Landscape Planning: Practical Techniques for the Home Gardener

The books has detailed pictures and lots of tips. I have dozens of books, but I love how this one is broken out in case I want to choose which elements to start on. I’m planning aspects of my back yard. Love this book!

I recently had to educate myself in landscape design (large landscaping job at the house). I looked through many landscaping books, and bought several. This one has turned out to be the best one by far. There are all sorts of great tips along the way, everything from design do's and don'ts to plant recommendations. But what I most appreciated (and what most other books lacked) was the straightforward walkthrough of how to plan: goals, design, hard landscaping, soft landscaping, and so on. Many so called "landscaping" books are actually just coffee-table books with a lot of pretty pictures but no details on how to come up with a good design. This book really helps you go from zero to a workable landscape design. When I brought in landscapers to submit bids, I had designs on hand to show them. After looking at them, one gave a sigh of relief and said "oh good, you are way ahead of most people." That's all thanks to this book.

It's so handy to have around. I borrowed from the library, but soon after decided I wanted my own copy. It has great tips for all different landscapes. My favorites are the top ten lists - fastest growing privacy plants, slowest growing, perfect plants for between stepping stones, etc. I've read several landscape books, and I strongly recommend this one to anyone who plans on landscaping by themselves.