Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Landscaping & Patio Design: Over 325 Ideas for Landscaping & Patio Design

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

 

 

I expected much more content. This book was no use to me at all

This book only contained (not very good) color sketches of patios and landscaping. It had no explanations of what you were looking at, and the schetches did not really give you a good idea of what the "artist" was trying to convey. Looked like a school project.

I bought this book expecting an encyclopedia. That is descriptions, methods... It is only a book of drawings not a single word of text. Is the first of 100's of books bought at Amazon.Com that I have returned.

I found this book to be very disappointing. It lacks in text and supplies only limited views of structural landscaping designs via sketches.

The book consists of numerous sketches of decks, patios, entries, etc. It was perfect for my situation because I was simply looking for design ideas to make my patio unique and not just the traditional rectangle shape. The "how-to" books I found on patios and decks had lots of instruction but very few pictures. I was able to combine ideas from a couple of the sketches in this book and come up with a great design. Be advised that the book contains no building instructions or dimensions. It is simply a lot of ideas presented as sketches.

I am a graduate architecture student, and my education did not include much on landscaping. I use this book frequently to get ideas on how to integrate the landscape into my buildings. The book contains hundreds of watercolor illustrations of small outdoor spaces. It is useful for exploring material options, getting ideas on landscape integration, color options, learning how to render an outdoor space, etc. This book is good for showing broad ideas for inspiration and adaptation, not exact copying. The many styles presented could also be useful for a client who wants to describe a style to a designer but may not know the technical name or how to describe it.

When my wife and I began deciding what to do with the dirt piles surrounding our home, we did a lot of idea-hunting. This book brought us both much closer to our respective goals and helped us better understand what each other wanted. In other words, this book succeeded where others failed. I highly recommend it for the opening phase of exterior decor planning.