Customer Reviews

Influential Gardeners: The Designers Who Shaped 20th-Century Garden Style

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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I think this book is a great overview and introduction for anyone interested in garden design and landscape architecture. The commentary is insightful and gives the reader a good jumping off point for further expoloration into different design styles. The pictures are beautiful and the list of 20th designers is the most comprehensive that I have seen to date. I would recommend this book be used in college courses to introduce students to the field of garden/landscape design.

This is a beautiful coffee table book: large format with luscious photography. The writer has focussed on the people who influenced garden design in the twentieth century, from Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West to designers who are only now hitting their stride. He concentrates on designers from Western Europe and North America and he has grouped the 56 designers by different aspects of garden design - for example, planting, form and texture.

I have to admit I'm not a fan of the self-consciously self-important school of garden design. Of course a beautiful garden requires careful planning, but if the finished result smacks you in the face with geometric shapes and larger-than-life hard structures then I might call it a piece of art, but I wouldn't call it a garden. O.K, I'm prejudiced, but I'd run screaming from some of the gardens in illustrated in this book.

That said, the writer is knowledgeable; he has selected his subjects carefully and arranged them in logical sequence. His introductory comments to each section of the book are comprehensive and concise.

If you have an interest in the evolution of garden design in the 20th century, then this book is a must. It's beautifully divided into sections, eg; colour and decoration (yes, the book does originate from England), form, concept, etc. with a host of garden designers who have made their mark in these particular areas. Because only 2 to 3 pages are devoted to each designer, it's enough for a good overview yet not to cumbersome. The photos are fantastic and the author writes with clarity and a sensitive touch. If my house were on fire and I could only grab 2 of my gardening books, this would be one of them and the other would be The Inward Garden by Julie Moir Messervy.

Well written, from a personal viewpoint. Good photos, some I had not seen from these designers. That said, more time could have been given to each designer. But it is really just an introduction to the work of these designers. Recommended.

This book is a beautiful tool in helping me recognize teh influence that many international designers have had on the average gardens in the US today.