Encyclopedia of Landscape Design: Planning, Building, and Planting Your Perfect Outdoor Space

Book Preface

Have you ever sat—just sat—in your garden, thinking, looking around, taking in the  view? Not really looking at anything in particular, but thinking about anything and  everything to do with your garden, asking yourself, “What if I planted a tree there?” or  “If I moved those slabs, what would I put in their place?” Whether you were aware  of doing this or not is, in a way, immaterial because what you have been doing is  visually making this piece of land your own, and coming up with thoughts and ideas  for improving your outside space. Welcome then—whether it be for the first or fiftieth  time—to the world of garden design.

The concept of garden design is nothing new: when Man first cultivated land, and  enclosed his arable crops and livestock, he was delineating usable space to its best  advantage. This may not be design as we understand it now (obviously, aesthetics  were of no practical value then), but he was making spatial relationships based on  need. He was designing his environment to suit his individual daily, monthly, seasonal,  and yearly requirements.

Since that time, the process of creating a garden has evolved according to style,  fashion, prowess, skill, aptitude, wealth, travel, experimentation, and history, but it can  all be distilled down to that first need. In essence, garden making is all about a human  being exerting some level of control over his or her own surroundings. And, really, that is  all garden design is today.

As is set out by my fellow authors in this book, creating a garden can be an intricate  and time-consuming process, but the fundamental starting point is to remember that  garden design is about creating an outside space that you (or your client) want. Many  discussions will ensue after that initial thought—from what style you want, to working  out how sustainable your garden might be. But don’t let the detail bog you down too much or too early in the process. Of course detail is essential for a successful garden,  but holding on to that vision, that desire, is a key part of the process. This book will help  you, not only with the nuts and bolts of garden making, but also to focus the vision  and, I hope, help make it become a reality.

So why is there a need for such an encyclopedia? In truth, because  designing a garden can be something of a lonely experience. Even though we  are constantly bombarded with images, suggestions, and information (books,  internet, social media, and magazines), it is rare to be able to look in one place  for everything—from plant selection to gravel color, from fence posts to tree heights.  The very nature of having so much choice can render the designer/gardener/client  more than a little confused as to what they actually want from their garden. The  activity of making a garden can also be influenced from so many quarters—by  plants or hard materials—that a designer needs a refuge of sorts, where questions  are answered and problems resolved. I hope this book will be that refuge in an  ever-crowded, information-heavy world.

Often, coming up with an overarching vision for what you want your garden to be like  is the easiest part of the process. It is translating that vision into a reality that takes the  bulk of the time: working out how parts of a garden can sit together, how planting  interest throughout the year can be sustained, deciding on hard landscaping materials  that will work in all weather conditions, and so on. These are the stimulating—and at  times frustrating—aspects of the process, but they make the difference between an  unusable piece of land adjoining your property and a beautifully designed garden.  The chapters in this book take you through these very stages of garden design,  helping to demystify the unknowns and clarify the unclear. I sincerely hope you  enjoy it and, as a result, make the best garden you possibly can.