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Rating: 
Summary: Best landscaping book ever!!
Review: I have purchased a great many books on this subject and this is far and away the best. Helpful tips on what plants to put in different conditions, settings and combinations, as well as plans to help get you started. I've used it over and over and have given copies to numerous friends.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for do-it-yourself landscaping
Review: I purchased several books on landscaping and I found this book to be the most valuable to me. We recently landscaped the front of our home and since we live in upstate New York we needed some guidance in plant selection for colder climates. I found myself looking at this book over and over while researching what plants to use. The book is well organized with many useful photos, plant descriptions and profiles. As a result, I was well informed when I went to purchase the plants at the nursery and was confident in my plant selection. It was money well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent lists and descriptions of cold hardy plants
Review: If you are just starting to landscape this is the place to start. Like many books there are quite a few landscape plans, but this book does three things others don't:1)Shows many variations of the same plan (shade and sun, fall color and spring, when planted and when mature). 2)Clearly lists the name and quantity of each plant required, plus the plans are to scale so plant spacing is easy. (You or your installer could work directly from these plans or you can scale the plans up or down to fit your lot) 3)Has an excellent reference section for all of the plants listed on the plans. This feature alone makes the book a good buy for Northeastern gardeners since most landscape books suggest buying a separate, comprehensive plant reference book - that will always contain many,many,many plants not suitable to the Northeast.
Rating:
Summary: Used over and over!
Review: This book offers everything a gardener in the northeast needs to easily plan, design, plant, and maintain wonderful landscaping. The bulk of the book offers design plans--photos & drawings of landscaped areas, together with a description of each of the plants shown and a mapped-out grid to assist you in recreating the design in your own garden. Substitute plantings are suggested, and in most places the design is shown as it appears in different seasons. And the designs are DEFINITELY not difficult to follow! So many gardening books offer plans that I couldn't hope to recreate--this book stands out for its ease of use. Examples of the twenty-three different designs: 1) Enclosing a patio with foliage & flowers; 2) creating a welcoming walkway to your front door; 3) enhancing your curbside strip; 4) using a two-tier garden to replace a short slope; 5) creating a no-mow slope; 6) creating a shady hideaway; and 7) fitting a formal garden into your backyard. I planted one of their designs myself--"A Neighborly Corner." I was worried about how to define the corner lot line of my odd-shaped lot, especially since I live in a neighborhood with few fences and no obvious divisions between properties. My next-door neighbors love what I did, and several others have stopped to ask what the various plants are so they can try them in their own gardens. Even if you don't have large areas to plant, but merely want to fill in holes in your garden or improve the overall look of your property, this book is wonderful. The last 25 pages of the book consist of plant profiles, all of which work wonderfully in the chilly northeast. And there are several sections on designing walkways, building trellises, planting basics, etc. I found this book to be well worth the price, and several of my neighbors have gone out to buy their own copies after borrowing mine. I've used it over and over and recommend it without hesitation.
Rating:
Summary: Used over and over!
Review: This book offers everything a gardener in the northeast needs to easily plan, design, plant, and maintain wonderful landscaping. The bulk of the book offers design plans--photos & drawings of landscaped areas, together with a description of each of the plants shown and a mapped-out grid to assist you in recreating the design in your own garden. Substitute plantings are suggested, and in most places the design is shown as it appears in different seasons. And the designs are DEFINITELY not difficult to follow! So many gardening books offer plans that I couldn't hope to recreate--this book stands out for its ease of use. Examples of the twenty-three different designs: 1) Enclosing a patio with foliage & flowers; 2) creating a welcoming walkway to your front door; 3) enhancing your curbside strip; 4) using a two-tier garden to replace a short slope; 5) creating a no-mow slope; 6) creating a shady hideaway; and 7) fitting a formal garden into your backyard. I planted one of their designs myself--"A Neighborly Corner." I was worried about how to define the corner lot line of my odd-shaped lot, especially since I live in a neighborhood with few fences and no obvious divisions between properties. My next-door neighbors love what I did, and several others have stopped to ask what the various plants are so they can try them in their own gardens. Even if you don't have large areas to plant, but merely want to fill in holes in your garden or improve the overall look of your property, this book is wonderful. The last 25 pages of the book consist of plant profiles, all of which work wonderfully in the chilly northeast. And there are several sections on designing walkways, building trellises, planting basics, etc. I found this book to be well worth the price, and several of my neighbors have gone out to buy their own copies after borrowing mine. I've used it over and over and recommend it without hesitation.
Rating:
Summary: Best Landscaping Book I've Found
Review: This is a wonderful book. I constantly use it as a reference and keep meaning to bring it with me when I go to the nursery. (Otherwise I come home with plants like Larkspur, which look beautiful now, but might not make it through the winter.) It is divided into three sections. The first, Portfolios of Designs is full of plans for every location, sun or shade. The Guide to Installaton shows you how to do everything from making wooden planters, building a retaining wall, creating paths and walkways, to installing a pond. The third section, Plant Profiles, gives descriptions and care information for all of the plants in the designs. I have only one criticism. Cost doesn't appear to be a factor in any of these designs, most call for dozens of plants. It would be nice if they had a few designs for those on a smaller budget. P.S. Just an update to this review. After trying some of these designs out, I think people need to remember when planting to be careful to match bloom times for their bulbs and perennials. The illustrations show everyhing in bloom during a particular season, but for instance in spring, some varieties might be in bloom in April, others in May or early June. In particular for the design on page 32, Angle of Repose, I'd go with Scilla siberica instead of Spanish bluebells, so they bloom at the same time as the daffodils. (Also, for those who were wondering, two out of the three Larkspur I planted survived the winter.)
Rating:
Summary: Best Landscaping Book I've Found
Review: This is a wonderful book. I constantly use it as a reference and keep meaning to bring it with me when I go to the nursery. (Otherwise I come home with plants like Larkspur, which look beautiful now, but might not make it through the winter.) It is divided into three sections. The first, Portfolios of Designs is full of plans for every location, sun or shade. The Guide to Installaton shows you how to do everything from making wooden planters, building a retaining wall, creating paths and walkways, to installing a pond. The third section, Plant Profiles, gives descriptions and care information for all of the plants in the designs. I have only one criticism. Cost doesn't appear to be a factor in any of these designs, most call for dozens of plants. It would be nice if they had a few designs for those on a smaller budget. P.S. Just an update to this review. After trying some of these designs out, I think people need to remember when planting to be careful to match bloom times for their bulbs and perennials. The illustrations show everyhing in bloom during a particular season, but for instance in spring, some varieties might be in bloom in April, others in May or early June. In particular for the design on page 32, Angle of Repose, I'd go with Scilla siberica instead of Spanish bluebells, so they bloom at the same time as the daffodils. (Also, for those who were wondering, two out of the three Larkspur I planted survived the winter.)
Rating:
Summary: One of the best landscaping books available!
Review: We have recently moved from California to New York and needed a lot of help in planning the relandscaping of our home. Not familiar with the plants of this region, this book has been an invaluable tool. It has everything one would need to create a beautiful landscape design!
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