Design in the Plant Collector's Garden: From Chaos to Beauty
by Roger Turner
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Book Summary Information
Author: Roger TurnerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Illustrated
Published: 2005-02-01
ISBN: 0881926906
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated
Book Reviews of Design in the Plant Collector's Garden: From Chaos to Beauty
Book Review: Author needs clarity on who he is writing for - not perfect for either homeowners or professionals
Summary: 3 Stars
This book has a great concept. Many people I consult with, as a gardening coach and landscape professional, have a hodge-podge of plants because they love gardening so much that they "have to have" one of this and one of that. I fall prey to the same disease in my own home garden, so I was excited to see what was recommended for when you want one of everything.
Problem is, when I think of a book on design concepts or inspiration on what to do in my garden, I think of photos. Lots of large and juicy photos. Instead here there is a lot of text.
The text is helpful, the authors spends most of his time outlining basic design concepts, and not enough time showing specific out of the box ways of handling this design issue. He does bring all the discussion of design concepts around to his theme, but it's more that he touches on how to design with a lot of eclectic plants, rather than focuses on it.
I was kind of disappointed with this book because the text didn't delve into such great detail that I felt like I understood the issue better conceptually, and then with few photos illustrating the basic principles he outlines, I didn't think that the clients I have with this issue would benefit from the book either. I mean, they would certainly benefit from learning the basic design concepts in the book - but I don't have much faith that non-professionals are going to sit down and plow through all that text when it isn't illustrated lavishly with photos so you can really "get" the concepts.
My advice to the author - either write a basic design book for homeowners with a lot of splashy photos illustrating the text, or write an in-depth conceptual book (also hopefully with more photos) for professionals. Don't try to sell to both groups, because in the process neither is fully served.
That said, his design advice is patient and correct, and very well-written. If the author went into a bit more detail on how to design with this issue and included a large photo every 2-3 pages illustrating his concepts, it would have gotten a much higher rating from me.
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