No comments about Making the Modern Garden.

5 comments about Outdoor Rooms: Designs for Porches, Terraces, Decks, Gazebos.

1. Or if you love browsing Swedish furniture catalogues, buy this book! Unfortunately, I'm not a big concrete & steel fan or heavily into Swedish furniture. It's a lovely book but if, like me, you're looking for garden inspiration or expecting visions that incorporate trees and plants, look elsewhere and save your money. The designs for outdoor rooms in this book left me cold. I gave it a reasonably good rating because I realize that readers who love modern architecture will probably enjoy it.



2. When looking for fresh ideas and inspiration on how to create the prefect outdoor space you needn't look any further than this book. From a modern symmetrical porch to lush English gardens, it showcases a wide range of styles. With so much to choose from anyone can find something to suit their taste.

   Many of the outdoor rooms have pools. It is amazing how they manage to flawlessly integrate the pools into the environment without making them seem out of place or just thrown there. The magnificent outdoor spaces truly become a part of the home.

   I love the combination of styles and how they compliment one another. One room features the creamy white walls of Greece, a timber roof and hot Mexican colors in a cushioned seat. Large color photos tell the story with brief descriptions of each example.

   In the back there is a sampler of fine furnishing and accessories form a variety of different styles including historical, rustic, Mediterranean/island, and geometric. There is also a helpful directory of design professionals, photographers and product sources.




3. If you need ideas on how to create outdoor spaces for entertaining - this book is for you. Dining, lounging, dining, lounging... Even different photos of the same patio have different place settings on the tables to give you dining ideas. After a while, I began looking for spaces where you could do something other than dine, or lounge. Overall, nice photos of nice outdoor spaces, but limited appeal.



4. This is a great "thumb thur" book. It has really nice pictures of outdoor areas that are very "architectural".... Not helpful for the "average joe" looking for ideas to create your own backyard/outdoor patio/room.



5. This book will set your imagination on fire and motivate you to turn your ordinary backyard into a mini-paradise. Lots of pictures to drool over, you will find yourself thumbing thru it again and again..

5 comments about Landscaping for Dummies.

1. A very informative tome, but I think its tries to achieve too much in what is a rather large and varied subject. Should focus on the basics.............but to be fair still an excellent guide



2. I've been working in commercial landscaping off and on for nearly four years now. I borrowed this book from a friend just to check it out. I think if you are a new homeowner and don't have much experience in landscaping then this book will probably work. If you are familiar with planting tree's and shrubs, bricklaying, fencing, and bordering, then maybe you should try and find something a little more advance. I suppose it depends on how big the project is you are working on.



3. `Landscaping for Dummies' by Philip Giroux, Bob Beckstrom, Lance Walheim and a cast of thousands is a typically ironic example of what you will find in this huge `Dummies' series of books, which started out as a series of texts for PC subjects, where the PC had a knack of making us all feel like dummies. Since then, it has expanded to touch virtually every `practical' subject in the known universe. That is, I haven't seen any `Wittgenstein for Dummies' or `Quantum Thermodynamics for Dummies', as neither of these subjects are things the average intelligent, but uninformed person is likely to pick up to brief themselves for a weekend project of as a start to a new hobby.
   
   The irony of this particular volume is that you really can't make full use of it if you don't have a good head on your shoulders and a fair amount of book learning under your belt, including such arcane High School subjects such as geometry and some building skills such as working with mortar, power saws, a level, and a full-sized shovel.
   
   The first thing you discover is that landscaping is a really big subject. You probably didn't know this, or you would not be considering buying this book. In four `parts', the book breaks the subject down into Designing, Hardscaping, Planting, Planning, and Tips for putting Landscaping to good use. Since this book (and all books in this series) advertises itself as `A Reference for the Rest of Us', I can't complain too much about the odd order of these five subjects, but it does seem that `Objectives' and `Planning' should be Parts I and II respectively, rather than Parts V and IV. I confess that I even bought the book exclusively for its Hardscaping chapter, so I didn't care if that came before or after planning.
   
   Regarding the Hardscaping material, I found it remarkably advanced for a `dummy'. The projects start with simple walkways, but quickly advance to retaining walls, brick walls, and fences. My biggest surprise was the depth to which one must build deep planning into so simple a job as a retaining wall that is installed to square off an annoying slope in your yard. Not only do you have to lay a deep foundation, you also need to worry about drainage and install a special drainage pipe to carry off rainwater. Who Knew!!!
   
   In other Parts of the book, it devotes relatively short chapters to subjects to which one could easily dedicate a whole book. One example is in the selection of a tree or trees to plant in your landscaping project. I looked at the description for Japanese maple (since I happen to have one of these) and found the entry reasonable, but possibly not as detailed as one may want, since it glossed over the fact that the difference in growing speed and average height of the different varieties of Acer Palmatum are sizable, and one will be disappointed if they get the tall lanky variety, when they wanted the low, burly `weeping' variety.
   
   But, if what you want is a first book on the subject, you could really do a lot worse. It has the one essential ingredient for an introductory book, a comprehensive bibliography, which includes not only books, but lots of magazines, professional organizations, and international web sites for getting more information.
   
   I rarely resort to books in this series, but for those of you who want to venture into do it yourself landscaping, this is probably better, and possibly far better than, for example, the `Home Depot' manual on the subject.



4. Did not tell me what I needed to know to pick plants for my yard. I found most of what I needed in Sunset's Western Garden Book (I'm in the western US).



5. This book will give you a basic understanding on what and where to place plants and flowers as well as an idea what is the best grass for the kind of weather in your area. It breaks things down to plain english and provides step by step procedures on landscaping.

5 comments about Land Development Handbook.

1. I primarily work as a structural-architectural engineer and am becoming more and more involved in civil-site work. This handbook is exactly what I was looking for in terms of something that would quickly get me "up to speed" in the fundamentals of civil-site design.
   Of course, no single book could (or should) be thought of as a substitute for the experience and mentoring received from seasoned professionals in a design office, but this one has enough technical explanation and details to get you going with confidence.
   I choose this one over the Colley book (reviewed both before making purchase) as Land Development Handbook has more of the technical info that engineers would seek.



2. As a novice developer, this book put me on the right track without all the confusion and terms I would have never understood. It was simple to understand and after reading it, I felt like I knew a lot more. Very interesting and satisfying. Great reference guide all the way around.



3. As a general civil engineer in private practice this book has provided a good overview on the more abstract side of land development including financing, rezoning, and public involvement. All of which, are topics that typical engineers strugle with as it is not the enjoyable aspect of what engineers are trained to do. Nevertheless, these abstract components are just as real as the plans we develop. Of course, the book is excellent for hands on design and calculation support.



4. very resourceful and informative.
   highly suggest this book if land development is new, or even want something for reference.



5. This is a good reference book, filled with useful texts and details. However, it could be a little more compact and more organize in terms of using section and sub-section to sort things out. That way, it's easier and faster for readers to reference and/or looking up certain topics.

3 comments about Big Book of Garden Designs (Big Book of).

1. Gardening is an exercise in creative horticulture that when done well gives as much attention to esthetics as it does all the other elements contributing to a healthy garden. Fundamental to considerations of a garden's esthetic appearance is its design which can be either formal or informal. Offering more than 110 complete landscaping plans covering a wide range of garden spaces, the "Big Book Of Garden Designs", co-authored by garden design and landscaping experts Marianne Lipanovich and Tom Wilhite, provides even the most novice gardener with practical ideas with respect to specialty gardens, flower gardens, garden beds and borders, sitting spots in a garden, and passage ways. From first impressions and curb appeal, to a horticulturally customized back yard, the "Big Book Of Garden Designs" offers a wonderful combination of practical ideas, inspirations, and examples. Beautifully illustrated throughout, and featuring a chapter on Climate Zones that includes maps and descriptions, the "Big Book Of Garden Designs" is one of the newest additions to the Sunset Books gardening series and a welcome addition to personal and community do-it-yourself gardening guide reference collections.



2. Are you looking out at a bare patch of ground and wishing you knew what to do with it?
   
   Look no further than this book, which is chock full of suggestions. One of the smartest things they have done is to give you a photo of the garden as well as a sketch of the garden in color. It means that whether you live in Maine or San Diego you can adapt the design to your weather zone.
   
   Design ideas include sitting spots, passageways, beds and borders, specialty gardens, flower gardens and color gardens and backyards.
   
   Even if you have the brownest of thumbs and have never planted anything, this in-depth, practical guide will be of help.



3. The garden on the cover is unbelieveable... inside SUNSET breaks down all that the San Jose family did to create thier yard. The homeowner, Samantha, is truly an artist!

5 comments about Sunset Hillside Landscaping.

1. We bought a hillside property a few years ago and didn't know what to do to beautify our slope and make it more useful for gardening and outdoor living. This book gave us a lot of great ideas plus we tried some of the projects in it. The instructions were easy to understand and everything came out great. We really recommend the book!



2. I live in Southern California where there are hills galore. I thought the book showed very pretty pictures and has nice planting tips, but it wasn't very helpful for homeowneres like my husband and I who wanted to try and landscape ourselves. I also purchased a book called Inspirational Terracing which was able to help my husband and I really landscape our yard ourselves with instructions and wonderful ideas for any situation and the author built all the landscapes himself, using afordable stones that the average person can lift. The book has beautiful pictures and it was very useful. It made me wonder how Hillside Landscaping got all their pictures, I think anyone can drive around and take pictures of landscapes that other people have built and work hard to maintain and beautify and turn around and make money off of other peoples hard efforts. It seemed more like a magazine than a book,it had beautiful scenery but used only materials that top notch contractors with huge equiptment, charging heafty prices could pull off. These landscapes are not for the person with an average house, only the upper class, homeowners could never afford these landscapes and nearly all of them could never be attempted by the homeowner.



3. I was a flat-land gardener most of my life, and when we retired and moved to a house with a backyard that sloped steeply down to a small river, I needed ideas on how to landscape our new property.
   
   "Hillside Landscaping" is a sort of pillow book for gardeners. The majority of its beautiful photographs show landscapes that gardeners of modest means can only dream about. I used the book to point out photographs of steps and retaining walls that I liked to the local landscaping firm, then we'd have a good laugh about the price, and work out cheaper compromises. For instance, instead of stone steps I now have wooden stairs leading down to the river.
   
   Don't misunderstand me, though. There are some very good ideas in this book. For instance, we used the suggestion to zig-zag the stairs down the slope, both to make the climb a bit easier (the slope varies from about 1:6 to 1:2) and to make the journey to the river more interesting.
   
   This book is divided into five sections:
   
   * "Understanding your Terrain"--this section is very important, no matter how much money you plan to spend. It discusses types of hillsides (most especially the severity of the slope) , drainage considerations, and whether or not the landscape needs to be reshaped, e.g. terraced.
   
   * "Inspiring Ideas"--beautiful photographs of slopes, decks, patios, steps, retaining walls, water features, etc. with suggestions on placement, materials, and plantings.
   
   * "It's all in the planning"--a very useful chapter, including the ABCs of garden design, and the mechanics of plotting your property. One of this chapter's suggestions that we plan to implement is a 'dry creekbed' to drain water from our backyard slope.
   
   * "Building on slopes"--Many landscaping features such as fences are more challenging to build on a slope. This chapter explains what factors you need to consider when building or gardening on a slope. I learned NOT to pull up weeds and saplings from their downhill side, after yanking out a small alder, losing my balance, and tumbling over the dry-stone retaining wall and down the steps. It was a cheap way of conducting my own bone density scan, but I wouldn't recommend this procedure to anyone else! I was also very glad that we had decided to build the steps out of wood, not stone.
   
   * "Focusing on plants"--Erosion control. Erosion control. Erosion control. Figure out how you're going to work your beds. Use low-maintenance plants "if you want to avoid scrambling around your hillside to perform tasks such as weeding and pruning." There are suggestions on how to water on a slope--very important, and something I didn't think of when originally planning the beds.
   
   "Hillside Landscaping" is useful as well as beautiful and can be used by do-it-yourselfers as well as those of us who plan to hire the muscle to move the stones and build the steps.



4. Fantastic book. Great succinct overview. Provides clarification of what one can do.



5. I've lived with a problematic hillside on my property for many years. I finally hired a landscape designer to solve the problems. Before I signed the contract, I consulted HILLSIDE LANDSCAPING to be certain I was getting the best solution possible. I recommend this book to anyone with hillside gardening or erosion issues.

5 comments about The Essential Garden Design Workbook.

1. I moved into a new house and needed to do something with the landscaping. It is a mess. I cannot afford to hire a professional, so I bought this book hoping it would help me come up with a plan on my own. I haven't finished the book yet, but am finding it very helpful. It is more like a text book on how to draw up a garden plan, aimed at professionals, but it isn't overly technical and is fairly informative. I would have given it 5 five stars except that I am not very artistic, and I wish the book had more info to help me in that regard.



2. I am using this book as a textbook for a Garden Design class. I have several years of garden design experience and have many more years of gardening experience. This book explains the design process in an easy to understand and inspiring way. I have found that it addresses planting and design in subtley different ways that jog my mind to be more creative. It is well written, well designed and very informative.



3. I have been looking for a garden design book for some time that would be heavy on how to lay out the design professionally on paper. This book goes through the progression of the design process and shows each step in the process. It has been extremely helpful in my designing of a three acre property.



4. This book covers all phases of garden design, from original research, obtaining the owner's requirements, site survey sketch, checklist and inventory, to conceptual diagrams, presentation plans, theme plan, preliminary garden layout plan and final planting plans.
   
   It discusses space, light, proportion and scale, color plates, ground plane, vertical plane, overhead plane, materials, texture, principles of planting design, planting styles, practical considerations, seasonal effects, and rendering techniques for various plans. It also has a plant list and plant hardiness zones at the end. This is one of few books that actually discuss the design aspect of gardens / landscaping. Very practical!



5. Whether you're a landscape designer or hands-on gardener, this is an excellent step-by-step workbook. There are many such guidebooks on the market but this is the most comprehensive. It's packed with sketches to illustrate each point the author makes and offers a space-planning system for anyone suffering moments of 'writer's block.' Having worked as a landscape desginer for many years, I pick up this book regularly and rediscover something new each time.

2 comments about Best-Ever Backyard Birding Tips: Hundreds of Easy Ways to Attract the Birds You Love to Watch (Rodale Organic Gardening Books).

1. This book provides good basic information on many types of birds, and lots of tips for becoming bird-friendly. I have been "birding" for several years now, so I was already informed about much of the information provided. It is a good source for what plants/trees/landscape will attract birds and what each species likes to eat. Be aware that it is mainly "black and white" type (actually blue and white) with very minimal color pictures/photos. Pretty good source, especially for a beginner.



2. Great book. Very informative. Started to order this from another source and as always checked with Amazon first and found it for a fraction of the cost.

2 comments about Landscape Architecture, Fourth Edition.

1. This is really THE seminal instroductory book to landscape architecture. It's not really specific enough to be a true reference book, but it covers such a vast range of topics that it would be unrealistic to expect it to be. Instead, Simonds did a fantastic job of summarizing an amazingly broad field one subject at a time. Still, it is not so broad that the reader will fail to see the trees through the forest. It does include a lot of very helpful illustrations and explanations about such topics as spatial relationships and how they create different environments (and subsequently a particular design might be appropriate or inappropriate depending on the circumstances). But that is just one small sample of the kind of valuable lessons this book is filled with. I often start with this book when I approach a subject that is new to me because it gets me on the right track. In that sense, it's not just for beginners. And the 4th edition contains much-needed updates of the outdated photographs that are in the 3rd edition.



2. Simons is certainly an environmentalist, and I love that about him. This is the first text book I have enjoyed reading. He makes excellent points, though it isn't all totally workable. Generally a great book.

5 comments about Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards (Ramsey/Sleeper Architectural Graphic Standards Series).

1. This book is essential for all Landscape Architects and designers and I highly recommend purchasing this latest printing. This book contains everything a designer needs for information and industry-wide standards that are used everyday as well as some that are not used everyday - this book puts it all together into one concise reference that should be kept within arms reach at all stages of the design process. I currently work with the author and he is extremely knowledgeable and experienced. Even if you have previous editions of this book, get this edition as it has been updated with current standards.



2. As an educator and former president of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Chief Landscape Architect and head of the New York City Housing Authority's Landscape Architecture division, Leonard J. Hopper, FASLA has made a significant contribution to the profession of Landscape Architecture by editing and compiling "Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards."
   
   For over 70 years, architects have been using a valuable reference book, "Architectural Graphic Standards." Finally, landscape architects can have a similar reference book, "Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards." This book includes 4 parts. Part One is Practice of Landscape Architecture. It covers overview of the profession, construction documentation, project administration, and legal and environmental factors. Part Two is Standards and Guidelines. It covers human factors, environmental factors (including a lot of sustainable design discussions), cultural factors, security considerations, cite planning, circulation, and accessibility. Part Three is Process, Implementation and Application. It covers construction operations and earthwork, stormwater management, irrigation and water features, pavement and landscape structure, site amenities, planting, special construction, hazard control, restoration and remediation, and parks and recreation. Part Four is Materials. It covers soils, asphalt, concrete, masonry, metals, wood, recreation surfaces, nursery stock, other materials, and evaluating the environmental and human health impacts of materials.
   
   "Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards" has 1088 pages (9.7 x 11.4 inches large format) and many line drawings. It is an important and comprehensive reference book you'll refer to again and again.



3. As another reviewer says, this book is infinitely better organized and user-friendly than Time Saver Standards for LA's while containing all of the same information. I believe that its use to me throughout my career will more than justify its hefty price tag. It should definitely be an addition to any office library.



4. At long last, a definitive reference book on landscape architecture. Especially useful is the section on historic landscapes, which is an excellent summary of this sub-field of landscape architecture.



5. It provides everything it claims to provide. I prefer this book's organization compared to the organization of similar standard books. It's a great quick reference for sport field dimensions and similar details I don't memorize. I know it's accurate and it's at my finger tips.