Customer Reviews

The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Perennials may be put in their place using an organized design pattern and Stephanie Cohen's teaching background blends with nursery owner Nancy Ondra's experience with rare plants to make for an excellent set of design tips in Perennial Gardener's Design Primer. Here are 20 plans for different kinds of gardens, along with designer tips, checklists, and a list of recommended reliable perennials. Color photos and plenty of diagrams and charts pack life into a recommended gardener's planning guide.

I have purchased many Garden design books. I want something to just give me an idea and Ill go from there. This book does just that. The color ideas, what to plant with what. Has detailed sketched designs as well as many photographs of actual flower beds.
The quick reference Planning Chart has to be one of my favorite things about the book.
Would I buy it again? yes, I think I would

I have over 50 gardening books, but none of them compare to this one for gardening design. It has a wide variety of garden designs with exact directions for placement. The only drawback I see in this book is for southern gardners. I was not familiar w/all of the plants & I suspect most of them are for northern gardens.

After seeing this book recommended as one of the year's best by "Fine Gardening" and seeing it as the #3 selection on Amazon . Com for bestsellers I bought the book. Both authors have been in the horticulture field for a combination of over 45 years and it shows. I Googled them. Stephanie Cohen has won some very prestigious awards from both professional groups and garden groups. Her co-author ,
Nancy Ondra, worked as a gardening editor as well as writing numerous top selling books. I liked there use of the newest and latest perennials. I liked the authenticity of using real gardens and the befores and afters.The photos are great. I liked the time-saving tips. The chart of flowers on the back of the book is a winner. However, the best thing about this book is the humor-I love it! Hurrah for a gardening book that shows real people wrote it!

I am a Master Gardener, and I love this book. The design ideas are very helpful, there are beautiful color photos and interesting sidebars throughout. I'm reading it cover to cover, not only using it as a reference book.

In the back of this book is a 13 page planning chart. It includes most or all of the perennials featured in the book with: zones, light req, soil moisture req, bloom season/length/color, height, and foliage color!

You can easily find all the, say, medium-height, yellow spring-blooming plants with purple foliage for zone 6 that like full sun and wet soil.

The text (meat) of this book is average and normally I'd just send this back to the library after stealing a good design idea or two. But I'm going to purchase this book because the chart is everything I've always wanted from a gardening book. It's well worth paying for!

This book is very helpful in planning a border or bed. The authors give a simple procedure that will give good results. In addition, they describe several plants that do well without much care. This books focuses on sunny areas. I wish they would do a similar book using shade plants. One of the most helpful garden planning books I've seen.

The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer
By Stephanie Cohen and Nancy J. Ondra
Storey Publishing
ISBN -13978-1-58017-532-2

If this book had been available when I first started gardening, I would have saved both time and money and might have avoided frustration and disappointments. This publication allows the perennial gardener to skip past the trial and error stages of gardening and move directly into planting and growing pleasurable perennial gardens.

Whether one is a novice attempting a first-ever flower bed or a seasoned gardener re-configuring or enlarging a pre existing one, there is ample advice and encouragement to accomplish ones goals with confidence and satisfaction. The artistry of this book is that it is not necessary to read it from cover to cover in order to learn. Reader may select only those chapters that reflect the existing physical conditions of their gardening space or may chose to read about a specific style of garden they want to create.

One can find advice about a shade or a sun garden, a dry or a soggy location, a small flower bed or a meadow of wildflowers, a perfectly manicured border or a minimal maintenance garden. Whatever the readers' choice, the authors offer guidance for plant site, bed preparation, flower selection and plant combination. Within each clearly defined type of garden there is a suggested list of very specific plants that have a proven track record for converting perennial gardeners' dreams into reality.

There is an interesting rhythm to this book. Each author gardens according to her particular tastes and needs and writes about them with conviction. By juxtaposing two different yet respected points of view, the authors have created a primer with a double purpose. It emboldens the reader to embrace one's own gardening style while at the same time offers more than one reliable path to perennial gardening success.

Allan Becker reviews books on gardening for [...]
and for,< [...] >

This book provides the perfect guidence for a new perennial gardener. The material is well organized. The design plans are usable. The book emmpowers the reader to get to work in their garden.

Much useful information from 2 experienced gardners, and the book is a relatively easy read. Love the photos. There's a great deal of inspiration in those pages.