Patio Garden

Love this book, simple to use but full of excellent information, a great reference book that I go back to over and over again
Rating: 5 / 5

I bought this book at HEB (a grocery store in Austin!) about 3 years ago when our house was being built. At that time, my idea for our too-big-backyard was very traditional and formal landscaping. And this provided over 400 picture-filled pages of landscaping ideas and full information so I knew it would be well-flipped-through.

Since then, our ideas have changed dramatically and the backyard has sat there filled only with yucca, wildflowers, gourds, and grass from it’s Blackland Prarie Roots. Doing someting with it is LONG overdue. With temps over hundred degrees ALL last summer, water bans, etc. we began thinking of Xeriscaping instead. Still, the book provided good ideas. Now we are somewhere in between as we are finally fully tackling that massive unused backyard with all native Central Texas plants, a waterfall, a certified wildlife habitat AND an organic vegetable garden. Seriously. Yes, we are totally OUT OF OUR MINDS. And guess what? we are doing it all ourselves. In this economy, it’s best to pay US to do it with loss of sweat and calories vs paying anyone else.

That means lots of reading, ideas, pictures, and planning. And I can’t tell you how many pages I STILL turn down in this book.

Don’t get me wrong, if you want totally formal, flower-filled, annual, green grassy landscaping with zero Xeriscaping, waterfalls, wildflowers, or wildlife, you will still be provided with everything you need in here. But that’s just the point. It’s filled with that many ideas. I like that.

It’s broken up into the following categories:

Gardens of the South (Showcase of great gardens)

Planning your garden (principles of design, styles, etc.)

Designing with structures (arbors, gazebos, decks, peths, water features, etc.)

Designing with plants (everything from roses to lawns to bulbs to wildflowers to tropicals)

Finishing touches (containers, birdbaths, garden art, stones, etc.)

Materials and techniques ( I love this…SCORES Of super cool do it yourself projects that look pro)

and Garden Makeovers (before and after photos)

The book is totally full of full-color glossy pages and can’t be beat with number of photos included which is what I love the most. I am a visual learner when I want to copy something for my garden.

Negatives: I try to think of the other side of the coin for all my reviews so even if I love something, I touch on things others may not love…I really can’t think of anything here becuase they included every kind of garden style from low maintenance to high maintenance, how to make it happen, and ideas to make it work. Not sure what more you could need. They even laid out plants with the landscape drawings and plant names so you could copy designs and colors. And then know how to make your own paths, stepping stones and water features. Cool stuff. Oh! If you don’t live in the South…that’s a negative for the book. It really is geared towards our climate so you probably wouldn’t want it.

I am a Southern Living fan (except for all the ads and telling me where to travel. But that’s just me.) I love their home ideas and recipes above my other magazines and this is all the best garden decorating and creating ideas they have had combined into a book. It’s a fave.
Rating: 5 / 5