The Minimalist Garden

Rating:
Summary: Probably expecting too much from this book.
Review: I waited for the book's arrival with high expectation after reading such rave reviews from the readers in Amazon. Whilst this book is well-presented with structured discussions in the topics of extended home, courtyard gardens, roof gardens & terraces, pools & water gardens, country gardens, landscape gardens, plants & materials, I expected more meat from this book. I found that there are too many recycled pictures used ie pictures of the same thing but taken from different angles, or pictures been used from previous chapters in order to illustrate the writer's points. Many high profile properties by world famous architects are used such as by Tadao Ando, John Pawson, Glen Murcutt, Luis Barragan, & so forth but then again, their works were already covered in other architectural or landscaping books. Therefore, for avid readers like myself, most of the freshness is no longer there. Having said that, index provided at the end of the book (containing suggested plants for minimalist gardens) is very handy indeed. The writer is helpful enough to suggest what goes with what. Some pictures of the plants are featured & some don't which could be quite frustrating at times but then again, I might be expecting too much. On the bright side, there's a website provided for those readers who wish to seek further info upon the writer. I wouldn't say this book is the ultimate or the must have for the minimalist garden but then again, it's a book worth looking into. I wish this book contains more discussion & pictures on those historical Japanese zen gardens so that we could understand in-depth about the fundamental of minimalist garden but alas, only the world famous Ryoan-ji garden in Kyoto, Japan is featured, which is only been touched upon briefly. One of the highlight of that garden is that irrespective of where you stand in that garden, you would always see only 14 stones rather than the whole 15 which is supposed to be there, which implies to you the ingenuity & the clever planning of the landscape architect of the past (which isn't even mentioned in this book!) Then again, I might be expecting too much. Be warned that some suggested planting in the book might not be practical in the long run despite that the pictures illustrated look a million bucks. For examples, the usage of silver birch trees, they might look good now in cluster planting or when they are small but when they have grown, & when they are going to seed, they could be a pain in the backside. From our experience, axe would come in rather handy in those situation. Planting of various kinds of grasses could be nice but unless you maintain them on regular basis, they might look rather messy in the end. Whilst minimalist garden provides the serene effect, unless we use restrain & commitment to maintain, it might not be the easiest garden to have. To achieve the nice effects as illustrated in the pictures, substantial money needs to be expended such as frameless conservatory. Desert garden is only workable if the weather of the place is suitable. The desert plants would only rot to the root if it is introduced in an equatorial countries, for argument's sake. In that token, the writer should discuss not only the pros of his suggestions but also their cons as well.

Rating:
Summary: Lot of pictures and few contents
Review: This book is a neat collection of photographs which show the several appearances that a minimalist garden could take. Some of them are very well know for anybody who has read a gardening book once at least. Tadao Ando, John Pawson and Claudio Silvestrin among others famous architects had been chosen as well as icons in minimalism concept like Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto. There are few pictures from a wide range of gardens all around the world and a brief explanation of each one. There are some hints of what minimalism is, but it is not a deep and accurate publication about minimalism and the way a garden should be built following minimalist principles. But if you are looking for a book with beautiful and inspiring photographs and very well designed this book is what you need.

Rating:
Summary: Great inspiration
Review: What stands out about this book are the incredible photographs, showing the endless possibilities using textures, colors and shapes in designing gardens and landscapes. This is not a book about traditional garden design but rather about architectural landscapes. Wonderful layout and pictures that really inspire.