of as typically tropical was brought in from somewhere else. That's why today's Latin America has bamboo, bougainvillea, citrus, hibiscus, mango, oleander, poinsettia, sugarcane and tamarind!
   
   When did this happen? Jill Casid pinpoints the SOWING EMPIRE activities of the 18th century. During that time, England and France built rival empires in the Caribbean. The English in Jamaica and the French in Saint-Domingue quickly controlled labor, land, technology, trade and transportation. How? They moved things, plants and people around in ways tying Caribbean colonies to the English and French mother countries. They brought some equipment to cut down forests, clear land, and build roads and plantations. African slave labor did the rest. Everything was held in place by non-native plantings and plantation landscaping.
   
   Sugarcane from Java and Tahiti became big cash crops for the Caribbean. Elm, lemon and oak trees lined roads and marked off plantations. Gardens grew and town markets sold apples, artichokes, beans, cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumbers, figs, lettuce, melons, onions, peas, radishes, strawberries, and turnips. None of all this was native.
   
   Successful plantation owners also owned land in their native countries. They hired landscapers to clear these lands, plantation-style, for artificial lakes and such non-native greenery as banana, cherry and pineapple trees. The most famous English landscaper was Lancelot Brown. Colonial landowner, imperial fortune-holder, and English title-holder became one through the Caribbean sugarcane trade. So Brown tried to mix foreign and familiar, non-native and native so comfortably it was as if the English landscape always looked that way. But the result was the same as in the colonies. Having money meant changing the landscape and planting costly non-native greenery. It also meant ordinary people lost their land and their forest and water rights.
   
   The writing style's a bit academic. But the author organizes the facts, the examples and her interpretations well. She includes helpful diagrams, as well as telling art from the times. It's interesting how beautifully non-native plants fit into the Caribbean. It's also interesting how scientists, planters and landscapers became so sure of what should be grown when, where and why. The book's history. But its concerns can still be timely. For don't we worry about what to grow when and where? In our case, though, isn't the why more in terms of current and future diversity and well-being?

5 comments about Cleveland Then and Now (Then & Now).

1. This is a book I know Drew Carey would enjoy since he speaks highly of his hometown! If you are a resident or perhaps planning to visit Cleveland then this book will introduce you to the city's past and present. Great pictures as well. Nice tribute to this great city!



2. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Mr. Grabowksi's choice of subject matter made the book interesting, and the "now" photography is beautiful. How lovely were Superior and Euclid Avenues in the past; modern structures today, in my opinion, pale against the architecture of the old mansions... I enjoyed the glimpse of seeing how people dressed and where they shopped. When is the last time you've been in a "dry goods" store? With a spot on the street to tether your horse? This is a must-have piece of history for Clevelanders and history buffs alike.



3. John J. Grabowski is synonymous with chronicling the history of Cleveland as co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History and writing other books on various aspects of the city.
   
   Working on this project with Diane Ewart Grabowski has yielded a unique view of the city through its architecture from the dawning of the 20th Century to the beginning of the 21st Century.
   
   Using archival photographs from back then and through commissioned works now, the focus is on the downtown area and some residential neighborhoods. There is text that accompanies the various photographs that adds valuable insight on the city.
   
   What makes the book especially interesting is a person can literally "map out" a walking tour of the portions of the city chronicled to get an even better appreciation on how some areas have had remarkable change, while others have roughly remained the same.
   
   While the book should be of particular interest to northeast Ohio residents and schools, Cleveland Then and Now is a history of the visions of developers & political leaders and - most importantly - the people who made the structures teem with activity during work hours and in the neighborhoods with family & friends.



4. This is a wonderful gift for anyone from the Cleveland area as it goes into so many fascinating developments of the region over time.



5. I've been in Cleveland now for about 10 years, having moved here permanently to be with my wife. I'm always learning new things about this interesting and often vexing area. Even though I don't especially like living in the Cleveland/NE Ohio area today (this area has been hit hard economically, and it shows), this book has enabled me to learn much more about the glory, grit, and history of this interesting American city, in words and pictures. Cleveland proper was once the 5th largest American city, and the grandiosity and urban landscape and feel has been captured perfectly with the many turn of the century black & white classic photos of the downtown area, or 'Millionaires Row', just to name 2 geographical areas cited in this book! The 'side by side' juxtaposition of many of the classic 'then' pictures to the 'now' pictures, with many structures and/or buildings still standing, is eerily fascinating to say the least. If you live in NE Ohio, or go there often, this book is a MUST. You won't be able to put it down, and you will be mesmerized by Cleveland's humble industrial beginnings that helped mold NE Ohio into what it has become today! Also, looking at all the photos of people that existed 100 years ago makes you feel your own mortality as well. What is considered 'modern' today will be 'classic' or 'retro' tomorrow!

1 comments about Ecological Aesthetics: Art in Environmental Design: Theory and Practice.

1. Landscapes leave their imprint on human beings. It's the basic intention of this book to make the reader understand landscape as a phenomenon situated between the two (seemingly) opposite poles of nature and culture and, to make us experience the necessity for a sustainable ecological preservation and development of nature through the intervention of art. This is evidenced by a multitude of examples with great illustrations, easy to grasp in the first chapters of the book and becoming increasingly complex and diverse thereafter, particularly in the last part which deals with integrative landscape art. As important and meaningful as the illustrations are the essays compiled in this book. In many respects they provide the fundament for understanding the various images and provide access to the ideas of ecological aesthetics. Although the book may primarily be directed towards artists, art and cultural scientists it is eventually a stimulus for reflexion and an aesthetic joy also for people who, like me, are not active in the art business.

5 comments about Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Site Planning and Design.

1. Good photos but not so pleasure to read it. It covers whole range of landscape architectural topic. It give you the whole picture of this field. If you want to know what't the field about, you may buy it since there are not so many selections for you. However, the text is very dry.



2. I was surprised to see the two prior comments and suspect that they were not written by anyone in the landscape architecture field. This book has been the classic introductory text since the 1960s. As a text, it does not purport to be a definitive reference but rather to acquaint the student and layperson with the breadth of landscape architecture. It is not at all focused on the surface alone--Simonds has been one of the pioneers of sustainable ecological design, and the book proves it, covering, among other topics, natural water systems, native plants, greenways, and climate. As Simonds states, "The work of the landscape architect...is to help bring people...into harmonious relationship with the living earth--with the 'want to be' of the land." This book points us in the right direction!



3. A good example of why you would go to the library or bookstore and see if the book was any good, prior to purchasing. Specifically, author hits a wide range of topics and delves into little. The book lacks summaries and lacks a general direction. Some nice photos, which probably resulted in the excessive price. Save your money.



4. Based on the previous reviews I expected a rigorous, comprehensive, organized & contemporary approach to the topic but was soon disappointed with almost every aspect of the book, It's photo's, text, timeliness, scope, scholarship and even general layout are substandard for 1999.

   The book discusses landscape in primarily visual terms i.e. the landscape is seen as something to be artistically composed according to principles espoused by the Master's of design, i.e. Corb, Wright, etc. as if that is enough. Wrong! For instance, a golf course is a monoculture with environmental benefits equivalent to a parking lot, yet the author cites numerous examples of the genre as something to aspire to.

   Throughout the book, broad statements are made and not explained or justified, i.e. New York City is considered a bad landscape, a sort of icon of man's inhumanity to man, but on the next page Central Park is heralded for it's design and benefits, yet the author doesn't bother to explain either assertion, socially, environmentally, even visually, as if the statements and pictures are self evident.

   In short, if you know nothing about ANY kind of design, perhaps this book is of some help, but if, like me you've studied architecture and are looking to add to your understanding of landscape architecture this book has VERY little to offer.




5. This book covers all aspects of Landscape Architecture. For a student, this book takes landscape architecture and turns it around and exposes all facets. For a professional, it offers more points of view to stimulate your creativity.

No comments about Social Formation and Symbolic Landscape.

No comments about Topographical Stories: Studies in Landscape and Architecture (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture).

No comments about Mississippi Floods: Designing a Shifting Landscape.

No comments about Local Code:: The Constitution of a City at 42 degrees North Latitude.

No comments about The Living Landscape, Second Edition: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning.