What happens when a lifelong gardener finally realizes that he must collaborate with Mother Nature rather than work against her in order to achieve his dream of creating the perfect garden? In this delightful and thoughtful narrative journey of horticultural discovery, Bill Terry asks how and even why we garden, and to what end? These are personal stories, thoughts, and ideas about the "perfect" garden interspersed with humorous, imagined conversations with Mother Nature herself. As he works in his West Coast garden, choosing wild roses over the fancy hybrid teas, and discarding manmade hybrids and cultivars in favour of the charm and simplicity of peonies, hellebores, and tulips as they grow in the wild, Terry learns to welcome and encourage happy accidents, greatly reducing the work and effort required to maintain order (as most gardeners seek to do), and instead embracing a substantial measure of disorder. The perfect garden, he discovers, respects both Mother Nature’s demands—integrating endemic plants, choosing natural species and varieties—and the gardener’s personality—expressing her own taste and creativity, and rich in private memories. This is a light-hearted and witty collection of reflections that will appeal to gardeners everywhere.

Suzhou, near Shanghai, is among the great garden cities of the world. The city's masterpieces of classical Chinese garden design, built from the eleventh through the nineteenth centuries, attract thousands of visitors each year and continue to influence international design. In The Gardens of Suzhou, landscape architect and scholar Ron Henderson guides visitors through seventeen of these gardens. The book explores UNESCO world cultural heritage sites such as the Master of the Nets Garden, Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, and Garden of the Peaceful Mind, as well as other lesser-known but equally significant gardens in the Suzhou region. Unlike the acclaimed religious and imperial gardens found elsewhere in Asia, Suzhou's gardens were designed by scholars and intellectuals to be domestic spaces that drew upon China's rich visual and literary tradition, embedding cultural references within the landscapes. The elements of the gardens confront the visitor: rocks, trees, and walls are pushed into the foreground to compress and compact space, as if great hands had gathered a mountainous territory of rocky cliffs, forests, and streams, then squeezed it tightly until the entire region would fit into a small city garden. Henderson's commentary opens Suzhou's gardens, with their literary and musical references, to non-Chinese visitors. Drawing on years of intimate experience and study, he combines the history and spatial organization of each garden with personal insights into their rockeries, architecture, plants, and waters. Fully illustrated with newly drawn plans, maps, and original photographs, The Gardens of Suzhou invites visitors, researchers, and designers to pause and observe astonishing works from one of the world's greatest garden design traditions.

The rosarian of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's celebrated Cranford Rose Garden, has put his year-round advice into a book, charting month to month the tasks necessary to keep roses healthy and beautiful. Color photos.

The English Garden is the universal measure of all things related to garden design. It is in the UK that the great garden designers live and work and where a major gardening movement has developed over the last few decades, influencing the rest of the world with its ideas and vision. This book introduces the “grandes dames” of contemporary English garden design and includes the great names of the garden world which have emerged since the 1950s, from Vita Sackville-West and Beth Chatto to Beatrix Havergal. It also presents outstanding women gardeners of the present-day who have likewise had a substantial influence on the development of contemporary garden design. Heidi Howcroft has discovered these women’s gardening secrets and writes sensitively and informatively about the individual women and their influence on the English country garden. The individual gardens' charm and design are captured in photos by Marianne Majerus.

Do you ever lament that you'd love to be able to garden more, but just don't have the time? The demanding pace of modern life leaves little space for the pleasures of gardening. On the other hand, gardening itself could be the culprit: elaborate, traditional perennial borders; water-hungry or disease-prone plants; needy lawns; and high-maintenance plants that require staking or clipping all suck up precious hours. Simply put, we need to start gardening in a whole new way. In this inspiring book, Val Easton shows exactly how to have a low-maintenance garden that doesn't sacrifice style. You won't have to give up your favorite plants or settle for expanses of ugly bark nuggets. You just have to unlearn some bad old habits and pick up some good new ones. So, how do you go about making a "new" low-maintenance garden? First, design your garden with maintenance in mind—good-looking hardscape will both save weeding time and showcase your favorite plants. Second, simplify your garden routines—learn the most efficient planting and maintenance techniques and don't get stressed if everything isn't letter-perfect. Third, learn how to work with nature rather than against it. And finally, embrace home-grown fruits, herbs, and vegetables; well planted containers; and thoughtfully chosen plants. The New Low-Maintenance Garden doesn't just tell you how to garden in a whole new way—it shows you, through profiles and beautiful photographs of real gardens that embody low-maintenance techniques. The pressures of life are not likely to ease up anytime soon, but the lessons of this timely book will help you banish guilt over undone garden chores and revel in your garden successes.

The unique beauty of the Japanese garden stems from its spirituality and rich symbolism, yet most discussions on this kind of garden rarely provide more than a superficial overview. This book takes a thorough look at the process of designing a Japanese garden, placing it in a historical and philosophical context. Goto and Naka, both academic experts in Japanese garden history and design, explore: The themes and usage of the Japanese garden Common garden types such as tea and Zen gardens Key maintenance techniques and issues. Featuring beautiful, full-colour images and a glossary of essential Japanese terms, this book will dramatically transform your understanding of the Japanese garden as a cultural treasure.

Brad Mee--the interior designer seen on HGTV and The Christopher Lowell Show, and subject of a profile in USA Today--takes his design smarts outdoors. Using dozens of beautiful color photographs as examples, Mee reveals how to fashion a personalized garden haven that's vibrant, unique, and serves its purpose, whether that be entertaining or relaxation.

· Catalog and DIY guide for building a wide range of outdoor structures, from basic storage sheds to major projects · Includes a detailed section on current shed construction techniques and the entire construction process · Select and order from a catalog of more than 100 expertly prepared plans, including 60 all-new plans for this edition, as well as construction blueprints and materials lists · Plans include storage sheds, home offices, workshops, playhouses, gazebos, patio furniture, trellises, arbors, pavilions, and so much more