The Complete Plant Selection Guide for Landscape Design

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Summary: Landscaping Made Simple with New Guide
Review: A large text with no photographs, it sure wasn't something to inspire heart palpitations. But appearances can be deceiving. While most of those showier books will soon be relegated to the reject pile, this reference will not leave my keeping. What Stoecklein has done here is provide gardeners and garden professionals alike with lists of plant choices that will make designing landscapes easier and more foolproof than ever before. The beauty of this book is that anyone can use it. You don't need a Ph.D. to figure out what plants will work for you in a specific area. Have a wet area? Look up the list of trees, shrubs, etc., that thrive there. Need a tree that can take full sun or one that can tolerate urban conditions? Look it up. If you are an avid gardener, you should add this to your library. It should be required reference material in any landscape architecture or design course. Nurseries and garden centers also should have a copy of this valuable reference available for staff and customers alike, if only because it might prompt some of us to think outside the box. I hope this book will get the recognition it deserves, because it sure is a winner.

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Summary: Q. Who needs another landscape book?
Review: A. YOU do. If you are employed in the green industry, or just a serious ornamental gardener residing in zones 3-6, you will find this book a very valuable addition to your reference library. Stoecklein's no-nonsense approach to plant selection takes the guesswork out of landscape possibilities. The book quickly broadens and narrows the available palette of useful materials for landscape designs. Marc allows his prejudices to shine in a pros and cons section for each plant group. These pointed comments reflect his experience and passion as a master plantsman and offer much to the novice and veteran alike. Get this book if you are serious about your landscape planning.

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Summary: Guide for choosing plant material for landscape designs
Review: In this book the author has created a quick and easy-to-use reference guide for choosing plant material for landscape designs. This reference manual includes comprehensive lists with search criteria for each of the major plant groups, including trees, shrubs, groundcovers, perennials, vines, grasses, and ferns. These plant groups contain hundreds of specific species, varieties, and cultivars that are readily available in the marketplace from the major production nurseries. Landscape architects, designers, contractors, or anyone who designs with plants can easily choose plants that will work on their site. The book is technical enough for the professional, yet simple enough to be used by the layperson. Both botanical and common names are used and an extensive amount of cultural and environmental information is presented.

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Summary: This is a GREAT book!
Review: The Big Green Plant Selection Book! That's what I call it. This is a GREAT book for anyone who has to make plant selections. I have only had it a short time and already I find myself reaching for it, time and time again. Once you understand that it is a quick reference for help in selecting plant varieties, you will agree that it can save you a lot of thinking time when putting together plant lists for projects. Whether it is one plant or a whole bed full, the list format is really easy to use. I highly recommend it! J.W. Landscape Services.

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Summary: This is a GREAT book!
Review: The Big Green Plant Selection Book! That's what I call it. This is a GREAT book for anyone who has to make plant selections. I have only had it a short time and already I find myself reaching for it, time and time again. Once you understand that it is a quick reference for help in selecting plant varieties, you will agree that it can save you a lot of thinking time when putting together plant lists for projects. Whether it is one plant or a whole bed full, the list format is really easy to use. I highly recommend it! J.W. Landscape Services.

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Summary: The Complete Plant Selection Guide for Landscape Design
Review: The Complete Plant Selection Guide for Landscape Design is the first text by Marc Stoecklein. The guide arranges plants first by type (trees, shrubs, groundcovers, perennials, vines, ferns, and grasses), then by a variety of factors designers may need to consider when selecting plants. These include light and soil requirements, flower, foliage, and fruit characteristics, tolerances, and growth habit. Plant names are given in both scientific and common forms, with the master indices at the beginning of each section arranged by genus and species...

The intended audience for this guide is professional landscape designers and architects...this is the type of guide that will never leave the designer's office...it is not a how-to garden book, but a real reference text for professionals... This guide is appropriate for a variety of situations. Landscape architects and designers will find it very useful for finding common and rare plants given a variety of environments. Academic libraries supporting horticulture and design programs will also find it a valuable addition. Large gardens and arboreta may find it useful for the sections on disease control, pros & cons, and coloring...

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Summary: The Complete Plant Selection Guide for Landscape Design
Review: What a great new book. This Plant Selection Guide is a great resource for us! It is simple and to the point. Although it is a book of lists, that is exactly what one needs, when you want to simply figure out which plants one could choose from when planning a design. Making plant selections by assessing the site is, as the author suggests, a great way to make plant choices. Once I figure out my plant choices, the designing is easy. The book also brought many new plant varieties to my attention, that I may not have considered using. I can tell the author knows about the plants, there are some good practical comments in a section called Pros & Cons. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is a card in the book that can be sent in to the publisher for a CD Rom version of the book, which I guess will be available in the future. That should be great for us computerized folks. I will be looking forward to receiving that! This book really covers all of the plant groups, it's amazing.