The California Landscape Garden: Ecology, Culture, and Design

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful and Holistic Treatment of Native Landscaping
Review: Francis and Reimann have covered all bases of native landscaping in this fine statement of integral compositon. A sensitive awareness of local and regional native flora/fauna should govern choices of construction materials to plant selection for a harmonic flow and consistancy between the untouched native environs to the project site for a "....sense of connection with the larger harmonies of the biosphere..." (Page 36, quoted from William Carney).

The book includes lists of regional native flora and fauna- birds, animals, insects, amphibians, etc. and many resources for further information- books, native landscape architects, plant nurseries, etc.

When I saw the overall ratings to be 2 stars, I couldn't believe it, but then I noticed that rating is misleading because one reviewer forgot to rate the book, but gave a good text review. The overall ratings, therefore, should be 5 star- this is an excellent book!

Rating:
Summary: A little Philosophical but good info and inspiration
Review: I was both delighted and disturbed while reading The California Landscape Garden, by Mark Francis and Andreas Reinmann. The idea that there should be a distinctive "California Garden" has always inspired the gardener to great heights of creativity. There are those who, I am sure, claim to have developed this garden. However, the authors are correct in their observation that "A huge and increasingly pluralistic middle class has put its own stamp on the vernacular landscape, opting for a plethora of individualized styles in hours and garden. Far from displaying the conformity of , say, a Cape Cod community with its distinctive architectural look, today California's developed environment is marked by an often runaway eclecticism. Such a lack of a style has in fact become the style in and of itself. " page 23 The California garden may always be driven by this diversity. I was a bit disturbed by the heavy politically correct tone of the book. I guess it is necessary to display where they are coming from. But it does turn this book from being a useful manual on creating this new type of California garden into a book that is more opposed to the garden dominator style that they feel is predominant. I am a gardener who is open to learn and don't have to oppose something to accept a better idea. My own prejudices aside, (i.e.I believe that God has created Nature rather than nature creating a myth, and I do not feel that we are running out of wild places in this land) I enjoyed the ideas of this book. I have been increasingly amazed at how much God's gardens can teach us. As I drive through the Santa Cruz Mountains on my way to defile the beach with the Human Footprint, I can't help but marvel at the beauty of the tall healthy trees, the rich green undergrowth , the use of ferns on steep, wet slopes etc... There are no sprinkler systems, pest control applications, statues nor other useful garden features, and yet even with the decaying tree trunks, the leaning trees, the unpruned dead branches...there is more beauty than I could ever hope to approach in my contrived gardens. This book give some good ideas as to how you can incorporate God's natural techniques in our gardens. There are many good examples of how some of the new breed of California architect have made environmentally sound gardens that are almost like paintings. I still feel, however, that no matter how much we succeed in our attempts to imitate natural gardens, we are still creating artificial landscapes. We are still the same as one who plants a lawn, some foundation shrubs and a rosebush for color, we are just doing it differently. So, if you get past the political correctness, the reverence for anything the indigenous peoples did, the scare tactics and the snootiness, there is much to be learned from the book. It has affected the way I garden, and I think that that is what they set out to do. Philosophical [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A little Philosophical but good info and inspiration
Review: I was both delighted and disturbed while reading The California Landscape Garden, by Mark Francis and Andreas Reinmann. The idea that there should be a distinctive "California Garden" has always inspired the gardener to great heights of creativity. There are those who, I am sure, claim to have developed this garden. However, the authors are correct in their observation that "A huge and increasingly pluralistic middle class has put its own stamp on the vernacular landscape, opting for a plethora of individualized styles in hours and garden. Far from displaying the conformity of , say, a Cape Cod community with its distinctive architectural look, today California's developed environment is marked by an often runaway eclecticism. Such a lack of a style has in fact become the style in and of itself. " page 23 The California garden may always be driven by this diversity. I was a bit disturbed by the heavy politically correct tone of the book. I guess it is necessary to display where they are coming from. But it does turn this book from being a useful manual on creating this new type of California garden into a book that is more opposed to the garden dominator style that they feel is predominant. I am a gardener who is open to learn and don't have to oppose something to accept a better idea. My own prejudices aside, (i.e.I believe that God has created Nature rather than nature creating a myth, and I do not feel that we are running out of wild places in this land) I enjoyed the ideas of this book. I have been increasingly amazed at how much God's gardens can teach us. As I drive through the Santa Cruz Mountains on my way to defile the beach with the Human Footprint, I can't help but marvel at the beauty of the tall healthy trees, the rich green undergrowth , the use of ferns on steep, wet slopes etc... There are no sprinkler systems, pest control applications, statues nor other useful garden features, and yet even with the decaying tree trunks, the leaning trees, the unpruned dead branches...there is more beauty than I could ever hope to approach in my contrived gardens. This book give some good ideas as to how you can incorporate God's natural techniques in our gardens. There are many good examples of how some of the new breed of California architect have made environmentally sound gardens that are almost like paintings. I still feel, however, that no matter how much we succeed in our attempts to imitate natural gardens, we are still creating artificial landscapes. We are still the same as one who plants a lawn, some foundation shrubs and a rosebush for color, we are just doing it differently. So, if you get past the political correctness, the reverence for anything the indigenous peoples did, the scare tactics and the snootiness, there is much to be learned from the book. It has affected the way I garden, and I think that that is what they set out to do. Philosophical [e-mail]