Edible Forest Gardens is a groundbreaking two-volume work that spells out and explores the key concepts of forest ecology and applies them to the needs of natural gardeners in temperate climates. Volume I lays out the vision of the forest garden and explains the basic ecological principles that make it work. In Volume II, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier move on to practical considerations: concrete ways to design, establish, and maintain your own forest garden. Along the way they present case studies and examples, as well as tables, illustrations, and a uniquely valuable "plant matrix" that lists hundreds of the best edible and useful species. Taken together, the two volumes of Edible Forest Gardens offer an advanced course in ecological gardening-one that will forever change the way you look at plants and your environment. What is an edible forest garden? An edible forest garden is a perennial polyculture of multipurpose plants. Most plants regrow every year without replanting: perennials. Many species grow together: a polyculture. Each plant contributes to the success of the whole by fulfilling many functions: multipurpose. In other words, a forest garden is an edible ecosystem, a consciously designed community of mutually beneficial plants and animals intended for human food production. Edible forest gardens provide more than just a variety of foods. The seven F's apply here: food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizer, and "farmaceuticals," as well as fun. A beautiful, lush environment can be a conscious focus of your garden design, or a side benefit you enjoy

Includes more than 24 projects that use stone--from paths, patios and steps to decorative boulders, rock gardens and walls, in a book that includes 400 full-color photos, detailed shopping lists for each product and professional advice from stone masons and landscape designers. Original.

Who cares what the neighbors think? Kiss My Aster is a hilarious, irreverent, interactive guide to designing an outdoor space that is exactly what you want. Combining entertaining illustrations with laugh-out-loud text, Amanda Thomsen lays out the many options for home landscaping and invites you to make the choices. Whether you want privacy hedges, elegant flower beds, a patio for partying, a food garden, a kids’ play space, a pond full of ducks, or all of the above, you’ll end up with a yard you’ll adore. Forget about doing it the "right" way: Do it your way!

The book explores the sustainable design principles and innovative engineering behind the development of two of the world's largest conditioned public conservatories or biomes. Nestled within waterfront gardens, the biomes are the centrepiece of a development that will define Singapore as the world's premier tropical garden city: gardens that are on track to become a national and international exemplar of sustainable practice. Through a combination of photographs, graphics and narratives, the book explores the challenges of building two huge enclosures to recreate, in Singapore's naturally sunny, hot and humid environment, the ideal growing conditions for plants from cool-dry Mediterranean regions and the cool-moist conditions of tropical mountain regions. While the thrust of the narrative will consider the environmental design and engineering approach of Atelier Ten, three other voices reflect upon the landscape, architectural and structural engineering issues that confronted the core members of the integrated design team. As environmental engineers Atelier Ten developed highly innovative passive and active environmental strategies for controlling conditions within the conservatories, while minimising energy demand to exemplar levels. Outside the Biomes the unique Supertree structures house components of the systems that provide cool and dry air to the biomes and also incorporate photovoltaic panels to generate power. The systems run mainly on tree-thinnings - waste material generated by Singapore's National Parks maintenance programme - which are being diverted from landfill to be used as a source of biomass to generate energy and heat. The landscaping incorporates extensive natural water treatment devices to control, attenuate and cleanse the enormous flows of water from the biome roof areas and the hard landscaping areas during tropical storms. These have been seamlessly integrated into the hard and soft landscaping which comes to life during the frequent deluges that are characteristic of the tropical climate. In addition, Atelier Ten have developed sustainable management matrices to establish agreed principles of design and construction to exceed benchmarks establish by LEED

Homeowners, garden designers, landscape professionals, and anyone with an interest in highlighting and improving the look of their home landscape will be inspired to learn how even the most drab setting can be transformed into a stunning showcase garden using simple, modern, and creative lighting schemes. Revealed in these pages are the secrets behind a wide range of lighting styles. Separate chapters cover topics such as different effects of lighting varieties available — using complementary indoor and outdoor lighting, planning for safety, and much more.

A visual tribute to America's first public park documents its artistic and social history; identifies the roles of its designers; and provides views, original plans and drawings, and modern photographs of the park's restored areas.

This colorful how-to guide to garden projects provides practical instructions for creating planters, fountains and other garden features out of concrete. Filled with artistic color photographs of completed projects, the first portion of the work provides inspirations and ideas for do-it-yourself garden accessories while the half presents illustrated step-by-step directions for several example projects. Nilsson and Arvidsson are designers living in Sweden. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Transforming such materials as discarded stove elements, copper pipe, copper sheet, tumbled ceramic dish shards, and used timbers into uniform and attractive building materials, Levesque incorporates the unlikely into creative solutions for the garden and patio. Filled with specific guidelines on how various tools and materials are best used, and where to acquire used materials, the book includes sections on containers, fences, seating, decking, pathways, and outdoor candleholders that give directions on their materials and creation. Filled with photos, this practical guide also includes a glossary and list of resources. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Riotte explains siting a pond, maintaining water quality, troubleshooting, stocking with fish, plus plenty of old-time fishing lore and scrumptious fresh fish recipes.