Oriental Gardening
Putting aside anything else, there is one reason that oriental garden enthusiasts should own this book. The full color photos are GORGEOUS. I could easily pick this book up again and again and just page through the photos. There are sand gardens. Lovely arched bridges over ponds. Waterfalls. Cascading tree branches. I am always inspired when I look through the book to try something new in my house. It brings inspiration and enthusiasm.
The book goes section by section, plant by plant to help you determine what will grow best in your area. There are many photos of the trees, bushes, flowers, water lilies and more that are covered. The book was helped by the Japanese Garden Society of Oregon so these experts definitely understood the challenges of growing oriental plants in a US climate. Did I mention the photos are gorgeous? I want at least one of each item I see in here. Maybe I need a larger yard.
The book talks about planning for all four seasons, about laying out a garden, about traditional elements and water features. It talks about organic gardening and special-needs design issues.
My main complaints with this book have to do with the text. They have the text going relatively deep into the spine, and the letters are small and jammed together. It's hard to read the content they provide. So ironically while it's easy to flip through and admire the photos, it's much harder to actually use the book "as a book" and read through the content to get information from it. It's much more designed to say "I want to get a peony. Let me look it up, see its photo and read the blurb on it". I would rather have had a much larger book with larger text and larger margins, so that it became more functional as a book to read through.
Still, that's a minor complaint. I definitely enjoy this book and find it a great reference.
Buy Oriental Gardening from Amazon.com
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