You could not get better advice about re-doing your garden than from Bobbie Schwartz, a fellow and former president of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and long-time author and award-winning designer.
In her latest book, Garden Renovation: Transform Your Yard Into the Garden of Your Dreams
Before and after photos will inspire you to get going ... you'll learn great design tips (designing on the diagonal, arc and tangent, curvilinear, and more traditional rectilinear lines). Studying Bobbi's photos, you'll see how to transform paths, patios, fences, walls and even driveways into artistic statements. New elements, such as firepits, sheds, hot tubs and pools are considered, as well as lighting, focal points, and re-purposing things like tree trunks, an old bed frame and bowling balls into lovely garden enhancements.
Finally, there's a great chapter on assessing and selecting plants, on choosing a designer to help you along in your project, and another on simple success stories. If you landscape needs a makeover, this is the book for you.
And, for those of you who visit California, you'll want to take along this new garden guide of the state's 50 top gardens.
In The California Garden Tour: The 50 Best Gardens to Visit in the Golden State
But you may also think it's worth a trip to Alcatraz; to Hakone Gardens, the second oldest Japanese-style garden in the country; Cornerstone Sonoma, home to Sunset test gardens; or Sunnylands Center and Gardens in Rancho Mirage, once the estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg.
For each entry, Olson gives you a brief history of the garden and its top attractions.
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