Encyclopedia of Garden Design and Structure: Ideas and Inspiration for Your Garden

Most of this is beyond the average gardener, but it is well done and fun to look at. Don't pay full price, but discounted, it's a nice addition to your gardening library. Fun to browse.

"When painters seek artistic development and inspiration they visit great art collections, like those in the Louvre, Paris, the Tate Gallery, London, and the Getty Museum, Los Angeles. When gardeners seek inspiration there is no one place to find a wide selection of styles and designs, hence the reason for this book..." Derek Fell wrote in "Encyclopedia of Garden Design and Structure: Ideas and Inspiration for Your Garden." He continued to discuss designing the landscape, and gardens of inspiration (the influences of great painters, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne on garden design), informal versus formal design, softscape versus hardscape components, etc. He also listed and explained the garden design terms in alphabetic order, each term is briefly discussed and demonstrated with color photos. On Derek's discussion of formal and informal gardens, I have a different opinion and I think while Chinese and Japanese traditional buildings tend to be formal and symmetric with extensive and powerful uses of grids and axes, Chinese and Japanese gardens should be considered informal gardens with their overall naturalistic layout. See my book, "Planting Design Illustrated" for related in-depth discussion. "Encyclopedia of Garden Design and Structure: Ideas and Inspiration for Your Garden" has 224 pages and over 1,000 color photos and over 100 garden features. Overall, it is a great visual encyclopedia and a source of inspiration and ideas for your garden design. Gang Chen, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Author of "Planting Design Illustrated," "LEED GA Exam Guide," "Architectural Practice Simplified," and other books on various LEED exams, architecture, and landscape architecture

This is a beautiful book with many pictures and lots of design ideas for gardens.

Wow! I just cannot say enough good things about this book! When it arrived, before opening it I expected to just see another book with black and white sketches telling me things I already knew. But from cover to cover, I found tons of beautiful, inspiring photos of actual gardens and landscaping which has given me many good ideas to incorporate into my own plans. The text is also easy to follow and understand (even for a beginner), the detailed captions are very helpful, and the overall layout of this book, with its various sections broken down, is to be commended. I would give it 10 stars!