Home Landscaping: Texas [Paperback]

Greg Grant (Author), Roger Holmes Mr. (Author)

Book Description

Series: Home Landscaping | Publication Date: January 28, 2004

Home Landscaping: Texas is the latest edition in Creative Homeowner's best-selling Regional Home Landscaping series, providing easy, practical ideas to beautify outdoor environments. Starting with the 200 best plants that thrive in the region, landscape professionals from Texas created 46 outdoor design concepts. Included are easy-to-follow instructions to create the paths, fences, walls, and arbors included in the designs, as well as information on plant care and maintenance. Clearly written in a friendly style, Home Landscaping: Texas provides insider advice to turn even a novice gardener into a landscape pro.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Home Landscaping: Texas makes it too easy. Great texas designers using proven Texas plants are just what the doctor ordered. If you can't make these plants work at your home, we can't help you!" -Jerry M. Parsons, Ph.D., Professir and Extension Horticulturist for the Texas Cooperative Extension-Texas A&M University.

"Finally, a landscape guide co-authored by Texas' own Greg Grant. This is no prissy coffee table book but a pure how-to guide with lots of design ideas and plant suggestions--a must have for any serious or beginning gardener in the Lone Star or adjoining states."-Chris Corby, Editor/Publisher, Texas Gardener Magazine

"There's nothing like it! This idea filled book takes the guesswork out of landscaping so you can focus on the fun. Designs that work, great plants you can find, accurate instructions, and details drawings will help you succeed."-Nancy Beaubaire, former Editor, Country Living Gardener and Fine Gardening

Book Description

Home Landscaping: Texas is the latest edition in Creative Homeowner's best-selling Regional Home Landscaping series, providing easy, practical ideas to beautify outdoor environments. Starting with the 200 best plants that thrive in the region, landscape professionals from Texas created 46 outdoor design concepts. Included are easy-to-follow instructions to create the paths, fences, walls, and arbors included in the designs, as well as information on plant care and maintenance. Clearly written in a friendly style, Home Landscaping: Texas provides the insider advice to turn even a novice gardener into a landscape pro.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Creative Homeowner (January 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580111440
• ISBN-13: 978-1580111447
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,157,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great ideas, but should have expanded upon them., December 17, 2005

By 

Howard Nemerov (TX, United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Home Landscaping: Texas (Paperback)

This is a tale of two books. The first one explains landscaping principles to the not-so-artistically inclined, and makes landscaping attainable to us. It contains beautiful design examples that could even be copied and installed as is. You can learn how to make eye-catching corners in your yard, design and install a garden with a water element, merge your landscape into a woodland, make a shady hideaway, and much more. If you want a book that will get you over the creative hurdle, save yourself a bunch of money, and create a yard that is the talk of the town, this book is a must-have reference.

Unfortunately, this book ends in the middle of the text. In an attempt to be all things to all people, the authors chose to include a Guide to Installation and a section on Plant Profiles. In doing so, they failed to carry out their mission and included substandard discussions on topics which are covered more extensively by other authors. There already are numerous references available on preparing the soil, building fences, and selecting appropriate plant materials. The authors would have better served us by simply including an extensive bibliography on these subjects and instead expanding the selection of designs.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvellous book--my husband said, "Finally! This is it!", May 18, 2005

By 

Kathleen Wilson (Trophy Club, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home Landscaping: Texas (Paperback)

He's been looking for the book containing the "recipes" for TX landscaping. This one has it. It's a great read, an excellent reference--cross-referencing itself throughout--and beautiful to look at as well. A value in our extensive gardening library!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Errors make me scared to try his plans., April 4, 2007

By 

Value Mommy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Landscaping: Texas (Paperback)

This was one of the first landscaping books I purchased when I moved back to Texas and bought a newly constructed (read barren all but grass) house. It IS very inspirational and I always thought that it would be the first book I would reach for when I could afford to start my major landscaping project around my property. Now I'm ready to really begin planting and I've bought a few other books in the past few weeks to assist me in planning. (Other reviewers who say that you'll also need a plant guide specific to Texas are right, in my opinion. The plants the author picks may do well in Texas, but they're not necessarily natives and some will need special attention in the vastly different growing conditions throughout our great state.) I really thought the other books I purchased would supplement this one but then I sat down with all my books, pencil and graph paper, my property survey, and my local (native) nursery's plant list. I was finally making actual plans, not dreaming about it.

What do I see on page 28 as I work on plans for my front bed? A Red Oak planted 7 feet from the front window. HUH? I'll confess myself to be a novice but I'm not THAT much of a novice! Most people with a shred of common sense know that a tree that will eventually attain both a height and spread of 80 feet should not be planted anywhere near that close to your house.

Sadly, the book does not have any actual photos of the landscape designs presented, only illustrations. Lovely though they may be, they are not necessarily realistic. I'm guessing that a real picture of a Red Oak 7 feet from a home might be hard to find, since few people would be silly enough to do it. Due to my lack of faith in the plans, this book rapidly went to the bottom of the pile for my planning. Even the plant portraits he provides (the only photos in the book) could be found in better books.

Here's something interesting. If you click on the author's name above, you will see that he's produced these landscape designs for almost every region in the US. So, I'm guessing this is actually a mass-market production. I would be interested in comparing the Texas book to the others to see if there are many differences. I have a guess already. In this book, he does discuss hardiness zones but in every other Texas landscaping book I have, the actual regions of Texas are the focus. Hmmm, specifics about Texas in a book with Texas in the title. How novel.

Some books I can recommend wholeheartedly are the following (in the order I think they're useful to my paper and pencil, real, true planning):

Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife LOVE LOVE LOVE it! This book does it all. I'm particularly interested in attracting birds and butterflies to my yard. This book discusses the regions of Texas and their different needs, gives you a step-by-step plan for developing your own landscape design and gives a rundown of the needs of local wildlife and instructions for completing specific projects. You will need a supplemental plant guide though because this book is not photo rich in that area. The book was poorly reviewed for having a vast plant list that was not searchable but someone from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. left a review telling how to get the searchable index by e-mail. I got it within hours of sending off a request.

Native Texas Plants: Landscaping Region by RegionWONDERFUL! Gives professional quality landscaping plans for each region plus other landscaping plans for specific needs like wildlife, water, etc. It also has an excellent written and photo description of the plants she uses.

Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas If you're not interested in the Wildlife book above, this one is another that presents a great step-by-step plan for the creation of your own landscape design. Unfortunately, it doesn't give any sample plans for you to look at like Native Texas Plants does. It does offer some useful information about wildlife and xeriscaping.

Month by Month Gardening in Texas: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year (Month-By-Month Gardening in Texas) Excellent book for the planner. Not what to plant but a calendar to tell you when. It might make you puzzle about how hard it is to find a tree or perennials at Home Depot or Lowe's in Fall and Winter but check out your local nursery that carries natives and you'll find plenty.)

Texas Gardening the Natural Way: The Complete HandbookHoward Garrett is widely recognized as an authority on Texas gardening and uses organic methods. The book has an excellent section with photos and descriptions of all kinds of plants but lacks the landscaping plans I was after. Also, they're not all natives although not everyone minds that so I included it in this list because it is a good reference.