Just in Time for Spring (GardenDesignOnline)

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Everything You Never Learned About Planting Design

I wish this had been my textbook back in the days when I studied planting design. Much of what I've learned about designing beds and borders has been on my own -- by reading books, touring gardens, and by trial and error. Although planting rules are meant to be broken, landscape architect Scott Scarfone sets out the guidelines and principles that will allow anyone to create a living work of art with plants. His new book, Professional Planting Design: An Architectural and Horticultural Approach for Creating Mixed Bed Plantings ( John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2007) is sure to become a classic for landscape designers and architects, and for avid amateur gardeners as well.

As James van Sweden puts it in the introduction, "After reading this book, you will be able to experiment with nature, and use its myriad of facets to make your own original statement. You will be ready to take risks and design exciting and original gardens."

Aside from the standard principles of form, scale, balance, rhythm, and the like, Scarfone tackles the intricacies of planting design that make the real difference in a standout landscape: leaf shape; bark and twig characteristics; flowers and seed heads; fruits and berries. He then tells you how to put them all together for maximum impact.

There's an entire section on calculating bed depth and establishing the bed line, and another on how to successfully develop design themes.

Scarfone has developed time and color grids to help designers plan a garden with four-season interest. He explains how to highlight a plant's best features and how to dramatically feature a single plant.

The book is filled with scores of illustrations and drawings, and beautiful photographs that put his theories to the test. And and believe me, you'll note the brilliance of every combination you see.

I just wish I'd had this book back in the days when I was studying landscape design: it would have saved me days of anxiety over my horticultural choices and vastly improved my beginning designs.

(click on image to purchase book)