This book takes the guesswork out of planning any landscaping project.

Landscaping a property can be an overwhelming task. How much will it cost? How long will it take? What plants will grow best in a particular location? Is it a do-it-yourself or a professional job?

Landscape designer and horticulturalist Judith Adam provides every crucial step in designing and implementing a landscape plan: from assessing specific needs and planning a budget and timeline, to making the best choices for a successful garden. From her years of experience, Adam describes 200 of her favorite plants, shrubs and trees. This revised edition includes a new chapter on low-maintenance and self-reliant gardening that helps the home gardener get the most out of the space with the least amount of work.

This new edition of Landscape Planning includes:

• 25 fully illustrated step-by-step projects
• 27 fully illustrated Ten Best lists, such as ten best drought-resistant shrubs; ten best plants for autumn display
• A property assessment survey, budget questionnaire and sample four-year plan
• Hardscaping: ideas for steps, sidewalks, fences and lighting
• Softscaping: working with plants, shrubs, trees and lawns
• Techniques for planting, irrigating and fertilizing plants and controlling pests
• A list of tools that every gardener needs
• Plans for a low-maintenance garden -- and much more.

This comprehensive guide is a must-have for homeowners and avid gardeners alike.

Judith Adam is a horticulturalist, educator and landscape designer. She is the author of several gardening books, including the award-winning New City Gardener, contributes to many magazines, and appears on Home and Garden Television. She lives in Toronto.

Judith Adam's profile page

[Review of 1st edition:] The title of this book describes it well. A novice gardener with some ambition but little know-how can look here for solutions to problems ... Information is nicely organized with color and black and white illustrations and large photographs. ... Adams helps readers make decisions ... Anyone with a budding interest in gardening or someone looking for a handy 'how to' guide would enjoy this book.

HGTV.com

All-encompassing.

Waterloo Region Record

It's always good to encounter a no-nonsense book that ...at least points you in the right direction with good, practical common-sense advice. Landscape Planning is such a book and is worth a solid recommendation. Everybody will find something useful in this profusely illustrated guide, from newbies with perfect manicures to oldsters with green-stained thumbs.... It also explains how to plant items and (heaven be praised for the busy Toronto gardener) how to plan a low-maintenance garden. I particularly like the section on planting for two bursts of bloom in one location.... If you choose to rely on one gardening book, and one only, then Ms. Adam's book has much to recommend it. Everything is presented in plain-speaking, no-nonsense terms.

HomeDigest.com

[Review of 1st edition:] A blueprint of ideas for landscapes both large and small.

Canadian Gardening

If you are a professional landscaper, homeowner or avid gardener (perhaps any or all of the above), this one is a must-have.

The Sudbury Star

One of the best things about the second edition of Landscape Planning is the "ten-point assessment survey," which gives you specific you specific questions to think about as you walk your present landscape and consider its positives and deficiencies. Adams goes on to give plenty of clear, practical advice for what to do about it....For anyone with a new landscape, or making a new start in an old one, this book is a solid foundation.

Chicago Tribute-City

[Review of 1st edition:] Best of the best of this year's design books: 'Cuts through confusion'

Homemaker's

What a delightful book for beginning gardeners or new homeowners. The how-to information is diagrammed simply for do-it-yourself projects, and the garden ideas are practical as well as pleasing to the eye. Following chapters on planning and hardscapes is a useful section of 27 "10 best" lists for trees, plants, grasses and more. Beginning designers will be able to make decisions more easily thanks to this focused approach to problem solving and plant selection. This second edition of a garden classic includes a chapter on low-maintenance and self-reliant gardening.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The book is a good beginner-level choice for someone who wants a general idea of tackling a new landscape.

Central Alberta Life (Red Deer, AB)

Providing tonnes of information...Judith Adam explains the entire process from planning to designing to choosing plants and materials.

Canadian Homes & Cottages

Landscape Planning ... pulls together the elementes needed to generate a comprehensive landscape design.

The Gazette (Colorado Springs CO)

Canadian landscaper Judith Adam's new guide is a goldmine of planning information, and a must-have if you're considering a landscape project. Her clear advice, supported by more than 300 photos and drawings of enviable garden details, will have even novices plotting gravel and stone pathways, making educated plant choices, building berms and generally revelling in their newfound expertise. Best feature: The handy "Ten Best" lists -- as in Ten Best Drought-Resistant Shrubs and Ten Best Shed Covering Vines.

Canadian House & Home

[2nd ed] Judith Adams has given all wishful thinkers wonderful ideas to transform garden dreams into reality. This revised and expanded edition takes the reader from reading about design to actually moving dirt in an easy-to-follow manner. ... The photos and drawings accompanying the "how to" sections provide a clear picture for readers to follow. Adam stays true to her counsel at the beginning to capture our garden in the now. For the rest of the book, as you ponder and plot your water feature and terrace, that scruffy, overgrown lot has long since disappeared.

Toronto Star

[Review of 1st edition:] Judith knows her stuff and brings it all together in this book ... It's exactly the kind of book I wish I'd had when I began laying out my yard.

Kitchener-Waterloo Record

[Review of 1st edition:] Do not look for whimsy and romance because they are not included in this book. There are, however, many strong examples of practical solutions to tricky problems, like clever ways to catch water and prevent puddling in a lawn. Adam makes you think hard about making work for yourself and cautions us to think twice before using materials such as wood and traditional paint ... Judith Adam approaches an often daunting task in a straightforward manner and provides the homeowner with an thorough primer on landscape management.

January Magazine

Landscape designer and horticulturist Judith Adam skillfully conducts the reader through the steps in creating and implementing a landscape plan in this revised edition of her popular book... The book certainly lives up to its title: the author gives very wise advice on an impressive variety of garden topics that are rarely considered in such manuals. Handsomely illustrated, it is highly recommended as one of the most comprehensive, up-to-date works on general gardening.

Chicago Botanic Garden

Designed to take the guesswork out of planning any landscaping project.... This comprehensive guide is a must-have for homeowners and avid gardeners alike.

Kingston This Week

[Review of 1st edition:] This book is worth its weight in gold, a clear, easy to understand boon for new garden owners.

Globe and Mail

Addressing the basics like tool selection, planning, design features, hiring a landscaper versus doing it yourself, designer Adam dispenses fundamental advice for a beginning gardener but also incorporates interesting details and ideas relevant to those who are no longer novices. Highlights include Ten Best Plant lists, clearly illustrated project directions, and illustrations that demonstrate the effect of different design choices. Adam's language is both practical and reflective of a love of gardening. A sound resource for any size collection.

Library Journal

[Review of 1st edition:] Adam's book has all the necessary details to create a successful design ... If you truly want to make your garden design become reality, then Adam's Landscape Planning is an investment that will help you make your landscape dreams come true.

Kingston Whig-Standard

What a delightful book for beginning gardeners or new homeowners. The how-to information is diagrammed simply for do-it-yourself projects, and the garden ideas are practical, as well as pleasing to the eye. Following chapters on planning and hardscaping is a useful section of 27 "10 best" lists for trees, plants, grasses and more. Beginning designers will be able to make decisions more easily thanks to this focused approach to problem solving and plant selection. This second edition of a garden a classic includes a chapter on low-maintenance and self-reliant gardening.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

[Review of 1st edition:] A comprehensive treatment of landscaping for the home gardener ... Could serve as textbook for a landscaping class. Recommended for all gardening collections.

Library Journal

[Review of 1st edition:] This hefty volume is beautifully photographed ... Just about every imaginable aspect of gardening is here in a friendly, plain speaking, altogether comprehensive manner ... the book is a well-designed, beautifully laid out collection any gardener would be proud to have on his shelf.

Toronto Sun

[Review of 1st edition:] Judith Adam to the rescue ... walks you through garden planning, from figuring out what you want and creating a four-year plan to the nitty-gritty of landscaping. The pictures are inspirational, but there are plenty of useful how-to drawings and step-by-step projects, too.

Chatelaine Magazine

[Review of 1st edition:] Practical is right! Adam covers all the bases in an exceptionally detailed guide to the mechanics of planning and executing every conceivable type of home landscape feature. Whereas countless books explain landscape design (which plant combination are appropriate for an English country garden look), Adam does the home gardener a tremendous service with straightforward and user-friendly instructions on every conceivable point to consider before any landscape design can be developed or implemented. Clearly, logically, she breaks down various landscape processes into their most elemental forms: ten points of property assessment, how to measure levels of grade, how drainage tiles work. After mastering the basics, Adam thoughtfully provides essential information to help home gardeners bring their best-laid plans to fruition: how to shop for plants; top 10 lawn-care tips; the 10 best trees for seasonal color. For home gardeners just beginning the landscape process, or for seasoned veterans contemplating a new project, Adam demystifies even the most daunting tasks in a superlative how-to that virtually guarantees success.

Booklist

Adam includes practical advice that applies to us mere gardeners, as well as landscapers... I enjoyed the sense of humor Adam employs throughout the book.... The market is saturated with landscape planning books. Still, this one is a very useful book for the practical advice it imparts.

Washington Gardener

This is a thorough how-to book for anyone trying to tackle his or her own landscape project.

The Patriot-News [Harrisburg PA]

Nearly 500 color photographs and illustrations will give you the confidence to improve your property.

The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com

An immediate hit.... This is a handsome book that is highly readable and user-friendly.... More than 300 full color photographs and illustrations should be an inspiration to even those of us who don't' knokw the difference between a trowel and a tuber.

Tucson Citizen

[Review of 1st edition:] Stunning full page photos, and is overflowing with step-by-step projects, lists and how-to illustrations.

Toronto Sun

475 colour photographs and illustrations...beautifully complement the Ten Best lists, step-by-step projects and how-to drawings. If you are a professoinal landscaper, homeowner or avid gardener (perhaps any or all of the above), this one is a must-have.

Sudbury Star

A hands-on guide to landscaping for homeowners. Includes all basics, projects, more than 20 best plants lists, irrigation ideas and lawn tips. Judith has put together a very user friendly, full of good solid information book. She offers ideas and alternatives to what can most times be an overwhelming prospect.

icangarden.com

An all-encompassing guide to residential landscaping.

The Record (Waterloo ON)

This book will guide the do-it-yourself landscaper on everything from building a deck or wall to planting trees or shrubs and everything else in between. It has a coffee-table book feel to it, with stunning full page photos and is overflowing with step-by-step projects, lists and how-to illustrations.

The Leduc Representative (Leduc AB)

A Canadian best-seller since 2002, this revised and expanded how-to book includes new information on low-maintenance and dry-land gardening--both timely topics given concern over global warming.

online.WSJ.com (The Wall Street Journal)

[Review of 1st edition:] A good choice for those who have requested an accessible reference to help with planning or revamping a property.

Pappus [Royal Botanical Gardens]