Synopses & Reviews
Transform your deck into the ideal outdoor living space
When surrounded by shrubs and small trees, perennials and annuals, ornamental grasses and vines, your deck becomes an appealing link between your home and yard. In this book, you'll find everything you need to know to create your dream deck environment. Barbara Ellis offers dozens of creative ideas and fail-proof techniques.
Long-blooming flowers, fruit-bearing shrubs, and gracefully drifting grasses offer fragrance and color while attracting visits from butterflies and hummingbirds.
Plant-packed containers grouped on a deck convey a special feeling of abundance, and they instantly create a gardenlike feel.
Flowering vines trained over a sturdy arbor create an island of welcome shade. Flowers and foliage spilling over railings and covering a trellised wall or arbor provide a sense of privacy.
Count on Barbara Ellis to pick up on just what the American deck needs. Deckscaping shows us how to turn our own bland (or cluttered!) space into a delightful, usable room that seamlessly joins our indoor dTcor with our garden landscape. With so many good ideas, I can't wait to get started! (Frances Tenenbaum, Editor, Taylor's Guide to Gardening)
Barbara Ellis offers a whole new approach to making this outdoor living space one of the most attractive areas of the home landscape. (Lewis and Nancy Hill, authors of The Lawn and Garden Owner's Manual, Daylilies, Pruning Made Easy, and Secrets of Plant Propagation)
Review
"If you want how-to planting and design ideas for you deck, patio or even your balcony, this book is a must. And it would make a great gift." - Washington Post
"Handsome photographs and easy-to-understand drawings are a bonus." - Portland Oregonian
" In Deckscaping, Barbara Ellis...goes into great detail, with color photos and drawings, to show how {the deck} can be used and enjoyed year round, even in cold climates. From simple to elaborate, she suggests surfaces, materials, plantings, furniture and gives tips on maintenance as well."- Publishers Weekly
"Deckscaping is a thoughtful and well-illustrated guide to making a deck more inviting and comfortable..."?Chicago Tribune
"Barbara Ellis shows how even the smallest pressure-treated "plot" can be transformed into an oasis of color and fragrance." ?Country Living Gardener
"...with Ellis' expert guidance, even the most lowly deck can be elevated into a lush garden room worthy of its inside partners. Through Ellis' creative pointers, homeowners can easily develop a tempting transition from the backdoor to the backyard that will reflect their lifestyles and personalities. ...an excellent resource for new deck construction or old deck revitalization projects." ?Booklist
"If you're willing to be inspired, read on. Author Ellis...offers suggestions and practical advice for anyone with a deck on the drawing board or underfoot." --Portland Oregonian
"Say bye-bye to that boring deck...Pick up a copy Deckscaping." --Nashville Tennessean
"The decks included in the lavish illustrations are anything but the barren, flat, house extensions we too often see...those in the book are an integral part of the garden and anything but boring." --Asbury Park Press
Synopsis
Decks are popular in North American landscapes because they serve as outdoor sanctuaries. They are in the back yard, where life is quiet and less hectic. The deck is the perfect place to read the Sunday paper, listen to a ballgame, or entertain when the weather's nice. But a large, flat expanse of deck isn't all that exciting. Often, decks look bare and uninviting and can take up valuable gardening space.
With DECKSCAPING, learn to landscape on and around your deck. Landscaping and planting techniques help create the feeling that the deck is surrounded by the garden while hiding the deck's unsightly undercarriage. Add structure and privacy to the deck by building a lattice-covered pergola and growing climbing vines on it for shade. Containers planted with flowers, herbs, or vegetables bring the garden, with its fragrances, butterflies, birds, and wildlife, right up onto the deck. Running low on space? Attach hanging baskets and planter boxes to the railing. What you plant around your deck is just as important as what you plant around your house.
In addition to teaching landscaping and planting techniques, DECKSCAPING provides decorating tips on furniture, ornaments, and water features that strengthen the link between indoor and outdoor rooms. Homeowners will also learn how to evaluate a deck, analyze its usefulness and effectiveness, and identify options to improve it so that it is comfortable, safe, and appealing.
Synopsis
Let climbing roses wander up a trellis or train old-fashioned wisteria on an arbor, enclosing your deck with color and shad and filling it with fragrance on summer evenings. Surround your deck with spring flowers and fall berries, as well as annuals and perennials that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Plant ornamental edibles and herbs in containers or in a deckside bed for summertime meals. With flowers, vines, arbors, trellises, comfortable furnishings, well-placed lighting, and great decorating ideas, you can transform your deck into an inviting place to linger all year long.
About the Author
Barbara W. Ellis is a freelance writer, editor, and lifelong gardener. She is the author of many gardening books, including The Veggie Gardeners Answer Book, Deckscaping, Shady Retreats, and Covering Ground. She holds a B.S. in horticulture from the Ohio State University, Columbus, and a B.A. from Kenyon College. She has worked as managing editor at Rodale Press and as publications director for the American Horticultural Society and is affiliated with the Hardy Plant Society Mid-Atlantic Group, the Garden Writers Association, and the Perennial Plant Association. She lives and gardens in Maryland, where she and her husband live in a renovated “green” home with an assortment of rescued dogs, cats, and parrots. Her garden, which is managed organically and designed to be wildlife-friendly, features a wide range of ornamentals, herbs, and edibles for both sun and shade.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Ideal Outdoor Living Space
Chapter 1: Customizing Your Design (4)
Chapter 2: The Surrounding Gardens (24)
Chapter 3: Container Gardening (58)
Chapter 4: Trellises and Arbors (86)
Chapter 5: Decorating with Style (112)
Chapter 6: Favorite Deckside Plants (124)
Index (158)