Garden Design - Sylvia Crowe (ISBN 1870673409)

THIS ONE IS FOR THE HARD-CORE GARDENER.:
This volume was first published in England in 1958 with the American Edition published in 1959. This book is unlike the contemporary garden design books by the same author. First, the book consists primarily of text, well written text, I grant you, but text never-the-less. The pictures are in black and white so if you are looking for a "coffee table book," you need to search further. The author dose give us a wonderful history of European gardens, their concept, design, and present format. The black and white photos are quite good and are supplemented by wonderful line drawings and design patterns by Carol Moller, who is, by the way, quite good. For those interested in old, classical gardens from around the world you will find this a must have book for your collection. The text is clear and concise and quite readable. The book is broken down into parts. Part One is History. Part Two are Principles of Design. Part Three are Materials of Design. Part Four addresses Specialised Gardens. Then we have short chapters on wild gardents, rock gardens, factory gardens and school gardens. This is a very scholarly book and is quite useful for those who are interested in the history of gardening. I highly recommend this one.