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Landscape designer and author Scott Calhoun traveled all over the country to put his new book together, and it's a magnificent reference for home gardeners and professional designers alike.

The best thing about Designer Plant Combinations (Storey Publishing, 2008) is that each featured garden plan uses a total six plants or less. The chapter subjects direct you exactly where you want to go:  Perennial Partners; Masses of Grasses; Annual Acquaintances; Accent Plant Associates; Ground Cover Groupies; Buddies for Woodies.

As Calhoun explains in the introduction, he firmly believes that plants do matter, despite the fact that recent garden trends concentrate on outdoor living and hardscape.  "I got into this business to work with roots and shoots," he says, "rather than simply promoting the masonry trade."

His philosophy is detailed in every entry of this book.  In "Tweaking the Coneflower," he features a design by 'Lisa Delplace of Oehme, van Sweden Associates at the Chicago Botanic Garden that combines the dwarf coneflower  'Pixie Meadowbrite' with two types of yellow daylilies and 'Big Ears' lamb's ears.  In this entry, Calhoun tells you how to find the dwarf cultivars that go so well in today's small gardens.

Each of the book's design schemes is accompanied by an introduction about the theme, a photo of the full design, a photo and description of each plant, and a paragraph of "designer tips."  In the entry on New Agave and Yucca Frontiers, Calhoun notes in the "designer tips" that rocky outcrops are most convincing when each boulder is submerged one-third below grade; that odd numbers of boulders look best in a planting design; and that nooks and crannies should be built into the design to allow for good drainage. The tips for each entry are well worth noting.

Some of the designs in this book are simply breath-taking, and the subject matter is quite different from what you'll find in similar books.  I particularly liked the monochromatic color scheme featuring coffee-colored plants; and the stunning combination of Mexican feather grass and 'Raspberry Delight' hybrid bush sage.

This book is more than inspiration ... it's a handbook of first-class design ideas that can't help but produce spectacular results.

(click on text link to purchase book)

The Sustainable Hardscaping Bible

In Berkeley, California, Leger Wanaselja Architecture specializes in ecological design.  They used burned (but uncharred) trees from the 1991 Oakland Hills fire as fencing posts for a residential carport; and they fashioned an old truck tailgate into a garden bench. In a Washington DC project, Philadelphia landscape architects Andropogon Associates constructed a deck made from old harbor pilings and benches made from used wine caskets. 

These are just a few of the projects illustrating an exciting new wave in ecological landscape architecture in Materials for Sustainable Sites: A Complete Guide to the Evaluation, Selection, and Use of Sustainable Construction Materials (John Wiley & Sons, 2008) by Meg Calkins, LEED AP. Calkins, with master's degrees in landscape architecture and architecture from the University of California, Berkelely, has long been involved in evaluating sustainable site materials to comply with the US Green Building Council's LEED^TM (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system.

In this new book, Calkins tells you everything you need to know about materials for sustainable design. She says, for instance, that new "green" materials are not always the answer. Instead, it might be better to use a conventional, tried and true material in a new green way. As Calkins puts it in the introduction, the book will equip the reader with "techniques to evaluate and minimize the environmental and human health impacts of materials and products for a particular clilmate, application, and location."

I liked her "Strategies for Building a Longer-lasting Deck" -- just one page long, the section on designing with reclaimed wood, the "Guidelines for Design and Fabrication of Durable Metal Structures" and specifying bricks from manufacturers who minimize environmental damage.  The book is actually divided into two parts -- the first introduces the tools, techniques, and resources for evaluating and specifying sustainable materials.  The second part of the book devotes separate chapters to both conventional and emerging green materials:  concrete, earthen materials, brick, asphalt paving, aggregates and stone, wood, metals, plastics and rubber.

This book is certain to become the classic reference for all designers and builders who want to pursue creative design in a way that will help protect the planet.

(click on text link to purchase book)

Great Berkshire Gardens

Perhaps because it's called New England, a lot of people expect the gardens in the region to look like what you might find in Britain.  But while the New England landscape is reminiscent of England at times, it is also very much different.  In Great Gardens of the Berkshires (Down East Books, 2008), author Virginia Small and photographer Rich Pomerantz capture the area's great garden traditions as well as its rich diversity.

For each garden she profiles, Small answers one of the great mysteries about garden design:  where designers get their inspiration.  The landscape elements that comprise the gardens at The Mount, the former home of author Edith Wharton, were patterned after English, Italian, and French gardens that she had seen on her travels, but they also reflect the natural features of the New England landscape.

The gardens at Naumkeag, a collaboration between landscape architect Fletcher Steele and his client, Mabel Choate, were inspired by gardens in Spain and France, by the Cubist gardens at the Paris Exhibition of 1925, and by Chinese gardens that Choate and Steele encountered in their travels.

In turn, Lee Link's private modern garden in Sharon, CT, was inspired by Naumkeag, by the naturalistic garden at Innisfree in Millbrook, NY, and by the words of Irish gardener and author Helen Dillon.

Small delves into the creative genius behind the five public gardens included in the book, and she masterfully draws out beautiful, motivational stories about the artistry of the private garden makers she introduces to readers.

Ninety-nine year old Emily Rose has been gardening at Little Sutton in Alford, MA since 1941. Small writes that "the gardens flow with ana undulating rhythm that relfects the property's sloping contours" and says that to "counterbalance the vast openness of much of this awe-inspiring landscape, several spaces offer intimate enclosure."

The contemporary house of Jack Hyland and Larry Wente, says Small, is complemented by "long and narrow axial views that make it seem bigger,"  and by "a bold and effusive planting style" that "pushes against the underlying geometric grid."

Small's talent for description and her long familiarity with plants and design make this book a valuable addition to any avid gardener's library.  Photographs by Rich Pomerantz beautifully illustrate Small's major points and are inspiring in and of themselves.

Most of the private gardens in the book are often open to the public on garden tours sponsored by local organizations or by the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program.

Everything You Can't Figure Out On Your Own

I was a math whiz in high school, but darned if I can remember all those formulas to figure the area of a trapezoid, a hexagon, an ellipse, and you name it.  Not to mention the irregular landscape features that so many designers encounter every day.  So this handy little book will do it all for you.

Mathematics for the Green Industry: Essential Calculations for Horticulture and Landscape Professionals (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008) will tell you everything you ever thought you might want to know about calculating areas, volumes, plants per square foot, etc for landscape plans, greenhouse structures, and much, much more.

And there are very useful little tables sprinkled throughout the book that will make your work at the drawing table much, much easier. There's a lot in the book that designers won't need -- fertilizer application rates, turf management, plant growth regulators and the like -- but you might want to take a look at the chapters on estimating landscape costs.  Terrific conversion tables are in the back of the book, along with: YES! the solutions to practice problems just to check the real answers against what you try to do in your head.

Books: VA Gardening & Revised Roof Gardens

This new book on low-maintenance gardening in Virginia is an all-around must-have for gardeners in Virginia, but anyone who lives within range, ie, the mid-Atlantic region, would find it useful on the gardening bookshelf. In The Virginia Gardener's Companion: An Insider's Guide to Low-Maintenance Gardening in Virginia, (Globe Pequot Press, 2008) author Donna Williamson has written a very easy to understand, comprehensive guide to plants and gardening practices. 

Williamson, a garden designer and editor of Grandiflora Mid-Atlantic Gardening magazine, includes a guide to the best plants for the area (trees, shrubs, groundcovers, perennials, annuals, grasses, vines & more), but there are also chapters on eco-friendly ways to deal with pests & diseases; resources for gardeners (public & private gardens, useful books & websites, and even a glossary of plant terms).  She doesn't shy away from telling you which plants are invasive, and this book has some of the best "lists" and "advice breakouts" that I've encountered.  All local gardening guides should be this good, and since they're not, they should take a cue from Williamson.

Over at Timber Press, they've re-issued the 2004 classic Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls with substantial amounts of new material. From tiny planted roofs atop porches or playhouses to mammoth green roofs over industrial complexes and municipal buildings around the world, authors Nigel Dunnett and Noël Kingsbury explain everything you need to know about green roofs:  their ecological benefits; how to construct them; what plants are most suitable for green roofs planted in shallow soil and those that will thrive in a regular roof garden with greater soil depths.  They tell you in detail how to cope with roof slope and wind; how to calculate weight and load on the structure; how to insure that the roofs don't leak.  There are numerous case studies throughout the book, and lots of detailed photographs and drawings that easily explain the major concepts.

Dunnett and Kingsbury also cover green walls -- how to use climbers and other plants that cover facades to insulate buildings from high summer temperatures, to reduce winter wind chills, and to provide a lot of shelter for wildlife.  Green walls might not be suitable for  many older residential houses, but they're certainly attractive and well worth consideration.

This book is indispensable for anyone interested in green roof technology and its future promise to offset carbon emissions and have a positive effect on climate change.

(click on images or text to purchase books).

Two Regional Garden Books

Gardens of Maine

In a repeat performance, author and Maine resident Rebecca Sawyer-Fay brings us volume two on great Maine gardens -- this book focusing on the drama that occurs each year in a climate that's sometimes hard on plants.

Gardens Maine Style, Act II (Down East Books, 2008) begins with Opening Acts -- Maine gardens that awaken in April with snow-covered tulips, ferns unfolding, and ubiquitous forsythia and daffodils bursting into bloom.

Star Performers are plants that perform beautifully in the northern climate, but Sawyer-Fay also pays homage to the people who are hybridizing Siberian Irises, pays a visit to the garden of Susan Shaw, who breeds new kinds of daylilies, and pays homage to the lilacs, peonies, roses and other plants that do particularly well in Maine.

There are other chapters on design & designers; the state's edible delights (and pictures of simply gorgeous vegetable gardens!); rugged and rocky landscapes with beautiful stone work; and secluded retreats in gardens all over the state.  Beautiful photographs by Lynn Karlin will inspire almost anyone to make the trek north.

At the end of the book, there's a very useful section called "Behind the Scenes" that lists landscape designers and architects, nurseries and garden shops, plants societies and helpful websites, seed and garden product suppliers, and local artists.

A great present for anyone you know who has or aspires to have a summer place in Maine -- or for anyone who gardens in the northern part of the country.

Garden Sheds & Hideaways

Out with the Tool Shed!

Once you've taken a quick look at this book, you'll never again recommend a lean-to potting or tool shed or one of those abominations that they sell in the big-time lumber and hardware stores.

In Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways: Big Ideas for Small Backyard Destinations (Clarkson Potter 2008), author Debra Prinzing demonstrates that yesterday's garden shed has been converted into ... well,take your pick:  a yoga or writing studio, a guest-house, a playroom, a glass conservatory, a a tea room, a solitary retreat, an entertaining nook -- you name it.

"Today's shed," says Prinzing, "is a small structure designed and built for one's personal enjoyment."  The new shed is a free-standing structure with architectural charm and style that can transform any garden, from a tiny townhouse to a huge suburban estate.

Prinzing profiles more than 30 garden hideaways around the country, each with its own story and personality, from the 50 square foot garden shed in Santa Cruz, California that is now the office of a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter to a Southampton, NY garage that has morphed into a serene and spacious guest-house.  For each project, Prinzing notes the designer and construction company, and she also lists the major materials used in the structure, which gives everyone a good idea about the costs.

Sunni Rudd, a greeting card illustrator in Seattle, has a 10 x 20 foot garden shed with character.  "Here's where I keep everything I want to save and love.  This is my little comfort zone, my quiet place," she says.   On Long Island, John Barham reproduced a  turn-of-the-century fisherman's house in tiny scale to fit his two acre garden. Now, he says, "There are moments in my garden when I am overwhelmed by happiness."

Prinzing paves the way for an entirely new way to think about garden structures --  to make them very special places that fit the owner's personality and add a touch in the garden that no one else can duplicate.

This book belongs on every designer's bookshelf for inspiration ... easily gained from the scores of photos by William Wright that illustrate every project.  And for more on sheds, see Prinzing's blog, Shed Style.

(click on image or link to purchase book)
 

Ideas for Designers

Quick Solutions All in One Place

Need an idea, fast, for a fence, a walkway, a fountain or gate? Then you might want to consult 1000 Garden Ideas: The Best of Everything in a Visual Sourcebook (Artisan Books, 2008) by designer Stafford Cliff.

This book is heavy on traditional and/or British garden style, so don't go here looking for modern ideas.  But there are plenty of ideas throughout the book to get you started on design details.  It's a photo book -- with hundreds of photos in each section to get you thinking about design in a serious way.

I particularly liked the sections on gates and fences, paving patterns and edging ... where you can always benefit from looking at photos of a pattern you might not have seen (or noticed) before. There are also sections on pools, fountains and bridges; pergolas, gazebos, and follies; garden seats and benches; containers; hedges, parterres and topiary; and color.

It's a good book to leaf through before you start to design -- but the how-to is up to you.

(click on image or link to purchase book)

The Basics in Books

As all of you know, I'm not usually given to gardening basics on this site, but even I have to admit that if you're in the outdoors, not everything is design-related.  Sometimes you need to know how to do basic gardening things, and without getting too involved in that entire subject, if you'd like everything you need to know all in one place, there's nothing better than the completely revised The Garden Primer: Second Edition (Workman Publishing, 2008) by Barbara Damrosch.

From shrubs and trees to lawns, bulbs, fruits,vegetables, herbs, vines, perennials, and annuals, it's all here:  how to plant them, how to prune them, how to take care of them. There are also introductory sections on basic plant requirements, gear you'll need, landscape design, and how to select plants.

Damrosch writes in a breezy, easily-understandable style, and she explains everything clearly without getting caught up in the intricacies of do's and don'ts that make gardening a mystery for many people.  If you're really into the subject, you may have to do some further research on specific cultivars, but Damrosch gives you a great start on everything. She's also an organic gardener and tells you how to deal with pests and diseases without using harmful pesticides.

This is one book you certainly want on your shelf for a quick reference to garden-everything.

New Horizons for Northern Plants

Some years back, I got a chance to visit the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.  It was a completely shocking experience:  shocking to me, that is, because I had never seen such a vast array of absolutely stunning and gorgeous plants that I couldn't grow back in Washington DC or Massachusetts.  The only solution, I thought, would be a move to Arizona, but how could I ever live in a place with summers hotter than DC?

But now there is a solution, sans Phoenix, and all the answers can be found in Hardy Succulents: Tough Plants for Every Climate (Storey Publishing, 2008) by author Gwen Moore Kelaidis and photographer Saxon Holt. And those of us who live in northern areas are not just stuck with hens & chicks.  We can, in fact, grow majestic agaves, devote a corner to lovely flowering cacti, and perhaps even plant the beaked yucca (Yucca rostrata) as a very funky focal point. Some of the tree yuccas will reach 20 feet in height, and some are hardy as far north as Denver, New York City, and even southern New England.
Not to mention the vast variety of sedums; plus ice plants, the tiny Aloinopsis, Dudleya cymosa, and the midget-sized Yucca harrimaniae, some as small as just 6 inches wide. ANd yes, there are new hens & chicks on the market, too, of many colors: burgundy, pale rose, greens, golds, whites and other shades of red.

Stunning photographs throughout the book illustrate the vast possibilities for new planting designs that include some space for succulents.

This book makes a great accompaniment to last year's Designing with Succulents (Timber Press) by Deborah Lee Baldwin, which focused on plants hardy in zone 8 and above, which tend to be larger and splashier. 

Both belong on the designer's book shelf.

(click on image or text link to purchase book)