"This is a great reference book for planting design, which is an arena where so many of us are hugely challenged. Information in it is well written, engaging, useful, accessible, and original." -- Holly H. Shimizu, Executive Director, United States Botanic Garden "A unique blend of classic planting-design principles and ecological plant-selection criteria." -- Scot Medbury, President, Brooklyn Botanic Garden "After reading the book, you will be able to experiment with nature and use its myriad of facets to make your own original statement. You will be ready to take risks and design exciting and original gardens." -- From the Foreword by James A. van Sweden, Oehme, van Sweden & Associates A comprehensive guide to the "high art" of designing mixed bed plantings When done successfully, mixed beds represent the pinnacle of planting design -- a living work of art in which small trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, bulbs, tropicals, and groundcovers combine to create a true feeling of place. Professional Planting Design initiates you into the principles of planting design and helps you develop the ability to think about the planting design process, so that you can develop your own effective compositions that sustain multi-seasonal interest. Richly illustrated with photographs and drawings, Professional Planting Design covers the basics as well as the advanced concepts of planting design including: selecting plant characteristics, types of mixed bed plantings, structuring and composing mixed beds, creating mixed palettes for seasonal variation, designing in elevation and plan view, and choosing plants. You'll find coverage of design, landscape architecture, and horticulture interwoven throughout the guide, along with detailed steps for developing mixed bed planting compositions at a variety of scales for projects on both residential and commercial sites. Clear and concise yet thorough, this book will supplement your talent with the knowledge you need to create harmonious mixed plantings in the landscape that will provide continual interest throughout the seasons.

The artistic combinations of plants are endless-and so are the effects they have on the human eye and spirit. As a planting designer, you must acquire vision, patience, and skill as you learn to read the landscape in all its myriad forms to create meaningful and lasting environments. From idea through implementation, Planting the Landscape shows you how. Planting design poses exciting but complex challenges for the landscape architect, demanding creativity, practical know-how, and the ability to integrate the natural with the planned-all through the living medium of plants that grow and change over time. Planting the Landscape is a unique, comprehensive guide to both the art and the science of planting design-with step-by-step coverage of every stage of the design process, from initial idea through implementation. Combining history, design principles, and horticultural practice in a single volume, it provides the reader with a solid grasp of: * The history and evolution of specific design forms * Environmental considerations and plant affinities * Design concepts, principles, and analysis * How to create a design vocabulary and develop a plant palette * How to compose a planting design * The essentials of planting and maintenance Over 200 stunning color photographs and dozens of vivid illustrations offer an inspiring visual library of design possibilities that complement the text, and international examples place design ideas and development within a global context. Accessible, clear, and precisely written, Planting the Landscape is an excellent design companion for landscape architecture professionals and students.

Gardeners learn how to design beautiful naturalistic gardens that can adapt to the changing needs of perennials, trees, shrubs and the changing landscape. Superimposed images show the growth of a designed landscape over time.

Since the first edition was published in 1992, Nick Robinson's The Planting Design Handbook has been widely used as a definitive text on landscape architecture courses throughout the world. It remains one of the few titles written by a practicing landscape architect and educator who is also a horticulturalist and accomplished plantsman, and which deals with the application of planting design on a large scale in landscape architecture and urban design projects. The Planting Design Handbook is distinctive for its elegant integration of an ecological approach with an understanding of visual and spatial composition. It emphasizes the role of vegetation layers and designed plant communities in complex and diverse plant assemblages for all kinds of sites and uses. This expanded and comprehensively updated third edition still provides a complete examination of principles and practice of design for public, institutional and private landscapes. It takes account of developments in theory and practice, especially in the use of perennials, and reflects a variety of media and approaches current in landscape architecture and design. All chapters have been revised and re-written to ensure updated references and new references have been added. Many new photographs of planting and projects around the world have been included, with examples of current professional drawings to illustrate the design process. It is generously illustrated, including a colour section and the beautifully detailed line drawings of the Chinese architect and painter Jia-Hua Wu.

Absolutely fascinating! Informative, enlightening, and entertaining! This is one of the most comprehensive books on Planting Design. It fills in the blanks in this field and introduces poetry, painting, and symbolism into Planting Design. It covers in detail the two major systems in Planting Design: Formal Planting Design and Naturalistic Planting Design. It has numerous line drawings and photos to illustrate the Planting Design concepts and principles. Through in-depth discussions of historical precedents and practical case studies, it uncovers the fundamental design principles and concepts as well as underpinning philosophy for Planting Design. It is an indispensable reference book for Landscape Architecture students, designers, architects, urban planners, and ordinary garden lovers. What Others Are Saying About Planting Design Illustrated... "I found this book to be absolutely fascinating. You will need to concentrate while reading it but the effort will be well worth your time." -Bobbie Schwartz, Former President of APLD (Association of Professional Landscape Designers) and Author of The Design Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together "This is a book that you have to read, and it is more than well worth your time. Gang Chen takes you well beyond what you'll learn in other books about basic principles like color, texture, and mass." -Jane Berger, Editor & Publisher of gardendesignonline "As a longtime consumer of gardening books, I am impressed with Gang Chen's inclusion of new information on planting design theory for Chinese and Japanese gardens. Many gardening books discuss the beauty of Japanese gardens, and a few discuss the unique charms of Chinese gardens, but this one explains how Japanese and Chinese history, geography, and artistic traditions bear on the development of each country's style. The material on traditional Western garden planting is thorough and inspiring, too. Planting Design Illustrated definitely rewards repeated reading and study; any garden designer will read it with profit." -Jan Whitner, Editor of the Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin "Enhanced with an annotated bibliography and informative appendices, Planting Design Illustrated offers an especially "reader friendly" and practical guide that makes it a very strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library Gardening & Landscaping reference collections and supplemental reading lists." -Midwest Book Review "Where to start? Planting Design Illustrated is, above all, fascinating and refreshing! Not something the lay reader encounters every day, the book presents an unlikely topic in an easily digestible, easy to follow way. It is superbly organized, with a comprehensive table of contents, bibliography, and appendices. The writing, though expertly informative, maintains its accessibility throughout and is a joy to read. The detailed and beautiful illustrations expanding on the concepts presented were my favorite portion. One of the finest books I've encountered in this contest in the past five years." -Writer's Digest 16th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards Judge's commentary "The work in my view has incredible application to planting design generally and a system approach to what is a very difficult subject to teach, at least in my experience. Also featured is very beautiful philosophy of garden design principles bordering poetry. It's my strong conviction that this work needs to see the light of day by being published for the use of professionals, students & garden enthusiasts." -Donald C Brinkerhoff, FASLA, Chairman and CEO of Lifescapes International, Inc.

Lee Miller's newest publication, "Landscape Combinations" provides the necessary tools to help you easily plan your garden, while offering a multitude of design plans with labeled photographs and detailed descriptions. Topics such as landscape design principles, color in design, the use of foliage, designing with deciduous and evergreen plants, planter combinations and landscape planning are discussed. Additional topics include designing with hardscape, with "quick and easy" landscape designs and garden styles throughout history, with colorful illustrations. The information presented is applicable to both novice or professional gardener alike, and is all based on Lee Miller's personal experience as a landscape designer for over twenty years. Lee Miller is also the author of "A Guide to Northeastern Gardening: Journeys of a Garden Designer", initially published in 2015.

Drawing on decades of professional practice and teaching experience, Steven L. Cantor's Professional and Practical Considerations for Landscape Design explains the field of landscape architecture, outlining with authority how to turn drawings of designs into creative, purposeful, and striking landscapes and landforms in today's world. This comprehensive guide consists of everything a young professional might encounter from conception through final project archiving, ensuring readers have both the tools necessary to keep up with advancements in the field and the practical business knowledge to build life-long partnerships. Each of the book's concise chapters emphasize a specific aspect of landscape architecture practice, from the administration of designs for contracts, areas of practice, human resources, marketing, construction materials, sustainability and ethics. Each chapter is written in a style that best suits the material. Alongside detailed definitions and practical "do's and don'ts" are 30 complex sample problems ranging in difficulty for both individuals and groups. An array of original photographs and clear examples in both black and white and color articulate standards and inspire future possibilities, featuring the work of Vicky Chan, founder of Avoid Obvious Architects, and Richard Alomar, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers and co-founder of New York Urban Sketchers. By combining the author's unique depth of knowledge with real-world case studies from America, Asia, and Europe, Professional and Practical Considerations for Landscape Design is an up-to-date resource for every level of reader, from students in landscape architecture programs to professionals working in public or private practice, engineering, consulting, or contracting.