This Old House Complete Landscaping [Paperback]

Gary Keim (Author), Paul Spring (Editor)

Book Description

Series: This Old House Complete | Publication Date: January 2004

At last! A comprehensive landscaping guide from the experts at This Old House. Find all the information you need to plan landscape projects, whether you're doing the work or hiring a pro. Filled with inspiring photography featuring homes from coast to coast, this exciting new volume includes helpful tips from the trusted names at This Old House, including landscape contractor Roger Cook. Eleven step-by-step projects demonstrate how the pros build paths, patios, and walls; even a pond/waterfall and a small deck. Learn how to beautify your garden with the best plants and building materials, making it a true extension of your home.

Key Features:

* Choosing the best hardscaping solutions and the right building materials for use in building decks, patios, paths, fences, walls, pools and more.

* Finishing touches as to how to install garden lighting, and essential information on drainage and irrigation.

* A complete chapter packed with advice and suggestions on selecting and caring for the best plants and lawns.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For readers considering doing their own landscaping for the first time, the home improvement experts at This Old House offer a full-color, traditional how-to of modern American landscaping. This isn't Landscaping for Idiots-it assumes a certain amount of handiness on the part of the reader, who also must know how to use graph paper. Mainly, the book provides an overview of the entire landscaping process, from the initial planning to the satisfaction of laying down the plants. The editors cover all the basics: patios, paths, benches, hot tubs, children's play areas, arbors, decks, pools, ponds, fountains, trees, shrubs and perennials. Several chapters contain step-by-step instructions on smaller projects, such as installing low-voltage outdoor lighting and making a simple patio fountain. Helpful hints are dispersed throughout on how to choose between sprinklers and drip irrigation, the best way to estimate concrete and gravel amount, and how to correctly choose a tree. Before and after photos provide inspiration, and the easy-to-read, magazine-style layout allows for interruption of the text with relevant pictures, graphics and illustrations. This might not be the only book readers will need to successfully make over their yards, but it's nevertheless worth a small space in their landscaping libraries.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Sunset Books (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0376003022
• ISBN-13: 978-0376003027
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #676,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely useful resource, April 3, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Old House Complete Landscaping (Paperback)

Superbly illustrated with full color photographs throughout, the Complete Landscaping from This Old House Ventures is a property owner's guide to everything from beautifying one's garden to building paths, walls, water features, fences, and decks, adding outdoor lighting, and much more to make the grounds about one's home appealing and lavish. Meticulous step-by-step, illustrated instructions provide an extensively detailed and clear narration, especially suitable to aspiring amateur landscapers of all experience levels. An extremely useful resource, Complete Landscaping is an impressive and strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, and community library Gardening & Horticultural reference collections.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Coverage on the Basics, September 4, 2006

By 

Kathleen A. Peck "New Review" (MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Old House Complete Landscaping (Paperback)

This book is a worthwhile investment for homeowners/gardeners who want to tackle their own landscape with a decent education on what's involved. The book covers all the basics of starting with your landscape wish list...garden features, amending soil & some helpful plant recommendations. Although this book certainly couldn't be depended upon as an independent source for completing a home landscape from start to finish, it definitely touches on all the important phases, & helps the reader realize how much is involved. As a landscape designer, I recommend this book to those who have little or no background with gardening, plants & maintenance, yet have the aspiration to begin learning how to bring their property to a whole new level. The photos are good too & that can help spawn new ideas!

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth adding to your landscape library, June 24, 2010

By 

A. Schnaitter - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Landscaping (This Old House Complete) (Paperback)

Checked this book out at the library to use as a reference on the construction of a courtyard landscaping project. We are experienced "do-it-yourselfers" when it comes to landscape and hardscape projects. We quickly realized that this book was one we wanted to own! It is extremely informative. It is well illustrated, clear in its descriptions and presents easy to follow directions on all sorts of hardscaping problems and projects. There are great photos to use for inspiration and to borrow from for one's own situation. There are good discussions of a wide variety of hardscaping materials available. This book is good for beginners and those with more experience. Now we can build pathways, unmortered stone patios, and lay drainage the way the pros do!