Review – The RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design

The Royal Horticultural Society Guide to Garden Landscaping

Aug 9, 2009

The Royal Horticultural Society offers gardeners of all skill levels a collection of information and advice in this practical guide to garden design.

A recent addition to the selection of Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and Dorling Kindersley (DK) publications, the RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design (DK, 2009) offers home owners a comprehensive overview of every aspect of planning and designing a perfect outdoor space.

True to the RHS goal to “help people share a passion for plants, to encourage excellence in horticulture and inspire all those with an interest in gardening”, the Encyclopedia of Garden Design aims to simplify the complex process of designing a garden space that suits both space and lifestyle limitations.

Particularly appealing to those looking for a strong visual impact from their outdoor space, the Encyclopedia of Garden Design walks readers through the process of landscaping their outdoor space with advice from the first principles of assessing the available space to selecting plants and surfaces and building garden structures such as pergolas and decks.

While the plant selections are particularly suitable for the UK climate and soil conditions, this guide has something to offer any gardeners and home owners who want a guide that will walk them through the garden design process from start to finish.

Comprehensive Guide to Landscaping an Outdoor Space

With contributions from RHS experts dedicated to making gardening a positive and enriching experience, it is not surprising that the tone and impact of the Encyclopedia of Garden Design is an encouraging and empowering one.

An early photo caption states that “successful garden design is about creating usable, attractive and well-made spaces that suit the owner’s personal needs” and this philosophy underlies the approach and emphasis of the entire book.

Planning, Planting and Building the Perfect Outdoor Space

How to Design – a guide to the principles of garden design including assessing a garden area, creating a garden design plan, designing with plants, assessing space limitations and strengths and assessing what is required from the outdoor area.

Choosing a Style – 13 different garden styles are described to offer a basic blueprint for garden design. These include Cottage, Urban, family, fusion, foliage, Japanese and Mediterranean gardens styles as well as productive and sustainable garden concepts.

Making a Garden – This practical section includes a pre-construction check-list as well as information on garden construction projects such as how to lay a path or deck, put up a fence or make a garden bed or border. All projects include step-by-step guides with photographs.

Plant and Materials Guide – this section includes more than 70 pages of information and photographs of various flowers, trees, shrubs and grasses as well as screens, pavers, pots and structures. Plant items are clearly coded to indicate care and climate needs while materials are coded with approximate price, durability and colour options.

Garden Design for the Everyday Gardening Enthusiast

While the focus on UK plants and listing of UK stockists does limit the application of some information, the majority of the text is universal and sure to be of interest and use to gardeners from areas outside the UK. The visual appeal of the book, with stunning photography of sample gardens and plants, is sure to be reason enough for many gardening enthusiasts to add this book to their gardening reference library.

Combining the Royal Horticultural Society approach to gardening with passion and enthusiasm with the familiar DK high standards for presenting information in an appealing and easy accessible format, the Encyclopedia of Garden Design is a wonderful practical guide for anyone planning to re-design their garden or outdoor living area.

The copyright of the article Review – The RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design in Gardening Books is owned by Susan Whelan. Permission to republish Review – The RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.