Timeless Landscape Design: The Four-Part Master Plan

by Hugh Graham Dargan

In Timeless Landscape The Four-Part Master Plan, renowned landscape architects Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan share the secret to creating an unforgettable landscape with the "Four-Part Master Plan" -- a unique method they've perfected over the past two-and-a-half decades of creating award-winning gardens and yards for clients. The Dargans share a blend of specific design techniques and practical advice on how to achieve the sophisticated look of a professionally designed landscape on any size and type of property. Examples of specific design treatments are beautifully illustrated with scores of color photographs taken from their own archives, plus landscape plans from historic gardens around the world that have provided inspiration to the authors, and before and after examples of the authors' award-winning work.
Learn how to apply this unique master plan that gives homeowners a simple and systematic means of planning their gardens.
The four-part plan
The approach and arrival sequence
The hub
The perimeter
Passages to destinations

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2006

Reviews

[NebulousGloom (FK) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The negatives of this book are that it is incredibly pretentious and badly organized. A lot of information is repeated, while some really useful bits only show up in the text under an image. On the other hand, the book is just so useful if you want to understand how to organize your yard. If you aren't interested in reading the whole thing, the long introduction gives you most of the content.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the best design book I've read so far. It is great for anyone wanting to get in touch with what makes a garden timeless and the basics of how to get the design process going. Love it so far! It is written by a husband and wife that have spend the last 35 years traveling around the world visiting different gardens to learn more about garden design. Wouldn't that be nice!

[Sheena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book for high-level design info. She gives you great info to consider and a solid foundation for how to approach your design. No real nuts and bolts, though. Which I guess makes sense, being that she has a design business. That would be like Coke telling you their secret formula... can't give away too much. I enjoyed reading it though, and would recommend it.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very good and specific. It guides you in the steps to consider for a design and then how to draw it up. I was disappointed in that I really didn't understand why they placed things where they did , or in designing a smaller yard.