Hardscape: Innovative Hard Landscaping Materials for Gardens

Decent book and arrived promptly

great book

Interesting reference book

What beautiful and innovative designs this book has. My husband and I wanted to landscape much of our property with stone. We actually did more than planned because we were so impressed by much of the ideas in this book. A concern of ours was the price. Much of the simpler projects you find you can do yourself (such as the small retaining wall around the garden), which saved on additional labor costs. We were guided which stones to use, and stones that could be found around the property. For the work that was a bit more extensive we called in a professional and showed him from the book what we wanted. He was very much impressed with this book himself.The thing that is so great about these designs is that they are extremely detailed. They tell you in what season the garden will be at its peak, whether it will work in a sunny or shady spot, and exactly which plants they suggest, including how many you should buy. Additionally, each design comes with a grid that shows how big the garden is so that you can scale it to the size of your space. Each plant that is referenced in a design includes a short description and page numbers for the "plant profile" at the back of the book. The plant profiles discuss plant care, maintenance, and other important details in greater depth. It is easy to flip back and forth from a design to the profiles while planning your garden.Toward the back of the book, there are detailed instructions for buying, planting, and pruning plants, as well as a great section on how to install stone walkways, arbors, retaining walls, and more. You couldn't ask for a more helpful guide to landscaping. I paired it with Month by Month Gardening in Texas (a less comprehensive but also helpful manual) and I now feel completely confident tackling the numerous gardens and planters around my property!

Oh those Brits and their gardens! The book arrived 10 minutes ago and already I'm dizzy with joy. Beautifully photographed ideas for hardscape materials in situ from stone and wood to rubber and metal to ceramics and glass. Structure, boundry, and surface. Oh my!