Description:
Gardens are great for growing beautiful flowers and tasty herbs, but they're also ideal places for entertaining, dining, relaxing, sunbathing, meditating, and playing. In fact, with the right planning, gardens can function much like outdoor rooms that the whole family can enjoy. Richard Key's Outdoor Living shows readers how to maximize their enjoyment of the outdoor spaces they have. Key's approach is practical, as well as quite thorough, focusing on how readers can work within physical and financial limitations, while at the same time creating spaces that reflect their own personal style and individuality. Beginning with a chapter on "Designing for Outdoor Living," Key walks the reader through figuring out what elements they want in their gardens--from features and furniture to storage space for toys and gardening supplies--and how to fit it all into the space they have. He covers the nitty-gritty of designing a garden, including how to maximize space in a small garden, find a qualified garden designer, avoid common hazards, and much more. In subsequent chapters on "Relaxation," "Entertaining," and "Play," he offers advice for designing a quiet space for escape, an outdoor extension of the living-room ideal for entertaining guests, and areas where children can run about and play freely. From urban rooftop terraces to quaint suburban patios and sprawling country retreats, Key offers readers ideas and inspiration for designing gardens to fit any lifestyle, living situation, budget, and sense of style. Frequent sidebars on topics such as "Garden Safety" and "Encouraging Learning in the Garden" offer useful tips for the do-it-yourself garden designer. Real-life examples show how people have solved a myriad of common garden dilemmas--from how to make the most of a tiny city backyard to how to plant around an arbor so that it blends into the garden. Full-color photographs throughout illustrate the book's concepts and provide plenty of inspiration. --Robin Donovan
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