What do you think?
Rate this book
Gardens by Design
Garden planners, home gardeners, and landscape designers will be turning to this
exceptional book for expert advice from the world's leading garden makers including Beth Chatto, Piet Oudolf, James Van Sweden, and Julie Mois Messervy. In this beautifully illustrated collection, Noël Kingsbury gathers their ideas on the entire design process — from choosing a garden style through planning its layout to maintaining its look over time. Encouraging a fluid approach to creativity, Gardens by Design will assist designers at all levels to understand the mechanics of plant combinations, to seek out cutting-edge and exquisite plants, and to nurture their garden's development, growth, and maintenance over time.
exceptional book for expert advice from the world's leading garden makers including Beth Chatto, Piet Oudolf, James Van Sweden, and Julie Mois Messervy. In this beautifully illustrated collection, Noël Kingsbury gathers their ideas on the entire design process — from choosing a garden style through planning its layout to maintaining its look over time. Encouraging a fluid approach to creativity, Gardens by Design will assist designers at all levels to understand the mechanics of plant combinations, to seek out cutting-edge and exquisite plants, and to nurture their garden's development, growth, and maintenance over time.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2005
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 28, 2020
Lots of good ideas and basic information for beginners.
July 21, 2011
Beautiful photos. Liked the advice from different landscape gardeners on their special field of interest. Of course the sections by Piet Oudolf were my favorite. Also liked the "Water in the Garden" bit by Anthony Paul, not to mention the "Planting Principles" section, where I discovered a new Allium (allium sphaerocephalon) that I want to try.
November 25, 2022
"Gardens by Design" is organized as survey of gardening practices from some top gardener designers.
It's well-photographed, cogently organized from concept discovery to detail design, and contains a diversity of perspectives and approaches reflecting a good range of consulted expertise. Every topic is just a few pages and expressed quite clearly with text, photographs, and supporting diagrams, so it's easy to read in short bursts. Where there is an important fundamental subject that isn't covered from a designer, such as how to visit other gardens from a design perspective or how to quickly produce basic measurements, Noel fills in nicely. Given a reasonable background in reading garden books, there is nothing groundbreaking here, and I might even describe it as introductory, but on the other hand it is wonderfully accessible. It's a nice companion book, supplementing one's overall garden design reading.
Overall, Gardens by Design is an enjoyable breezy read for whatever stage you are on your garden design journey.
It's well-photographed, cogently organized from concept discovery to detail design, and contains a diversity of perspectives and approaches reflecting a good range of consulted expertise. Every topic is just a few pages and expressed quite clearly with text, photographs, and supporting diagrams, so it's easy to read in short bursts. Where there is an important fundamental subject that isn't covered from a designer, such as how to visit other gardens from a design perspective or how to quickly produce basic measurements, Noel fills in nicely. Given a reasonable background in reading garden books, there is nothing groundbreaking here, and I might even describe it as introductory, but on the other hand it is wonderfully accessible. It's a nice companion book, supplementing one's overall garden design reading.
Overall, Gardens by Design is an enjoyable breezy read for whatever stage you are on your garden design journey.
April 8, 2019
Trying to redesign my massive garden. Some good ideas here.
December 9, 2011
Full of great ideas and inspiration!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews