Timeless Landscape Design: The Four-Part Master Plan
by Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan
An oversized book reads like a delightful course in landscape design; perhaps not surprising, since the authors are renowned in the fields of landscape architecture. Filled with beautiful photos, as are many lovely garden books, but with the additional inclusion of many illustrated design concepts. It is a book that brings learning design into a form that is easy to grasp.
Historic designs and their underlying principles make a great foundation for applying great ideas to your own home landscape.
An illuminating essay on building visual connections highlights the importance of creating a union between your house and its setting.
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The Dargans then put the ideas all together with specific garden feature examples.
One can learn a lot from this book while having a completely enjoyable experience doing so, there is nothing dry or dull about the presentation of large amount of design theory. Design techniques are not alone in abstract deals, but brought to earth with practical tips and examples.
I felt the this book is best for the gardener who is interested in design and planning their own garden. That is likely most of us, eventually. However, it is not for those looking for a “how-to” book or one with a plant reference library.
It is a valuable resource book for your garden library. One of the easiest of the design books to follow and understand, as well as one of the prettiest. It is comparable to many higher priced books on the topic and deserves praise for making complex concepts so accessible. Gardeners could take years gaining the insight to good design that they may pick up with the much more condensed time spent reading and consulting this book.
It has moved into top place for my choice in first choice for a design reference garden book. The focused scope is probably one of the reasons for that decision.
Timeless Landscape Design
