Plant-Driven Design: Creating Gardens That Honor Plants, Place, and Spirit

by Scott Ogden, Lauren Springer Ogden

For too long, garden design has given pride of place to architecture, artifice, and arbitrary principles. The results? Soulless landscapes where plants play subordinate roles.

With passion and eloquence, Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden argue that only when plants are given the respect they deserve does a garden become emotionally resonant. Plant-Driven Design shows designers how to work more confidently with plants, and gives gardeners more confidence to design. The Ogdens boldly challenge design orthodoxy and current trends by examining how to marry plantsmanship and design without sacrificing one to the other.

Supported by extensive lists of plants adapted to specific purposes and sites, Plant-Driven Design explores how plants interact with place. In addition, the authors' experience gardening and designing in a wide variety of climates gives their perspective a unique depth. In ideas, scope, and detail, this book both embraces and transcends regionality. By reclaiming gardens as a home to plants, this groundbreaking work will restore life-affirming vitality to garden design and profoundly affect how we understand and experience gardens.

Genres: Gardening, Horticulture, Plants, Nonfiction, Reference, Landscape Architecture

281 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Camille · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I expected. The photography is inspiring, and some good ideas are presented in the text. I also love all of the plant lists. However, it doesn't read very smoothly and isn't engaging at all. I bought this book at Christmas and there are still sections I haven't read. This is rare for me...I enjoy reading horticulture textbooks!

I'm a huge fan of Lauren's "The Undaunted Garden" and have read it cover to cover many times. I think that I like it so much better because it is just her, no offense to Scott. And it tells the story of one garden throughout the year. I realize that they were trying to show how the principles of design could be applied in several settings, but it just didn't click with me. Especially the gardens displaying tropical flora that wouldn't even survive in my house! I'd rather just see tough plants that I could actually use!

The pictures and the idea of designing for the location and the plants (instead of trying to find plants to fit a certain allocated space) are great. If anyone wants to borrow my copy, let me know. Don't go buy one!

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell these author's have a definite opinion about how a garden should look, and woe to anyone who disagrees. They go after landscape architects who consider plants to be "materials" and not plants to be enjoyed. However they spare no punches for the other end of the spectrum: those who love plants so much that they have to label each one and plant them in neat little rows (the authors said it looked like a cemetery). They criticize those who are ignorant and plant invasive plants, and also those who are "holier-than-thou" native plant purists. They believe that if a plant is well behaved and suited to the site, then why exclude it?

I found the first half of the book engaging. They have strong opinions and that is enjoyable to read (especially since I'm not one of the groups targeted in the book). However, the second half of the book was given over to examples plant-driven design, which I thought was a little tedious after a while. I found myself skimming the text and focusing on the pictures (which were wonderful). The authors reside in Colorado and Texas and so most of the pictures were from those areas. If I lived in those climates I would probably have a higher opinion of the book since it would be more applicable to my garden.

I think if you're a gardener, this book is worth a read. Even if you disagree with the authors' opinions you can't deny that they make stunning gardens.

[Renee Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read and highly recommended for landscape designers/architects. I initially borrowed this from the library and quickly realized I needed to buy a copy for my permanent reference.

The authors provide a thoughtful, knowledgeable approach to planting design. There are many great sidebars throughout the book that discuss plants for specific site challenges. The photos are gorgeous and inspiring. Clearly this was written by designers with a deep love and appreciation of plants, which really resonated with me.

This is not a cookie-cutter design book for newbies that will give you a list of plants and tell you where to plop them down into the garden. Instead, this is a thoughtful approach to understanding plants and creating landscapes that prioritize their needs and attributes. This is a rare find in the world of garden design writing and one I will cherish for decades in my home library.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, this book was a confusing jumble of good ideas. It feels so disorganized when I read it with too much verbiage covering for the lack of clear concise design recommendations. While the photographs are beautiful they often do not illustrate the text well enough. What this book needed was a good publisher who should have fixed these glaring deficiencies. The authors focus on western US gardens which added to my problem of how to use this information in my northeastern garden. On the plus side, the authors included many plant lists covering various plant characteristics like "with striking bark." Unfortunately without zone information, inexperienced gardeners will find them difficult to use.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book emphasizing putting the plant in the right place over following a design. Many pictures illustrate the different kinds of climates which is very interesting. Many of her gardens are set here in Colorado where I live, so I am inspired to try a few ideas out this summer.

[Denise]

Lots of lists of plants by certain attributes, such as columnar growth, limy soils, striking bark, and many more.
Includes plants that are exotic, native, cultivated, and invasive (and doesn’t necessarily indicate which they are, taking the position on invasiveness that no plant is inherently invasive and at times disregards ecological impact altogether of non-native plants that take over.) So readers need to know which plants on the lists are suitable for their sites.

[Meredith Bynum · Rating 5 out of 5]

These visionary designers make an impassioned plea to refocus garden design on appropriate plants for a place and climate. Inspiring and insightful, with beautiful photos of the author's work.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and unusually elegant naturalistic designs. Thoughtful and extremely well-informed. Lots of detailed plant profiles.

[Frøya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great ideas/concepts, but too america-focused and not enough practical advice. It's more a book about sharing the idea of plant driven design rather than a manual on how to actually DO that.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This garden manifesto cuts through all that is trendy in the gardening world and refocuses on the beauty and uniqueness of each plant. It's delightfully opinionated and inspiring.

[Josiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a how-to book, nor is it just a bunch of pretty photos. It is about a point of view, an approach to thinking about landscape and how to approach it from a design standpoint. These are people who love plants and advocate for them. They seem diametrically opposed to the school of landscape design that installs a few shrubs, a few perennials, and a truckload of mulch and calls it a day. Tellingly, all the photos in the book are captioned with the Latin names of the main plants pictured, going so far as to include the names of pets that may have wandered into the frame. Despite the fact that most of the gardens shown are in drier climates out west, I picked up a lot of specific ideas, not to mention expanding the way that I think about garden design.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pros: color photos and plant lists

Cons: The book is a thinly-disguised autobiography of two tireless self-promoters who are (to use their own criticism of others) dissonant and self-important.

Their lofty and judgmental points of view are not fun to read.

[Mhd]

finished sample: great concepts! Ordered from library