A garden designer reveals the secrets of his trade with practical guidelines on how to enhance an old garden, hide an eyesore, and create a new masterpiece, along with tips on proporations, materials, and styles.

A Garden Makes a House a Home features twenty-five residential gardens from every region across the United States, presented by veteran shelter magazine garden editor Elvin McDonald in a lavishly illustrated format. Lush, well-tended gardens—whether they adorn humble cottages or sprawling estates—add beauty and personality to any property and truly make a house into a home. In this volume, gardens from simple to grand respond to the needs of their sites and reveal the unique personalities of the owners that care for them: on a tight urban lot in Houston, a thoughtful selection of water-loving plants and an innovative fountain that mediates rainfall from the city’s frequent deluges block out noise from the surrounding streets; elaborate terraces on a steep hillside in Portland, Oregon, create a variety of outdoor living spaces nestled directly among a rich tapestry of perennials, tall grasses, and Japanese maples; and on forty verdant New Hampshire acres, a series of garden “rooms” and meandering paths create an Edwardian-inspired escape. The diverse array of gardens inspire with glorious, full-color images of plants thriving in all climates—berries, lettuces, and herbs burst from the rich soils of Berkeley, California, in an edible garden the whole neighborhood is invited to enjoy; succulents of all sizes and shapes add color and texture to a lakeside home in Dallas and an arid Tucson yard equally well; dozens of bonsai and plants native to Asia create an authentic Eastern atmosphere in Indianola, Iowa; the rambling cottage-style plantings of England are reinterpreted in a river valley in Knoxville, Tennessee; and closely clipped boxwood in Greenwich, Connecticut, forms a parterre that rivals the beauty of its elaborate French predecessors across the ocean. Elvin McDonald draws on his forty-five years of professional experience and distinguished career to present a collection of exquisite landscapes, created both by avid amateurs and well-known designers including Suzy Bales, Rosalind Creasy, Douglas Hoerr, Raymond Jungles, Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger, and Phillip Watson, that will inspire all who recognize the allure greenery can add to a home.

This magnificently illustrated volume presents a wide-ranging collection of beautiful interiors captured by some of the world's leading photographers. This volume and its 240 color illustrations are both a joy toperuse and a great source of decorating ideas.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of "House & Garden, this fully illustrated book presents important contemporary decorating trends in stunning homes. From one-room makeovers to complete renovations, home-decorating projects are flourishing across the country. House & Garden Book of Style explores seven of today's most popular looks, including the rustic charm of Country Luxe, the urban sophistication of New International, and the cross-cultural eclecticism of Bohemian Chic. Interweaving the stories of homeowners and the insights of professional decorators, each chapter features full-color pictures of four to six residences that typify the style, and the do's and don'ts of getting a style right. The first book from "House & Garden in more than 15 years, this is an irresistible combination of inspiration, innovative ideas, and practical know-how.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The former First Lady, author of Becoming, and producer and star of Waffles + Mochi tells the inspirational story of the White House Kitchen Garden and how gardens can transform our lives and the health of our communities. Early in her tenure as First Lady, despite being a novice gardener, Michelle Obama planted a kitchen garden on the White House’s South Lawn. To her delight, she watched as fresh vegetables, fruit, and herbs sprouted from the ground. Soon the White House Kitchen Garden inspired a new conversation all across the country about the food we feed our families and the impact it has on the nutrition and well-being of our children. In American Grown, Mrs. Obama invites you inside the White House Kitchen Garden, from the first planting to the satisfaction of the seasonal harvest. She reveals her early worries and struggles—would the new plants even grow?—and her joy as lettuce, corn, tomatoes, collards and kale, sweet potatoes and rhubarb flourished in the freshly tilled soil. She shares the stories of other gardens that have moved and inspired her on her journey across the nation. And she offers what she learned about planting your own backyard, school, or community garden. American Grown features: • a behind-the-scenes look at every season of the garden’s growth • unique recipes created by White House chefs • striking original photographs that bring the White House garden to life • a fascinating history of community gardens in the United States From a modern-day vegetable truck that brings fresh produce to underserved communities in Chicago, to Houston office workers who make the sidewalk bloom, to a New York City school that created a scented garden for the visually impaired, to a garden in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that devotes its entire harvest to those less fortunate, American Grown isn’t just the story of a single garden. It’s a celebration of the bounty of our nation and a reminder of what we can all grow together.

Explores the essential relationship between house & garden. Includes 130 full-color photographs.

Marcia Willett's The Garden House is a charming and heartwarming novel about family, yearning, and long-buried secrets ... Fresh out of university and right on the precipice of adulthood, El is trying her best to figure out what it is she really wants from life. This is complicated by the fact that she is also dealing with the loss of her father, Martin. After his sudden death, El inherits and moves into his home just outside Tavistock, in the Devon countryside. Her stepbrother and sort-of friend, Will, comes to help her through her grief and to go through her father’s belongings. As El spends time in her father’s home, she uncovers more about his life, and the secrets he had been keeping from her and her family. This includes mysterious messages on his phone from someone El suspects may have been more than just a friendly acquaintance. Julia is also mourning Martin, but for many reasons, they thought best to keep their relationship a secret. So she must now grieve entirely on her own. All she has to remember of her love are the text messages they sent to each other in their secret code, and the memories of their time spent at The Garden House: a beautiful community garden and teashop nearby. It is where they met, fell in love, and where their secret affair will inevitably be uncovered one day. As El and Will begin to decipher the messages on Martin’s phone, and piece together her father’s long-buried secrets, they are brought closer and closer to each other, to Julia, and to a truth that is difficult for all to face.