Gardening in Small Spaces: Creative Ideas from America's Best Gardeners

This book goes beyond eye candy for the gardener. There are plans, and good ideas, like combining different paving materials. I would have liked a little more on front yards and entry areas.

This book is a collaborative effort which allows room for different tastes. Lots of help and ideas to create an intimate courtyard garden. There are plenty of photos to get your imagination going. I like that most of the gardens can be adapted to my sub-tropic zone, nothing is cut in stone, except the pathways.

The terrific thing about this book is that in less than 150 pages it exposes readers to no less than 18 different approaches to creating a garden in small space. The editors never set forth a precise metric of "small space", but these seem to range from the smaller suburban lots to the truly postage stamp sizes many of us grapple with.Since this is a Taunton publication, there are large color photos and lots of them. There are also plenty of drawings to help readers make sense of elements in various gardens. Most of the gardeners work in temperate zones and so there is some limit to the planting ideas for a zone 5 plugger like me. Even so, the design ideas and, especially, the hardscaping open up interesting possibilities, albeit ones to explore with different materials. The sections on design strategies and creating privacy provide a great framework before looking at the "compelling garden spaces" being made on tiny, unpromising lots. Here's a book of information as well as inspiration. I recommend it highly.