Product Description

A well-designed garden provides pleasure to owner and visitor alike but often eludes even the most experienced gardener. The Essential Garden Design Workbook guides you through every stage of designing a garden, from site assessment to drawing up plans and selecting suitable materials. Here you will learn how to assess your site and experiment with design ideas that fit well with the garden's surroundings. You will find easy ways to measure large spaces, estimate the height of a tree, and determine the right proportions for a deck, pathway, or steps. The book includes clear instructions for drawing up plans from initial concept diagram to final design. This book is tailor made for hands-on gardeners who want to rework their gardens to achieve that sought-after 'designer finish'. Hundreds of explanatory drawings and quick-reference diagrams make this workbook a vital addition to the bookshelves of every gardener, design student, and professional. By working through this book from start to finish, a designer garden is within everyone's reach.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141746 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Turtleback
• 292 pages

Review
"Highly recommended as a detailed instructional for learning to blend individually creative instincts with practical necessities to create truly memorable gardens." James A. Cox, Bookwatch, March 2005 -- James A. Cox "Bookwatch"

About the Author
Rosemary Alexander, one of the pioneering figures in the world of garden design, has devoted a lifetime to her profession, running an established garden design business as well as the English Gardening School, where she directs the Garden-Design Diploma Course and takes a keen interest in the progress of the school's Distance Learning students. She takes pride in her students five of them were awarded medals at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2002 and credits her many years of teaching and her personal experiences in creating gardens as her inspiration for writing. Rosemary has worked on gardens throughout the world, and was tenant of the National Trust property, Stoneacre, in Kent, where she created a romantic Old World garden. According to Rosemary, "As more people realize that working with nature to create a garden can be a therapeutic antidote to our stressful lives, garden design will become even more popular ... " Rosemary's passion for plants and gardening began in her early twenties when she created her first garden in Scotland. It was at this time that she trained as a landscape designer.

Customer Reviews

The Essential Garden Design Workbook
After ploughing through endless variations on this theme it's good to find something that's user friendly and totally practical. The best feature is that the book follows the design process in a logical manner identifying principles and showing you how to apply them in a practical way; it also shows you what works in design terms and what doesn't plus some tricks to achieve more professional results with plan presentations. Another thing of interest is the quirky graphic style of illustration used to highlight non- plan points. Extremely useful throughout.

A good and very practical garden design book
This book covers all phases of garden design, from original research, obtaining the owner's requirements, site survey sketch, checklist and inventory, to conceptual diagrams, presentation plans, theme plan, preliminary garden layout plan and final planting plans.

It discusses space, light, proportion and scale, colour plates, ground plane, vertical plane, overhead plane, materials, texture, principles of planting design, planting styles, practical considerations, seasonal effects, and rendering techniques for various plans. It also has a plant list and plant hardiness zones at the end. This is one of few books that actually discuss the design aspect of gardens / landscaping. Very practical!

Gang Chen, Author of "LEED AP Exam Guide" & "Planting Design Illustrated." LEED AP, AIA

The Essential Garden Design Workbook
This is a book which I know intimately,especially the first edition which formed the basis of The English Gardening Schools Distance Learning course, in Garden Design.It is without doubt one of the best books of it's type, and ranks along side the Doyen of Garden Design Books John Brooks,frankly I cannot pay the Author,Rosemary Alexander any higher compliment, if you are a Student, or newly qualified Designer then this is a book which will be referred to on more than one occaison,and it's style and quirky line drawings only add to your entertainment& education ,buy it you will not be dissappointed.