From Booklist
Structural elements are important assets that help to create a garden's distinctive ambience. Fences enclose; gates invite; walls delineate; paths lead the way. Smith addresses these themes, together with all sorts of decorative embellishments and architectural necessities that should be considered when planning a garden, or thinking about making changes to enhance an existing space. The encouraging text looks at design issues from many perspectives, offering countless possibilities and solutions spanning a range of styles. How-to features present illustrated construction tips and explain technical principles, while the abundant, beautiful photography will have readers pondering the addition of a metal obelisk for the roses, or a sensational pebble mosaic for a sequestered patio. A handsome resource guide for sophisticated gardens. Alice Joyce
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Book Description
What separates the special garden from an ordinary one is not only what we plant in it, but also how we shape it. Build a wall with stone. Raise a trellis for the roses. Edge the herb bed with wattling. Be ambitious and erect an arbor for afternoon tea. Each of these is a garden structure-an element that has the power to define a garden's mood, guide its uses, anchor it in time, and deepen its meaning.

Equal parts wish book and how-to, Garden Structures marries inspiration with the nitty-gritty of design, materials, and methods to help every gardener create and carry out plans that will transform dirt, plants, and dreams into an outdoor home. Illustrated with over 200 exquisite color photographs and instructional line drawings, Garden Structures ranges from the simplest to the most involved ways to create a framework on which a garden grows. Here are structures to define boundaries: gates, fences, walls, edgings. Structures that give a garden lift: trellises, arbors, pergolas. Structures, such as paths and walkways, that shape the garden underfoot. And structures for living: patios, decks, terraces, greenhouses. Complementing each section are dozens of sidebars, from "Bamboo Barriers" to "What to Plant Between the Cracks" to "The Osage Orange" and "Paving Particulars."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Marrying inspiration with the nitty-gritty of design, materials, and methods, Garden Structures covers all the different ways to create a framework on which a garden grows. Beginning with the very idea that makes a garden a garden--enclosure--and its expression as a fence or wall, through the most elaborate of structures, including greenhouses, decks, and pavilions, the ten chapters in this book celebrate the ways that gardening and building are linked. A chinoiserie trellis, herb beds edged in wattling, brick arches dripping with honeysuckle, flagstone walkways--this is how we carve our unique niche in the world's vastness.

Illustrating the book are more than 300 color photographs plus instructional line drawings that show how structures are integrated into a garden, offer a range of possibilities, and help the gardener carry out the most involved plans.

SYNOPSIS

What separates the special garden from an ordinary one is not only what we plant in it, but also how we shape it. Build a wall with stone. Raise a trellis for the roses. Edge the herb bed with wattling. Be ambitious and erect an arbor for afternoon tea. Each of these is a garden structure-an element that has the power to define a garden's mood, guide its uses, anchor it in time, and deepen its meaning.