Synopses & Reviews
Anyone can create a welcoming, harmonious garden by following certain simple, time-tested rules or "patterns." Building on the ground-breaking "pattern language" of celebrated architect Christopher Alexander, Valerie Easton gives us the tools for creating our own highly satisfying garden spaces. Alexander identifies certain key patterns, or elements of urban and architectural design, that help us to understand why we feel comfortable in a space. In this volume, Easton identifies a similar group of patterns for garden design that will enable the reader to turn any home landscape regardless of style, site, or climate into a memorable and nurturing retreat. The key to Easton's pattern choice is their universality. Human nature tends to respond, again and again, to certain intangible elements that enhance our senses and experiences. Among the patterns that Easton discusses are: fostering a sense of arrival; establishing a vital connection between house and garden; facilitating movement through the garden; enclosing areas to create a feeling of security; creating destinations for seating, dining, and relaxing; and incorporating the soothing influence of water features.
Easton also identifies key plants that can be used to enhance the archetypal patterns of garden-making. A Pattern Gardenopens up a range of exciting possibilities and changes the way we see and think about the garden spaces around us. It articulates the difference between a garden that is merely well-tended, and one that appeals to our real human need for beauty, respite, and meaning.
Review
"A Pattern Garden reveals the hidden relationships between scale and structure that define truly great gardens....Easton will open your eyes to a new way of seeing the design opportunities inherent in anygarden site." Scot Medbury, CEO Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Review
The dry days of June are good for redesigning the garden. For great ideas on the subject, pick up A Pattern Garden. Sunset, June 2007
Review
"Ms. Easton has an accessible, down-to-earth style in the book...one is led to believe that even the most rank beginner should just do it: go ahead and decide where the path should go, imagine where it will lead, and what might lie, like a surprise, or a sanctuary, at the end." The New York Times, June 21 , 2007
Synopsis
The author of Plant Life discusses the universal principles of good landscape design in a brightly illustrated handbook that explains how to transform any home landscape--regardless of style, site, or climate--into a nurturing and stylish retreat, and identifies key plants that can be used to enhance these archtypal patterns of design.
Synopsis
A Pattern Garden gives us the tools for creating our own highly satisfying garden spaces. Easton identifies 14 garden patterns that she sees as fundamental to successful design and that will turn any landscape into a memorable and rewarding retreat. This book will help you identify what pleases you, and why, and provide inspiration and direction in the planting and layout of your own garden. Discussions of essential patterns, such as the creation of paths or the incorporation of water into the garden, are complemented by concrete advice about plant selection.
Synopsis
A Pattern Garden articulates the difference between a garden that is merely lovely and well tended, and one that appeals to the real human needs for beauty, respite, and meaning, and gives us the tools for creating our own highly satisfying garden spaces.
About the Author
Valerie Easton regularly contributes articles to numerous publications, including Gardens Illustrated.