Customer Reviews

Home Landscaping: Texas

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

If you need a book to give you an idea about a space and what to do with it, this is the book. Great photos and wonderful ideas. Unfortunately you will need additional reference material to get you from point A to point B (if you are a novice like me). This is a very good book to start with!

This is an okay general guide for beginners in home landscaping. However, it is not particular to Texas, despite its title. There are only about 30 pages devoted to plant material, and this is not covered in depth. The text makes no real attempt to help gardeners select plant material suitable to the many different soil types and environments found in Texas.

This book is great -- it has info on lots of local plants that really grow. I think one of the best features are the plans they have for different areas in your yard and sun exposure with excellent renderings to go with them. They even take you through the seasons so you can see how an area looks in December as well as May. Very user friendly!

Great book, especially for novice garders and those learning gardening in a new climate. Easy to use and full of good ideas.

Excellent pictures of planned landscapes that are actually usable in Texas. Very good for a beginner with no experience in planning a landscape. Usually gives a page number and picture of the plant used , which was helpful not only in recognition of the plant at the nursery but to identify plants that I have but did not know the name of. Gives diagrams in color for both shady and sunny areas, various sized property lots, front or back yards, and stand alone beds. Most useful book to help guide one in planning ones own property and still get the expensive landscapers look! Highly recommend.

I'm a Master Gardener and this a great book - very clearly written - great illustrations - I use it often and recommend it to all gardeners no matter what their experience level.

Good book and reference for landscaping design for Texas. I was disappointed that more actual photo designs were not present.