Monday, March 10, 2014

Book Review and Giveaway: Refresh Your Garden Design With Color, Texture & Form

**The winner of the book giveaway is Jackie Holliday!**

This week I'm reviewing Refresh Your Garden Design With Color, Texture & Form just in time for the spring garden spruce-up we look forward to each year.

If you've had an exceptionally cold winter and lost quite a few plants like I have then this spring brings a good opportunity to make some changes to the garden.   You might be thinking your garden doesn't look as pulled together as you originally envisioned or maybe you just know it's time to update your garden.  At this point questions such as how to decide what to change and how to get started come to mind.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a top-notch garden designer "visit" to share her ideas for bringing a fresh look to your garden?  Even very good gardeners would welcome that opportunity.

In the book Refresh Your Garden Design With Color, Texture & Form, author Rebecca Sweet
speaks to you as if she is visiting your garden to share her tips on how you can restore harmony to your own garden.   Rebecca addresses the concept of "harmony in the garden" as what's often missing in gardens that aren't living up to expectations.



Rebecca is a garden designer in Northern California and a regular contributor to Horticulture Magazine through her column "Harmony in the Garden" which is also the name of both her garden design firm and newsletter.  You can also follow Rebecca at her excellent blog Gossip in the Garden.

Beginning with her chapter on "seeing with fresh eyes" Rebecca shows how your camera and a few simple steps can be used to identify what needs to be changed in the garden.  From there she proceeds to focus on color, texture and form as the three design elements most important in garden design.  While discussing each of these elements in separate chapters she takes you into the garden to learn her techniques in a hands-on way with detailed illustrations.  Check out this post in Gossip in the Garden for a great preview on how well Rebecca's technique works.  By tying it all back to the concept of harmony in the garden she keeps the focus on that goal.  Understanding the goal of creating harmony in your garden is key because the book is not about listing right and wrong ways to design or update your garden, but rather how to harmonize changes within its existing surroundings and structure.  I especially liked the book's focus on making changes to existing gardens because that's the gardening challenge for most of us.

The chapter on color is my favorite.  Rebecca shows you why understanding the color wheel is important to harmony in the garden.  Plants can clash just like design elements inside the house.  In fact, that is a good way to look at this core principle, namely, that harmony of design elements is as applicable in the garden as inside the home.  I especially liked the plant color wheel included in the book which can also be downloaded.


Rebecca's personal writing style had me smiling throughout especially as she brought up some of the color issues I've been tackling in my own garden such as too many silvery plants can make the garden seem blindingly hot in our Texas summers and decidedly non-harmonious pinks near my driveway which I've been intending to do something about.  The solutions to these issues are covered in the book and I'll share the changes I'm making in a future post.  Even with my background in design I have sometimes found it challenging to take my skills out into the garden and several times I wished I could have a book or reference just like this one as a guide.  By distilling the elements of design down to color, texture, and form, Rebecca has shown me where to focus for highest impact in the garden.  Refresh Your Garden Design With Color, Texture & Form works well on several levels of design knowledge.  If you're not as familiar with basic design principles you can follow Rebecca's simple steps and understand how to apply the fundamentals of design in your garden.  If you understand design basics and want to take it up a notch her design tips will help you look at your garden with a new perspective.


Several quibbles have come up in other reviews and I do agree the cover doesn't grab your attention as well as it should and a few of the photos are too small.  On the other hand some of the photos like this one used to illustrate "Form" are quite inspirational.


Because Rebecca lives in Northern California the plant lists at the end of the book contain a number of plants which will not grow in my climate.  Not to worry because the plants are categorized by Color, Texture, and Form as outlined in the book and I found it easy to simply use those as illustrations from which to visualize locally grown plants that could substitute.  Since one of the current stars of my garden, Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard', is included I'd say it's an excellent list.

I enjoyed having Rebecca "visit" my garden and share her expertise through her book.  Not only do I plan to put what I've learned to work in my own garden, I recently found myself reaching for this book as a good review before heading out to volunteer as a design consultant at the Watersaver Design School here in town.  Often when I'm asked a design question I begin with a discussion of concepts such as the use of repetition and the color wheel only to see eyes roll.  It's easy to think you can skip the basics and look for quicker solutions but if you learn the principles in Refresh Your Garden Design With Color, Texture & Form you can evaluate and refresh your own garden whenever you choose.

The Fine Print:  This book was sent to me free of charge by the publisher for my review with no obligation.  This review is my own opinion and it is the same review I would have written if I had purchased the book.

I'm also excited to announce the first giveaway on my blog and it's a copy of Refresh Your Garden Design With Color, Texture & Form.   To enter simply leave a comment below and the winner will be selected by a random number generator Sunday, March 16th and posted Monday morning.  US residents only please.  If you don't have a link, be sure to leave an email in the comments so we can get in touch with you.


34 comments:

  1. Thank you Shirley! I like the method of "seeing with fresh eyes", and yes, pictures are a great tool for that!

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    1. The best first step in taking your garden to the next level is taking a fresh look and, as Rebecca shows in the book, photos are a good way to be objective.

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  2. This looks like a good book to have.
    All those principles...color, texture, and form...are important to make any space feel 'right'...especially a garden.
    This is a good review. It gives good reasons why the book is a good read, or not.
    Thanks...

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    1. Thank you Linda! I've only posted a few reviews so it's nice to have the positive feedback.

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  3. Well-written review, Shirley. I have the book and think it's well worth reading.

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    1. Thank you Kris, it's nice to hear you enjoyed the review.

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  4. This looks like a valuable resource. I'm glad you addressed the issue of a plant list derived from a different climate and how to adapt that to one's own situation. It will be fun to watch as you apply some of her principles, though it hardly seems you need much help in that department.

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    1. I'll post on the changes soon and it should be several months before the results show.

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  5. Nice review...I do have a few losses and wouldn't mind having a copy to help me fill in the spot.

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    1. It's an excellent resource for those types of spots.

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  6. pick me, pick me :)

    I always love your book reviews, Shirley. I need to look at my garden with new perspective, I'd love to read this book!

    Also, the workshop y'all are doing in May sounds AWESOME!

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    1. Pulling out all the gomphrena in your front garden is what I call a new perspective already Heather! Now you need the book to figure out what to put there.

      The garden workshop is excellent, I should do a post on it.

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  7. Refreshing with those items sounds perfect - I need to look at old designs more, and take lessons from them for new designs, too. I started a file to do just that, but rarely visit it or complete it...

    This book looks right up my alley - but don't pick me, still too many books to finish here first!

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    1. It is so important to learn new lessons and continue to look back at updating and refreshing old projects no matter how good our skills are. Plants are not static and neither are we.

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  8. Looks like a book with lots to say.
    Theresa N
    weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  9. I have heard so much about this book and in reading your review I am determined to take a look at it in person. It would be nice to have one on my garden bookshelf too.

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  10. Add X years of drought + Y days of freeze here in Texas = lots of space to start over!

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  11. What a detailed review. I have read one of Rebecca's other books and it was excellent!

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  12. I just recently discovered Rebecca Sweet's wonderful website and will definitely get her book. Thank you for your thoughtful review.

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  13. Love your review and can't wait to see what you're changing in your totally gorgeous garden!

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  14. I'm going to get this book (whether I buy it or win it). I'm at the point in my gardening where I need to do more editing than additions. This books sounds helpful. Thanks for the review.

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  15. With 2 acres to garden I need all the help I can get!

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    1. Jackie, you are the winner of the book! Congratulations! There's lots of great advice and ideas for your garden in the book so I know you will find it helpful.

      Please contact me at stffox1atgmail.com so we can have the book sent to you.

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    2. Thanks SO much! I responded to your text. Let me know if you didn't get it. Thanks again!

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  16. I LOVED this book. I borrowed a friend's copy, and I am definitely gonna be acquiring one of my own. Lots of great advice, even if you have a design background like I do.

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  17. I have heard many favorable comments from friends who already have this book. Am looking forward to reading it myself.

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  18. That looks like a wonderful book. My half acre landscaping project could really use it!
    tamishaughnessyatcomcast.net

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  19. Excellent book review! I've never been a color wheel person. I like lots of color and clashing doesn't bother me. I'm just happy when stuff grows. That said, I've had some wonderful accidents over the years which have really made me appreciate a good color combination.

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    1. In certain areas of the yard I just toss it all in and enjoy the results. In San Antonio a bright mix of colors always looks right. There are a few spots in the front where I want things to look especially good and that's where I'll add a few plants to help out.

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  20. Great review--I always forget to think about the color wheel when I'm selecting plants to add to my yard.

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  21. Oh, I would love to have this book! Sorry to hear about your plants, but as you say it gives you some opportunities. I'll soon find out what survived the polar vortex of 2014. I'm afraid to look ...

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  22. I have been eyeing this book as I am observing and redoing my garden this year where it may need it...perfect book from a wonderful writer and gardener...thanks for the giveaway Shirley!

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  23. Hi Shirley, I found your blog when I ran an image search on "rose hedge." I'm planting one and wanted to look at some mature hedges for inspiration. Your gorgeous photos of the Antique Rose Emporium caught my attention, and I've spent the last 45 minutes enjoying your blog. What a cute shed you bulit! My house and garden are just north of downtown San Antonio, in Monte Vista. We're on a south-facing slope that generally stays 8 - 10 degrees warmer in winter than the published temperatures for San Antonio. I can often get papayas and bananas to produce fruit, but this winter's been a killer. Won't know for sure which plants will come back from the roots until the weather warms up. I was greatly cheered today to see the hoja santa and esperanza pushing up little green shoots, and the cassava leafing out. Thank you for the review of Rebecca Sweet's book. Looks like one I'd like to have, for sure.

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    1. Hi Barbara, thanks for stopping by and enjoying the blog. It's so nice to hear from another local blogger. You live in a a very beautiful and special neighborhood which was home to several generations of my family long ago. We are a bit cooler here but my hoja santa seems to be coming back too.

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