Customer Reviews

Big Ideas for Small Gardens: Featuring Dave Egbert's Garden Notebook

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I anxiously awaited Dave Egbert's new book and he did not disappoint me. Small Gardens is filled with great suggestions for making my small areas appear larger and more beautiful. I love his use of perspective to give the illusion of space. The suggestions on placement and choice of plants is filled with all the information I need to make my garden special, including size, shape and growth pattern of the plant as well as water and lighting requirements. I was especially interested in how to have a successful garden in my very shady yard. The book seemed to cover most gardens: containers, sun, shade, flower, edible, rock , water, indoor and even living space areas. The photos are superb and I liked that the plants were labeled using arrows to point out the specific highlight. I also liked the notebook format. It was easy to read and captured Dave's fun personality and love of gardening. Almost everyone has a small garden, whether it is their whole yard or a separate area. I think everyone can find useful information in Small Gardens. Sunset has published another winner.

There are no garden plans at all in this book, so if you're looking for help with planning your garden, you're out of luck.

This is a picture book mostly. The pictures are meant to inspire and give you ideas for what could work in your own garden. Unfortunately many of the photos are not very good technically and the ideas in them are often impractical.

To start with the technical issues with the photos, too many of them are blurry, over- or under-exposed. E.g. adding a hot tub to a small garden is a great idea. But why would the photo editor choose a photo with a white hot tub so over-exposed that it's completely washed out? They could have spent 15 minutes on [...] and found at least a dozen technically perfect photos of hot tubs in garden settings.

As for the ideas, I lost count of all the trip hazards in the photos. Many other ideas are also rather impractical or awkward.
* An unpaved path under trees in a shade garden: How long until you get tired of slipping about in the mud?
* A grove of aspens next to the swimming pool: Do you mind paying the pool maintenance company extra for dealing with all the leaves?
* Such a pretty seating area hidden behind the yuccas: But who will use it when they have to fight stiff, sharp leaves to get there?

I have a number of other garden design books. What they have in common is stressing the importance of planning your outdoor space so that it actually works and to make the most of it. The best of them also point out the weaknesses in the designs shown: E.g. two rhododendrons at the peak of bloom look impressive. But the rest of the year they have rather boring, dark leaves and no architectural interest. If you only have a small garden, you might want to use the space for plants that are attractive more than a month per year.

There must be better design books for small gardens than this.

I'm not big on gardening because it seems too involved at times. This book changed my perception. It has lots of pictures and fresh ideas on how to create a beautiful garden of your own. It's written in a language you can understand and enjoy rather than intimidating you. Great book. I would highly recommend it to pros and beginners alike.

i'm a big fan of dave egbert's tv show (the coastal gardener) and now i also love this book. dave delivers his usual brand of enthusiastic expertise while emily young provides illuminating commentary through hundreds of brilliant photos. this book literally cracked my mind open about what i could do with my small patio space. i am inspired. definitely worth it.

I have a VERY small corner space for a backyard with issues. This book is very colorful which caught my eye first. Lots of good ideas, each picture packs a big punch. Most of it was very simple ideas,not a lot of reading just a lot of great pictures that most people can acheive in part or totally. Especially for someone like me who didn't know how to start, or how to layer plants to give it that rich full feeling and still stay within a small space. There are also simple ways to bring water features and decorative accents into your yard. The plants that were suggested in the back of the book were right on for my needs. And they didn't cost much from the Depot type stores. I'm still in the begining stages(a few weeks) but it' already starting to look like a little get away to sit and relax in.
Hope that helps.

Each picture is supported by several pages of how to and plant lists. Covers a variety of growing zones and combinations of plants, landscaping materials and furniture. Does not provide specific construction or planting details but the diversity of ideas gets you thinking about how to design garden spaces to meet your individual taste. Rate it 4 1/2 stars of 5.

I have recently moved to an Over 55 active adult community. I have always had a very large yard with many gardens featuring all sorts of flowers, shrubs, trees, etc.
I now have but a amall space front and rear. I like a cottage look with lots of color. I found too much use of grasses and other types of plantings not found in this part of the country.
This book was reviewed in the Washington Post along with two others. Perhaps the others would have been more helpful.

Saw book featured on The Coastal Gardener Show. WOW... It's great! Richly illustrated and easy to follow. Dave's garden note book is a perfect pop-off to his advice on small gardens.

Great ideas for small gardens! I liked it so much that I gave a copy of the book to a relative.