THE PLANT SOCIETY DESIGN HANDBOOK: A plant stylist’s guide to creating beautiful spaces
Jason Chongue
Murdoch Books / Allen & Unwin NZMurdoch Books / Allen & Unwin NZ
Garden design can be complex. It is often overwhelming and is not something that can normally be achieved overnight, but plant stylist Jason Chongue cures this problem with a "recipe and blueprint" approach.
He believes adding plants in our own spaces is an excellent way to re-establish our connection with the natural world as it helps to enhance our mental and physical health.
And to make this easier for people wanting to achieve this, he has set up 41 recipes and blueprints that can be used to create a greener environment in a day or over a weekend.
It's a bit like a "look book" where you can scan through the pages to find the design you are after and then follow the "recipe" to create the look.
These designs are quite simple. They range from pot plants in a bookshelf to a small edible garden in pots on the deck.
The author is an expert in the "art of grouping".
Following these guidelines ensures there won't be any need to worry that the plants won't be suitable together.
These design "recipes" are similar to a cook's directions. There is a kit of parts, similar to ingredients, that lists the plants, planters and potting mix you will require, then there is a preparation and method. The blueprints show the positioning required.
As well as the recipes, there is a section of line-drawing pictures showing the best place to put a pot plant in a particular room.
This seemed a bit unnecessary to me at first glance, but the plant placements are based on fundamental design principles, which may help others out.
My favourite section was the "go-to" plants. A photo and brief description of the author's tried-and-true plants suitable for different situations, such as ground covers, cascading, climbing, short, medium and tall plants, is a handy resource.
The author is a former interior designer who founded the Plant Society in 2016 as a way to merge his love of plants and his day job.
He is regularly sought out to design gardens, indoors and out, and this book clearly shows that skill.
This is the most eclectic collection of plant facts I have ever read. But then, this is what the author is trying to achieve.
As she says, "This book seeks to reach the parts others have not."
HORTI CURIOUS: A gardener’s miscellany of fascinating facts and remarkable plants
Ann Treneman
Exisle Publishing
Ann Treneman is a journalist and award-winning garden designer.
She tells readers to think of the book as a "Cabinet of Curiosities" which were all the rage in the Renaissance Period.
Turning each page is like opening another drawer or looking at another shelf of oddly collected objects, you never know what you are going to see next.
The attractive layout of the book is ideal for short sharp snippets of information.
There's no heavy bulky text to read; rather, each page has three to four different topics, and plenty of illustrations, ensuring there is always something to grab a reader's attention.
The book is broken up into sections that are roughly, very roughly, sorted into chapters of Curious Horticulture, Beautiful Botany, Noteworthy Nature, Amazing Spaces, Inspiring People and Incredible Edibles.
The order of the book was a bit too random for me, but the point of a "Cabinet of Curiosities" approach is to showcase the rare or unexpected, and that's exactly what this book did.
Introductory gardening advice such as information on different soil types or propagation methods is mixed together with quirky facts about the largest water-lily leaf, different lawn-mowing patterns or a recipe for blackberry wine.
It would probably be an inspirational and intriguing book for those starting out on their gardening journey and it certainly does succeed in giving an appreciation of just how much the field of horticulture encompasses.
YOUR OUTDOOR ROOM: How to Design a Garden You Can Live In
Manoj Malde
Frances Lincoln
Your Outdoor Room aims to give readers the tools to extend their living areas from inside to outside their homes.
No, not through building extensions, but through clever use of plants and landscaping.
Author Manoj Malde, a BBC presenter, who featured on Your Garden Made Perfect, which screened in New Zealand, says nature has a relaxing, calming influence on the senses and "walking into a well-planned garden can take us away from the stresses of everyday life".
As a former fashion designer, now award-winning garden designer, his skills of working with shapes, textures and proportions work well in designing outdoor rooms.
Starting with the most important question "what do I need from my garden?", Malde expertly guides readers step-by-step through site surveys, concept plans, colour themes, designs, materials and planting.
There's a lot more to designing a new garden space than what most people realise, but Malde makes readers think of the bigger picture first, instead of rushing in with limited planning.
There's also an informative section on garden design fundamentals that can be applied to existing gardens, such as designing social spaces, creating paths, using screens, creating defined boundaries and ways to make a garden feel bigger.
I found Your Outdoor Room to be a great source book, which prompts gardeners to ask all the right questions before embarking on a design project.
- Louise Frampton is an Allied Press subeditor
