The Bottom Line
Many books published by Better Homes & Gardens serve as "Landscaping 101" guides for new home owners. This one is no exception. Methodically discusses the purposes of the front, side and back sections of the yard and clearly explains strategies to beautify each.
Pros
- Beautiful photos to clarify the written content.
- Detailed illustrations for How-To projects.
- User-friendly for newbies to landscaping.
Cons
- Covers all planting zones: too general.
- Currently unavailable through Pricegrabber.com; click "Compare Prices" for similar book.
Description
- increase the privacy, interest and real estate value of front lawns via walls, paths, raised beds
- use foliage to manipulate the illusion of distance or closeness in the tight confines of a side yard
- patios can be used to unite the space inside the back door to the space outside it
- mass plants and repeat one color over the garden to tie together different areas of the landscape
- achieve continuous spring-fall color by mixing bulbs, container plants, annuals, perennials
- establish a color theme around one color, off which other colors are played
- supplement flowerbed display with proper use of flowering vines, bushes, trees, plus foliage
- lower maintenance: use ground covers, mulch, shrubs and short trees in place of massive turf areas
- late-bloomers to extend the season: sweet autumn clematis, big-leaf hydrangea, heather, fall bulbs
- Break the "rules": vegetable gardens on the front lawn, cooking pits in the middle of deck areas
Guide Review - Better Homes and Gardens Book on Landscaping
Better Homes and Gardens' "Home Landscaping: Plants, Projects, and Ideas for Your Yard" is divided into 3 parts. Beginning with the yard layout (front, side and back), the functions of each part of the yard are detailed. As their proper functions are being described, we are also given hints for achieving this ideal functionality. In Part 2 the hints become full-blown strategies, and readers are introduced to the basic principles of landscape design theory. Finally, in Part 3, landscaping projects are laid out with precise, step-by-step instructions. The book maintains a delicate balance between teaching readers traditional concepts from formal gardens and inspiring them to try the more relaxed alternatives now becoming popular. This particular book is currently unavailable through Pricegrabber.com; but if you click the "Compare Prices" button, you'll find a similar book that they offer. I have yet to come away anything but impressed from reading any Better Homes & Gardens book on gardening or landscaping.
