Gardening with Nature : How James van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme Plant Slopes, Meadows, Outdoor Rooms, and Garden Screens (Random House Gardening Series)

Rating:
Summary: Nice ideas if you own a park
Review: Although the landscapes in this book are beautiful, most of the properties shown were massive, complete with beautiful natural views surrounding them. It was fun to look at the pictures, but realistically, most people aren't dealing with the situations shown here. One terrace garden was shown, but it was small and unremarkable. All the properties shown are on the east coast, so the plant choices are not particularly useful for folks who live west of the Mississippi. It's an interesting way to spend a few minutes looking at the pictures, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone to use in planning a garden.

Rating:
Summary: My top choice!
Review: I borrowed a dozen books on naturalistic planting from a friend of mine that is REALLY into gardening. All of the books had beautiful photographs and some were interesting to read but only "Gardening With Nature" told me how to design a natural garden for my house. I'm so impressed I'm going to fork over my own money to buy it!

Rating:
Summary: for those who hate to mow
Review: This method has become my new gardening bible. It has an up to date, environmentally friendly, low maintenance approach. This book will not appeal to those who like large expanses of cut grass. The focus is on reducing or eliminating cut grass and massing plants. This style creates important habitats for birds and insects that we destroy with large lawns and weed killers and fertilizers. And the effect is very beautiful!