Gardening

Lush, well-tended gardens--whether they adorn humble cottages or sprawling estates--add beauty and personality to any property and truly make a house into a home. In this volume, gardens from simple to grand respond to the needs of their sites and reveal the unique personalities of the owners that care for them: on a tight urban lot in Houston, a thoughtful selection of water-loving plants and an innovative fountain that mediates rainfall from the city's frequent deluges block out noise from the surrounding streets; elaborate terraces on a steep hillside in Portland, Oregon, create a variety of outdoor living spaces nestled directly among a rich tapestry of perennials, tall grasses, and Japanese maples; and on forty verdant New Hampshire acres, a series of garden "rooms" and meandering paths create an Edwardian-inspired escape.

The diverse array of gardens inspire with glorious, full-color images of plants thriving in all climates--berries, lettuces, and herbs burst from the rich soils of Berkeley, California, in an edible garden the whole neighborhood is invited to enjoy; succulents of all sizes and shapes add color and texture to a lakeside home in Dallas and an arid Tucson yard equally well; dozens of bonsai and plants native to Asia create an authentic Eastern atmosphere in Indianola, Iowa; the rambling cottage-style plantings of England are reinterpreted in a river valley in Knoxville, Tennessee; and closely clipped boxwood in Greenwich, Connecticut, forms a parterre that rivals the beauty of its elaborate French predecessors across the ocean.

Elvin McDonald draws on his forty-five years of professional experience and distinguished career to present a collection of exquisite landscapes, created both by avid amateurs and well-known designers including Suzy Bales, Rosalind Creasy, Douglas Hoerr, Raymond Jungles, Karen Strohbeen and Bill Luchsinger, and Phillip Watson, that will inspire all who recognize the allure greenery can add to a home.

Homeowners spend hundreds of dollars watering their yard, but there is an easy way to save money and resources--rain gardening. But what is it? As simple as collecting rain to reuse in front and backyards.

Creating Rain Gardens is a comprehensive book for the DIY-er, covering everything from rain barrels to simple living roofs, permeable patios, and other low-tech affordable ways to save water in the garden.

Water conservation experts Cleo Woelfle-Erskine and Apryl Uncapher walk homeowners through the process, with step-by-step instructions for designing and building swales, French drains, rain gardens, and ephemeral ponds--the building blocks of rain-catching gardens. From soil preparation, planting, troubleshooting, and maintenance, to selecting palettes of water-loving plants that provide four-season interest and a habitat for wildlife, Creating Rain Gardens covers everything a gardener needs to create a beautiful rain garden at home.

Bring Monet's paintings and gardens to life using this gorgeously illustrated book that will teach you how to create a Monet lifestyle from your living room to your kitchen to your garden--from the documentarian and author of Monet's Palate Cookbook, with the support of the American steward and all the head gardeners at Giverny.

Aileen Bordman has long been influenced by the work of Claude Monet, one of the founders of French Impressionist painting whose esteemed works capturing the simple beauties of fin de siècle French life--from waterlilies to haystacks--have fetched astonishing sums at private auction houses and can be found in the greatest art museums around the globe. With direct access to Giverny through a pair of insiders--her mother, a steward of the Giverny estate, and its head gardener--she transports you to Monet's garden at Giverny, the third most visited site in France, in Everyday Monet.

Combining the history, palette colors, and designs of Monet's gardens and paintings in this one-of-a-kind volume, Aileen shows how to encapsulate a home and lifestyle inspired by the artist. Filled with insights, step-by-step instructions, musings, recipes, gorgeous photography, and how-to graphics, Everyday Monet teaches how to grow a garden like Monet, preserve a waterlily inside the home, decorate a dining room table or a bathroom inspired by Monet's aesthetic, and prepare foods that inspire your inner-Impressionist.

Filled with lush photos of Monet's milieu--from the gardens of Giverny to the streets of Normandy--and reproductions of Monet's most famous paintings, Everyday Monet is a practical guide to finding ways to implement Monet's beautiful designs into any home and garden, whether you live on a country estate or in a city apartment, and is a memorable keepsake Monet devotees will treasure.