Customer Reviews

Your House, Your Garden: A Foolproof Approach to Garden Design

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Perhaps going into it...I expected too much!

As a Landscape Designer I'd heard of him often, seminars, lectures etc. but somehow the book wasn't anywhere near as good as I'd hoped.

I'm certain I would have enjoyed the book more if I didn't spend so much time wrestling with the layout. Mr. Hayward goes into great detail about landscaping concepts on a particular project & would generally end up referring to related photos or figures that were often many pages ahead. The going back & forth got really old after awhile...not to mention,extremely frustrating. I think any reader generally appreciates seeing the photos being referred to on the page they are explained.

My other negative about this book was that so much detail seemed to be spent on specific projects that it seemed the author was more preoccupied at times with his clients project & describing things that often weren't even in the photographs or seriously helpful to a designer wanting to learn more. A more preferable approach in my opinion would have been to not fuss about specific client details but glean from the projects the essence or core principles applied & present them in a straight forward, generic fashion.

After reading the entire book slowly & carefully, I would honeslty have to admit I'd hoped to find a vast wealth of practical & easily adaptable gems. Instead I only came away with very limited amount of useful information.

I have not read any of Mr. Hayward's other books..so I may check them out in the library first before buying...perhaps they might be far superior to this one. I still hold to my opinion that he's a brilliant designer...however that doesn't necessariy make him a great writer!

A book I found to be much better is The Landscape Design Answer Book by Jane Bath...

While I have several book shelves devoted to serious garden design, this is the book I always pull down and loan to my neighbors and friends. When they say " I would really like to do something with my side yard. I have to block out the new neighbors!", or " You know how bad my front walk looks I want to rip it out and redo it. What can I do to convince the kids to use it and not cut across the grass?" I say "Let me lend you a great book that will really get you thinking in the right direction". The advice is practical, logical and perfect for the weekend warrior. My copy of Your House, Your Garden has a waiting list for borrowing so I am buying a second copy!

This book changed the way I look at landscaping. I have an oddly-shaped lot with both sunny and shady areas. This book has you get out your plot plan (something I never thought of!) and mark those areas and take a "whole yard" approach to your landscape. The advice is flawless, the pictures gorgeous. You will definitely want to add this to your library if you garden at all.

This book has just been chosen by The American Horticultural Society as one of the five top garden books for 2004.

I have a library of gardening books and this is by far one of the best I've seen in years. Good design features; good advice. The only thing I would have enjoyed was a little more detail to the actual planting layouts. You won't regret buying this book.

This book is amazing. Hayward takes you through the mental process he uses to design gardens. I agree with his premise that the layout of the garden is the most important thing to get right. After reading this I feel that although I might not have a great garden, I now know what a great garden is. I also read his other books, but this is by far my favorite.

Gorgeous full-color photographs illustrate Your House, Your Garden, a practical, problem-solving and lavishly presented homeowner's guide to incorporating gardens between buildings, at the entrance, in a courtyard, and just about anywhere else near one's personal domicile. Common dilemmas, matters of space, sizing, and selecting the proper plants for one's climate and access to sunshine and much more make Your House, Your Garden an excellent resource for anyone contemplating the addition or enhancement of a garden to their home sweet home. Superbly organized and thoroughly "user friendly", Your House, Your Garden by nationally acclaimed garden designer Gordon Hayward would be a welcome addition to any personal or community library Gardening reference collection. Also very highly recommended is Gordon Hayward's earlier work, Stone In The Garden: Inspiring Designs And Practical Projects (0393047792, $39.95).