Designing With Plants

Rethink the typical garden design of extensive lawn and narrow border. Instead, explore islands of flowers, thick lines of plants, and mixtures of shrubs, roses, perennials, and annuals growing together in perfect harmony. This mingled arrangement maintains its beauty longer, extends the value of the planting area, and lies at the heart of today's ornamental garden. If you aren't aware of the wide variety of mixed border types that exist, you're missing a valuable opportunity to make optimum use of natural resources. Dozens of photos show different approaches, from highly formal to almost wild.

Piet Oudolf's gardens excite the senses and stir emotion with an approach to gardening that emphasizes form, texture, light, movement, and color. "Designing with Plants" is both inspirational and instructive-an informative and visually breathtaking study that shows readers how to create the same effects in their gardens. This paperback reprint includes four main parts. "Planting Palettes" shows the range of plant choice available in form, texture, and color. "Designing Schemes" shows how to combine these elements to create stunning and sculptural gardens. Through stunning photography, "Planting Moods" shows how to create a particular atmosphere. And "Year-Round Planting" emphasizes the importance of choosing plants that have value throughout the seasons.