Synopses & Reviews
The Garden Writers Association of America awarded Garden Stone a Garden Globe Award of Achievement for Writing. The Washington Post wrote, "Garden Stone is one of the best idea books on using stones in the landscape that I have seen." And Country Living Gardener said, "While the book is visually stunning . . . diagrams and step-by-step instructions show how gardeners can make their dreams come true."
Garden Stone shows you how to add stone to bring texture, color, serenity, and strength to your garden. Author Barbara Pleasant offers more than 40 enchanting designs--from something as simple as a flagstone path to an elaborate Zen-inspired meditation garden. Each project is packed with practical, down-to-earth installation advice, including clear line drawings and instructional diagrams. A comprehensive resource list helps you easily find the tools and materials you need.
Pleasant helps gardeners decide which type of stone is best for which kind of design. Limestone, for example, is ideal for stacking to make rock walls. Sandstone is easy to cut for steps and adds warm shades of red, yellow, or chocolate brown to the landscape. Blocks of granite can be used as sturdy paving stones.
Pleasant also shows you how to create stone water features, such as fountains and natural-looking ponds and streams. And she provides hundreds of suggestions for plants whose color, texture, and shape will enhance your stone projects.
Review
"one of the best idea books on using stones in the landscape that I have scene." -- The Washington Post
"Good ideas are quarried in Garden Stone. . . . Excellent photographs make it clear why stone is such a treasure." -- Columbus Dispatch
"This well-illustrated book covers paths and walkways, walls, water gardens, wisdom, and whimsy." -- The Gardener's Companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac
" ... a must-read for anyone wanting to add stone to the garden, whether it's a do-it-yourself project or work-for-hire job." -- Detroit News & Free Press
"the basics of stone masonry are well diagrammed." -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"well written and beautifully illustrated throughout." -- Library Journal
"provides all the practical information, instructional drawings and illustrations needed." -- Country Decorating Ideas
"This guide can inspire gardeners to employ the interactions of stone, plants, soil, water and light in creating a place of enduring beauty." --Indianapolis Star
"Pleasant's excellent book covers everything that's necessary to add stone to your garden..." --Buffalo News
Synopsis
Garden Stone presents visual inspiration for creative ways to use stone in gardens, coupled with the practical information needed to carry out those ideas in home landscapes. More than 250 full-color photographs by Dency Kane demonstrate how gardeners can exploit the contrasting textures and colors of stone and plants to create all kinds of stone projects, from dramatic focal points to practical garden features. Stone images come from gardens in all parts of North America, celebrating the variety and beauty of stone in different geographic locations.
Basic information and clear examples help readers enjoy the magic of working with stone. Projects include patterned stone mosaic walkways, simple meditation gardens, a dry stream bed planted with water-conserving plants, a raised herb garden, several rock gardens, a pocket pond, a stone-filled water garden, and stone and water features that attract birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Gardeners will especially appreciate learning how to interplant in stone walls and paths, erect an espalier against a stone wall, grow a moss garden, and create unique stone sculptures.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
About the Author
Award-winning author Barbara Pleasant has written abouttackling some of gardeners' worst nightmares: bugs, plantdiseases, and weeds. Her books include The Gardener's BugBook, The Gardener's Guide to Plant Diseases, The Gardener'sWeed Book,and Garden Stone,2003 winner of the Garden Writers Association's Garden Globe Award.A contributing editor to Mother Earth Newsand regionalcorrespondent for Gardening How-Tomagazine, Barbara lives in the mountains of western North Carolina. Her website isbarbarapleasant.com.