Product Description
An organic gardener all her life and a garden writer for more than 15 years, Ann Lovejoy began her foray into gardening by growing vegetables and herbs but soon branched out into making ornamental gardens as well. Today, her gardens combine plants of all kinds, edible and beautiful, in carefully arranged communities. Her garden designs and plantings echo the layers found in nature. Ann groups plants with similar needs, according to their roles in their native habita… More >>
#1 by Susan A. Hurst on May 25, 2010 - 10:51 am
Some people wander into this book expecting it to be all about organic gardening techniques, but the title should be their first clue–it’s about design. However, it is design that integrates organic technique. Ann has a gift for teaching, and for creating clear explanations. I’ve referenced her book in many garden talks. Yes, she gardens in the Pacific Northwest, but I this is not a book only for Northwest gardeners.
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by J. Christian on May 25, 2010 - 1:30 pm
While this book is primarily for gardeners residing in the Pacific Northwest, there are many ideas that transplant to any geographic location. The design principles are universal. The book is very well organized, beautifully illustrated and provides specific information regarding real world situations so that it avoids generic gardening platitudes more typically found in gardening books. This inspiring book is a must for every serious home gardener; I promise that you’ll be glad you have it in your library.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by A. B. McCarroll on May 25, 2010 - 4:13 pm
I have enjoyed using this book as a good reference for my growing garden. Lovejoy’s style is clear, she provides some worksheets in the back of the book, which I found helpful. I also noted her ‘voice’ in the book is not haughty or stuffy – she is friendly, and clear, which as an avid reader of garden books, I found refreshing. Her ideas are both simple and logical. I love this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Midwest Book Review on May 25, 2010 - 7:02 pm
Create a beautiful and easy organic garden with the aid of Organic Garden Design School, a design-oriented book which covers topics ranging from linking cultivation efforts to the natural environment offered to using colors and textures in the garden. Using space wisely, choosing native plants, and creating a garden mood are all covered in an excellent guide for all gardening levels.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Anonymous on May 25, 2010 - 9:40 pm
Since I’m currently resolved to redesign my yard in the interests of increasing its ecological value and decreasing required maintenance, this “organic garden design school” SEEMED like the perfect book for me. And there is a lot of good information in here, about design considerations, planting tips, etc, some of which I’ve found nowhere else, and which have made the book worthwhile to me. HOWEVER, winnowing that information from the book was not very easy. Though the title suggests this is a textbook, it is really a long series of 1- or 2-page rambles about one or another aspect of the author’s experience gardening her own yard (and one other yard). This work is poorly edited and organized, and there is a huge emphasis on just those two examples of garden design. To apply the lessons of this book myself, I needed more than anecdotes from two situations unlike my own. I needed some generally stated design principles, as well as some very specific techniques (e.g. how to build raised beds like the author’s). While this information is in there, and some of it is quite illuminating, those gems occur nearly randomly within the 1- or 2-page rambles. If the book was titled something like “Design Thoughts,” perhaps I wouldn’t be so disappointed, but a “school” and a “guide,” with all the clarity those words suggest, this book is not. A workbook section at the end of the book makes up for this by finally providing the reader with a definite guide for action. But it would have been a much more of a “school” and a “guide” if the workbook had been integrated into the chapters, rather than tacked on at the end.
Rating: 2 / 5