MY TOP 5 FAVORITE LANDSCAPE BOOKS

I have a descent amount of landscape related books and often find myself at the bookstore restraining myself from buying anything.  Then arises the issue of what to buy, even if I do decide to buy.  If you have experienced that scenario, then this is the post for you.  Below is a list of 5 landscape related books that I recommend if you are in the market for something new. 

The first, which is my all time favorite is 1000 Garden Ideas.  This book gives you just that.  1000 picture of garden ideas.  From paths to fences etc. this book has a lot of great info.  It also does not have much text. 

The second, is called Re-imagining The California Lawn.  This book is about exactly as the title suggests.  Thinking outside the cookie cutter box and doing something different with your garden, besides just lawn. 

The third, is California Native Landscape.  This book gives you lots of garden ideas and 300 ish California native plants to consider in your garden.  Great for anyone that is interested in California native plants and wants a starting point. 

The fourth, is Kiss My Aster: A graphic guide to creating a fantastic yard totally tailored to you.  This is a quirky gardening book, that gives you all kinds of tips and tricks about gardening.  It's somewhat cheeky, but totally useful. 

The fifth, is the Drunken Botanist.  This is great for the person that wants to make some drinks for the holiday season and geek out about alcohol and it's origin.  If you are into hosting friends and socially drinking then this is the perfect book for you. 

THE BOOK I AM APPARENTLY WRITING

As you may or may not know I have been writing a book about 50 California native plants for years.  Something that I was working on from time to time.  Well I decided a few months ago that I needed to either get serious with it or not.  I can't keep putting it off and putting it off and not doing anything with it.  It deserves to live.  Hah! 

That is why I have set myself a goal to have the book completely finished before 2019.  Not published by 2019, but ready for self publishing.  This way I can spend the first few months of next year actually getting it set up on Amazon for your reading pleasure. 

This image is the current cover of the book.  It may change but for now I like it. 

RIP GARDEN DESIGN MAGAZINE

When I heard this news I almost started to cry.  This is really sad and I am truly stunned in shock.  To make what appears to be a long story short.  Garden design magazine is no longer going to be in publication.  I have bunch of their issues that I look at all the time for inspiration and feel truly sad that they are no longer going to publish.  Below is the full information from Plant Talk.  Click on the link to get the fool scoop.  

I must vent and say that it's sad that the advancement of the digital world may put an end the print world.  Gone may be the day's where you can go outside in the morning and get the newspaper or go to the magazine stand and pick up the latest issue of your favorite magazine.  Don't get me wrong I do love surfing the net for some inspiration but at the same time there is something to having a hard copy that I can look at without internet connection that will surely be missed.

TWO UPCOMING BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR

The First.....

Do you have a small front porch or a balcony that could use some tlc? Why use your hard earned dollars to improve someones landscape if you are just renting? If this sounds like you then this forthcoming book is just perfect for your apartment dwelling garden. Small Space Container Gardens by Fern Richardson is about gardening for those that don't have a lot of room, are renting or those that can only use containers. No mus no fuss ideas that will turn any brown thumb green.

Fern also offers container gardening services. If you have a balcony or front porch that is in need of some love then I would highly recommend you contact Fern to assist you. She also writes an award winning blog titled Life On The Balcony, in which she shares her experiences about apartment gardening and other fun things. written by The Second...

Imagine if you had a less than attractive wall. How would you soften it? How would you add texture and life? Well! This is where this book comes in handy for you. Garden UP written by Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet is about gardening upwards (vertical gardening). Techniques, tips and tricks on how to successfully have a vertical garden. Below is the book trailer.

I will be filming the installation of a vertical garden this month designed by Season's Landscaping and will post the video on this blog. Stay tuned!

Photo courtesy of Season's Landscaping.

WICKED PLANTS & WICKED BUGS

Did you know that there are certain plants that are deadly. Deadly as in "can kill you". Yep there are such plants out there and Amy Stewart author of Wicked Plants can tell you all about them. From Oleander to Sago Palms these plants are truly deadly. The author even grows some of these botanical nightmares in her yard. Below is the book trailer...



On the same token Wicked Bugs by the same author is about the deadly garden bugs. From lice to mosquitoes these bugs truly are one not to mess with. Below is the book trailer...



If there are any books that you are considering adding to your collection these two should be somewhere on that list. Kudos to Amy Stewart for going where no man has dared to go ;-)

SUCCULENT CONTAINER GARDENS

As a landscape designer I have a collection of books that are great to use when I need a moment of design inspiration and this is surely one of them. From pairing the right plant with the right pot to caring and maintaining a succulent garden, this book by Debra Lee Baldwin is a great resource.

This video made by the author shows you how to make a succulent container garden. Simple, easy and loads of fun.



Debra Lee Baldwin also sells neat and nifty succulent post cards, mouse pads etc. Click here to see a selection of her succulent art. Click on the image to purchase the book.

MY BOOK IS SO CLOSE

Most of you may already know this and for those that don't you soon will. I am writing a book, which evolved through my research and love of California native plants. It was a day in the making by forces more powerful than me. I was making 8.5x11 plant fact sheets for a client for her native garden design concept. The sheets contained the basic plant information as well as lots of pretty pictures. Before I knew it I had 80+ sheets and realized one day that I had the basics of a book. I laughed at myself thinking yeah right! ME! write a book? I ignored the idea for a few months until one day I realized that making this book would be a great way to promote my business and the subject matter.

I started out calling the book "Easy to Use California Native Plants For Your Garden", which was nice but just not right for the audience I was going after. So after much thought and advice from fellow designers, the book took a turn in the right direction. This led to a name change calling it "60 California Native Plants to Experiment With in Your Garden". Easy to use, readily available and forgiving plants that you should totally try. Life is an experiment of trial and error, but these plants are the experiment that works the first time and lasts a long time.

At the moment the book is 90-95% complete, with no publisher other than my pocket. Hey maybe I will one day meet a generous donor hee hee. Either way I intend (god willing) on getting the book done before February or March. That does not mean that it will be printed by then but at least it will be ready for printing. You may be happy to know that I have contacted two publishers and will have to patiently wait and see. Wish me luck. On that note I would like to do a series of blog posts about upcoming books that you should check out when published as well as others that have already been published worth reading.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments feel free to share them. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

BOOK PICTURES

At this stage in the book writing I can officially conclude that I am 90% done and have sent info to two publishers (wish me luck). I am at the stage of checking all my photographs for quality and realizing that I still need more photos that are higher resolution for some of the plants. Thankfully I all the pictures I am currently using I have the legal right to do so.

On the subject of photos I thought I would share som
e that I am using in the book. So we are going to play a game. One in which the first person to guess the genus of all 3 pictures right will win the soil stick.

Some plant clues...

1. Book title is 60 California native plants to experiment with in your garden.
2. These plants are easy to use, readily available and forgiving.
   
3. First picture is a tall growing shrub, the second is a medium growing shrub, while the third is a low growing shrub.

In order to win or guess you must comment directly on this blog post! Happy Thanksgiving and good luck.

60 CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS

I am sure that I had talked to you before about my book that is a work in progress. Since then I have made some changes and additions that have made me realize how much I really want to do this. I am not an expert writer by any means but I am a person with an idea that I think is relevant for sharing. I have also created a website for the book called www.canatives.blogspot.com. I would love to hear any comments that you have. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

The book is basically about 60 California native plants that I believe you should experiment with in your garden. These plants are readily available, easy to use and forgiving hence the experiment part. I will say that there are other books about plants that are really good and worth reading as I hope mine will be to you.

Click here to see a list of other books you should consider reading.
Click here to see some videos about California native plants.

Happy Thanksgiving! :-)

DESIGNING CALIFORNIA NATIVE GARDENS

I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture by Alrie Middlebrook a few months ago who is the author of Designing California Native Gardens and was impressed not only by how dedicated she was about designing California native gardens but also how informative her book was. This book is categorized by 12 zones. From bluffs and cliffs to wetlands this book tells you what plants would work best in each climate zone with some design tips.

If you have any landscape related books that you would like to share then please email me at info@CreationsLandscapeDesigns.com.

LANDSCAPE GRAPHICS

Landscape Graphics by Grant Reid is a great book for those that are not familiar with digital drafting programs. From concept sketch to presentation rendering this book offers tips and tricks on how to draw landscape plans from tree symbols to shrub symbols and so on. There are hundreds of ideas and graphics to look at that are meant to educate you on how to properly draw landscape plans and give you lettering tips and tricks. There is no specific method to doing conceptual designs, but you will definitely find great ideas in this book.

ESSENTIAL GARDEN DESIGN WORKBOOK

The Essential Garden Design Workbook is a great book for budding landscape designer or those that don't have the budget to hire a landscape designer and yet want a beautiful garden. The book offers tips and tricks on how to property measure a site, how to pick the right paving and plant materials as well as understanding horizontal, vertical, overhead and ground planes. You will also get instructions on how to clearly draw plans from site analysis to final design including hundreds of examples. If you are a hands on type of gardener than this is the book for you.

Click on the image for more info.

THE EMPTY LOS ANGELES

I don't live in Los Angeles, but I have driven there many times to one place or another. Sometimes I end up in traffic and other times the ride is smooth sailing. But what if there was no one there? What if the streets were completely empty then what might Los Angeles look like? Well! Photographer Matt Logue has beautifully demonstrated this thought in his work titled Empty LA. The pictures are stunning! Makes you think what this county could really look like if we made an effort to sustainably enhance it. I live in Orange County and I wonder what it might look like empty.

1000 GARDEN IDEAS

1000 Garden Ideas offers exactly what the title says. Literally this book gives you 1000 garden ideas! From paving to fences this book is a great resource for designers and really good free ideas for homeowners. If you are a homeowner and you just don't have the budget to hire a designer to give you ideas then I highly suggest that you make this book your virtual designer. You may still have to hire the designer to prepare the actual construction drawings but at least you can use this book to guide you through your garden journey.
As you can see in the pictures below there are a wide range of gate designs to suit your fancy.


All of a sudden you have options. I love to look at this book before starting a design to help me fuel my creativity. I have even taken it to clients homes and had them put a post it on any image that catches their eye.

I LOVE DIRT

How much do you love dirt? Do you love rolling in it? Especially when it's wet? Then you will love this book. I love dirt by Jennifer Ward "52 activities to help you & your kids discover the wonders of nature." This book is broken down by season. Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter.

"I Love Dirt! is a call to parents, educators & caregivers to help recover one of the greatest joys in childhood: spending time outdoors in nature. In five minutes, you can take children outside and turn their world around. This book will help you to do that."