Encyclopedia of Garden Design and Structure: Ideas and Inspiration for Your Garden

by Derek Fell

A ready reference of stimulating garden features from all over the world. Renowned garden designer Derek Fell has compiled more than 800 photographs to create a personal scrapbook of his favorite design features from around the world. Together with his insightful commentary, they provide a wealth of ideas and inspiration for the home gardener. The book features: Valuable tips on plant cultivation mingle with garden history and elegant description as Fell guides readers through famed gardens such as Monet's Clos Normand, Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., and Rome's Villa d'Este, plus private gardens like his own Cedaridge Farm.

Genres: Gardening

224 pages, Hardcover

Published March 4, 2006

Reviews

[Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book includes around 117 entries, mostly one or two pages but a few up to four or five, ranging from big concepts (like the 'color theme garden') to concrete design elements ('mounds, islands, and pyramids'). What makes the book work are the terrific photos; each entry has multiple photos (with short, clear captions) showing different applications of the same element. The text emphasizes garden design as a visual art, with frequent references to techniques used in French Impressionist painters' gardens, which I found helpful.

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first impression of the book was that
1. The author does not like animals
2. It didn't have very big pictures and had choppy transitions.

Then I realized that the word "Encyclopedia" was in the name and it made more sense!! It was arranged in alphabetical order, duh! And encyclopedias just give an overview. It's not meant to be a beautiful garden book, just informative.

In the end, I read the whole book and learned a lot.

The thing that surprised me was that great painters, like Monet, were also avid gardeners!

Since I like to plant flowers, arrange them, and photograph the results, I was excited to learn that gardening and art are connected. I just never thought of the connection before.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot of great gardening ideas, and includes lots of full-color pictures to illustrate their terms. I liked the A-Z setup of the book, but some entries, for example "light" or "shadow patterns" made me want to call Captain Obvious out for a showdown.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little disappointing, I was hoping for more of a 'how to' than just a book of ideas & there are no actual plans you can use as inspiration, just photographs of the mature concepts.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little disappointing, I was hoping for more of a 'how to' than just a book of ideas & there are no actual plans you can use as inspiration, just photographs of the mature concepts.