Texas Home Landscaping

Things to love include clear illustrations and beautiful reference photos, step by step instructions, recommendations, and the PLANS. These plans are the soul of this book; they include options for all different purposes and areas of your yard, with sunny vs shade versions and/or spring/fall vs summer versions. There are examples of gardens at various stages of maturity and of various levels of complexity. I couldn't put it down!

This is a really a very nice book, an exceptionally well illustrated guide which I referred to a lot as I was starting my garden bed project. I ended up making up my own design based on what was available at our nurseries, but learned a lot being able to reference these pre-built template designs which I feel I still got a lot of value from and has given me more ideas for future efforts in my yard. Plus nice glossary reference of various Texas-friendly plants. I'll hold onto the book for a long time.. great information and guides to some hardscaping projects as well.

Having recently purchased my first home I picked up five different gardening books. I don't even know where the other four have gone, but now I have two of this one. It's a great guide which covers everything from plants that should thrive in the area (including care, size, and how to select), to various designs for commonly-found areas around your home. It even covers various landscape construction projects such as fences, walks, and patios, and is well-written and illustrated throughout. [...]

I've been gardening for years, but new to the Houston, TX area which is a whole new ballgame due to the .. shall we say .. idiosyncrasies of its climate, especially these past few years. Since we inherited a largish backyard that no one had ever taken care of, not even planted a tree or bush, it was a challenge to start from scratch. The first year I made a ton of mistakes! Then I joined a Master Gardner class and they recommended this book, among others. For the price I find it is loaded with ideas as to how to choose plants that are compatible with the Houston area climate, will grow quickly, survive the recent harsh winters and look good. It's not a definitive book on gardening, nor does it try to be. Just lots of pictures of plant configurations that will work in various conditions. You're bound to find something for that overly-shady area, or that will work in times of draught and the hot Texas summers. Our backyard is full sun, the front is full shade so I was glad to get some new ideas for both. Nice book, looks good on the coffee table and it will give you some good ideas when you next visit the local garden center.

Loaded with great ideas. Great pictures!

Full of complete explanations of plants that work in our part of Texas, this book also has actual landscape designs that cleared our thoughts and gave us ideas on how to move forward landscaping our front and back yards ourselves. We feel motivated to move forward and get to it, landscaping our lawns! Totally worth the money!

I completely am in love with this book. I'm in zone 7b here in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I use a lot of the same xeric plants that are used in some of the landscapes in this book. Pictures are wonderful and give me lots of ideas. You won't be unhappy with this book. It's a great addition for your reference library.

While I questioned the mature sizes of some of the plants, I found the design ideas and landscape plan layouts very interesting, clever, and well presented. I recommend this book to anyone who is facing a home project of this type, but would encourage the reader to do his own research about the growth habits and requirements of recommended plants before proceeding.