Garden Design: History, Principles, Elements, Practice

Pleasance Crawford is a Canadian landscape and garden-history researcher
and writer and the co-author of Garden Voices: Two Centuries of Canadian
Garden Writing.

The authors of Garden Design: History, Principles, Elements, Practice will already be familiar to readers of Landscape Architecture and Garden Design, the excellent quarterlies from the Publication Board of the American Society of Landscape Architecture (which is also involved in this book). Susan Frey, one of the book’s authors, is editor-in-chief of the quarterlies. The work of Derek Fell, principal photographer, appears in numerous publications, including Harrowsmith magazine.

Like Garden Design quarterly, the book is about residential gardens. A two-page Introduction is by John Brookes, the noted English garden designer and writer. Chapter One, “A Garden Progress,” by William Lake Douglas, is a well-written overview of the history of garden design. Chapter Two, “Discovering Your Style,” by Norman K. Johnson, explains and illustrates key elements of the major garden types — the parterre, the outdoor room, the country cottage, the oriental style, the wild garden — and teaches readers to identify the common situations that make the adaptation, or adoption, of a style successful. Chapter Three, “A Sense of Place,” by Susan R. Frey, considers the functional aspects of garden features, while Chapter Four, “Elements of the Garden,” by Susan Littlefield and Michael Van Valkenburgh, looks at design details, paving, fences, seats, plants, and so forth. Chapter Five, “Designer’s Choice,” by Susan Littlefield, presents a two-page example, adapted from longer articles in Garden Design quarterly, of the work of each of 15 international designers or design teams. Toronto landscape architect Lois Listen’s design for an “urban villa,” which appeared in the Autumn 1983 issue of Garden Design quarterly, is included. Chapter Six, “Garden Wisdom,” by Norman K. Johnson, covers general planning considerations, both for a new garden and for an old garden needing renovation. The book ends with “Sources”: addresses of the 15 featured designers and lists of landscape design associations and retail nurseries in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. A two-page bibliography guides readers to classic works on garden design, all currently in print.

The authors have wisely avoided chapters on horticulture and plant selection, restricting their coverage to matters of design, and producing a much-needed comprehensive work. The book inspires both professional and amateur garden designers with its treasury of garden ideas, knowledgeable, insightful writing, and glorious colour photography.