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Book Review – Garden Design Solutions

November 20, 2015 By Jill Anderson 2 Comments

Just as I’m in the middle of planning our garden, after moving here earlier in the year, Garden Design Solutions arrived from the publishers for me to review, a timely reminder for me of those all important principles of garden design.

Book Review - Garden Design Solutions-book cover

Designing a garden can be a daunting thing, so many things to think about and unlike decorating a room in the house, everything changes and grows through the seasons, so unless you have a garden designer to hand, a book with information and advice is essential.

The author, Stephen Woodhams is an experienced, well-respected designer with 2 Chelsea Flower Show gold medals under his belt, not only that, but he’s designed a wide range of gardens both here and abroad.

The chapters take you through the process of planning, probably the most essential step, with, amongst other things, a list of questions to ask yourself so you can tailor the garden to what you need.

Book Review - Garden Design Solutions

One of the most useful sections is dealing with the lay-out of the garden, it’s easy to think about changes to one part of a garden, but tricky to relate everything together and think of it as a whole. This part of the book explains this well and there are numerous examples of gardens designed by the author, complete with photos and plans.

Book Review - Garden Design Solutions-page example

The chapter on planting is full of case studies on planting styles, including a traditional garden, container gardening and a roof garden, with the emphasis very much on using plants as part of the design.

There’s a very useful page of resources at the back of the book and plenty of well-captioned photos to illustrate all the points that are made.

The book has clear design information simply explained, at first I wondered if all the mediterranean gardens might not be helpful for U.K. readers, then I realised this was a bit small-minded, there is the rest of the world after all. In any case, the principles of garden design are universal and can be applied to any situation.

I met Stephen briefly when I designed a small show garden for The Hampton Court Flower Show 10 years ago, he was there on press day and tactfully advised me to re-arrange a few big cushions in the garden. He was really charming….. and he was right about the cushions.

Happy gardening, Jill

all photos: Jill Anderson

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Related posts:

what to do on the allotment, grapevine in augustWhat to do on the allotment in August. Christmas gifts for gardeners, wwww.growingnicely.co.ukChristmas gifts for gardeners. great dixter topiaryGreat Dixter- gardening inspiration what to do in your garden in Julyfoxglove and hesperis flowersWhat to do in your garden in July
Filed Under: Blog, Gardening Tagged With: Garden Design Solutions, Stephen Woodhams

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Comments

  1. Jo Turner says

    November 22, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    Just found out about your blog, from @higgleygarden tweet. This book sounds full of good information and photos. Love your photos from the Port Eliot festival! Just started a blog…very much a rookie still…Did a post last week about a talk by Piet Oudolf in Vancouver. Have a peek if you get a moment : )

    Reply
    • Jill Anderson says

      December 10, 2015 at 5:46 pm

      Hi Jo

      Port Eliot was great, so nice to meet Mr Higgeldy in person! Just had a peek at your lovely blog, the Piet Oudolf talk sounds wonderful, nice photos too.

      Reply

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Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
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