Planting Design Illustrated

Planting Design Illustrated by Gang Chen seems to me to be possibly the only book one would need to read to understand all the basics involved in good design. I read this book as a complete novice concerning plants and planting design and found that it was easy to read and understand. Showed it to some of my gardening friends and they found it equally fascinating. This book seems to me to be the Feng Shui of planting design too. I loved everything about it. The illustrations were perfect also...not too complex, but full of every detail needed to understand what the author was talking about. The only thing that would make this book better would be a CD/DVD of the illustrations! This book will become my planting design bible!

This book on Planting Design is extremely descriptive and very informative being written by a capable Architect. As a previous City Planner, I wish I had such a thorough text as this when doing site plan reviews and landscaping requirements. It would be my suggestion to the person who is interested in the Planting Design approach on a personal scale, to dedicate some general review time of this text gaining orientation to some of the technical terminology as found in this fine informational text on Plant Design. Specifically, the study presented on the early historical Oriental contributions to formal or informal gardens certainly would serve as a useful guideline for future construction of individual gardens. I found Chapter 6 especially informative in a complete and easy story manner. It dealt with Plant Design principles, concepts, and methods coupled with Oriental case studies. This is a perfect study tool to future individual landscape design and planting, readily applicable to the home landscape. These early Oriental uses of plant designs provides an informative manner into the cultural aspects of plants. The historical usage of bamboo is very enlightening. My recommendation suggests one take the time to gain an oversight by reviewing the index and gently viewing each chapter’s heading with descriptions. Then delve more intently to possibly uncommon plant design terminology such as “scale”, “heavenly creations”, “mass planting” or much more. While this is not a “picture” book on design, it is packed with information and data that can be applied to any scale or size project. It does not require a “castle” to enjoy the same feelings found in the early, large gardens in France or the Orient based on these elements of Planting Design. For individuals wishing to spend time creating wonderful gardens, one just needs to keep in mind “basic spatial relationships” to plants, structures, and man. Although I had a some prior knowledge of landscape design and requirements when I was approving plans for commercial projects, I personally feel this text is an excellent study and informational tool for anyone interested in Plant Design.

Gang Chen's book is a little masterpiece. It's definitely NOT a coffee-table book--it's the book you would want to actually read and follow in order for your plantings to resemble those you'd find in a coffee-table book! He delves into three thousand years of planting and garden design theory in order to illustrate the concepts and principles. The illustrations, in black and white, are more useful than anything I've ever seen in gardening or outdoor design books done in four-color. The amount of information and guidance in this book is really hard to properly explain in a review, it's that overwhelmingly good. I HIGHLY recommend this book, to both professional designers and "lay gardeners" who just want to figure out how to plant their own back yards.