Planting Design: Gardens in Time and Space

Description from Amazon

Planting Design: Gardens in Time and Space Hardcover – Illustrated, October 15, 2005

Piet Oudolf  (Author), Noel Kingsbury (Author)

Home gardeners with a keen interest in design, as well as professional landscape designers, will find invaluable advice in this new approach. The book focuses on the general principles behind creating successful and beautiful plant combinations in both time and space-working with perennials in the context of trees, shrubs, and the surrounding landscape. The authors suggest looking across, into, and through the landscape. They ask the reader to consider the rhythms and connections in their designs, through such elements as echoes, linkages, and repetitions. More than just theory, Planting Design includes practical discussion of topics such as soil preparation, plant selection, and garden maintenance. Exceptional photographs show growth of a designed landscape over time, opening the gardener to new ways of seeing and thinking about their landscapes.

Oudolf’s reputation as an innovative plantsman and designer looms large in the world of horticulture, just as Kingsbury stands out for his unambiguous call to integrate vibrant, naturalistic plantings in contemporary spaces. Artistry and down-to-earth practicality come together in their latest effort as they once again focus on perennial plants. Covering small personal gardens as well as parkland in urban centers–Chicago’s Millennium Park appears to exemplify Oudolf’s way of putting plants on display–the authors discuss ecological issues and how plants, whether native species or cultivars, should fit the specific environment. Swaths of flowering specimens and grasses come to the fore in entrancing photographs, illustrating the expressive nature–and notion–of a strong framework that relies on hardscape elements in tandem with the plants themselves. Their vision challenges certain aspects of conventional landscape architecture and garden design, yet gardeners interested in creating distinct spaces that encompass the beauty of the shifting seasons will welcome the book’s intriguing concepts and expert advice.

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881927406
• ISBN-13: 978-0881927405