BOOK REVIEWS

The Book of Garden Plans
Some 200 ready-made schemes
to help you transform your garden

Edited by Andrew Wilson
Published by Mitchell Beazley
Distributed by Reed
$NZ79.95

Now is the time of year — without the foliage and floral distractions of spring and summer — to have a dispassionate look at your garden's structure and see whether it gives you, in design terms, all that you desire.

Being dissatisfied is one thing, coming up with your own solution for a makeover is another. However, The Book of GardenPlans — with 140 designs from 72 different designers — may just set you on the right track.

The designs are shown in plan form and illustrated with sketches and three-dimensional drawings. Although not all the schemes have been completed, those that have been are accompanied by illustrations of details, such as planting, paving, water features or sculptures.

An introduction sets out the basic of garden design with the techniques used to draw up a plan, as well as an explanation of the basic elements such as scale, elevation and perspective. The various designs are categorised under seven types of garden: themed, urban, informal, small, water, formal and country. Each design carries a panel with the garden's dimensions, soil type, aspect (reverse this for the southern hemisphere) and key features.

This is a handsome book with some great hard-landscaping and planting ideas. Despite the variety, don't necessarily expect that you'll find your ideal plan — as the book advises, be prepared to mix and match and you're more likely to find the answer to your design quandaries.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH