Reader's Digest Practical Guide to Home Landscaping

Offers ideas for increasing property beauty, value, and usefulness, noting landscape-design possibilities and giving advice on trees, shrubs, ground covers, flowers, and grass as well as terraces, decks, and patios

First published in 1972 and recently updated, The Practical Guide to Home Landscaping is as good as its title! This big book is really the equivalent of four books in one. It includes "Good Ideas for Your Garden," with hundreds of photographs from gardens of every size and variety; "Planning," which spells out step-by-step instructions for planning the space needed for the necessities and the luxuries, and how to get it all down on paper; "Planting," which explains how to choose the right plants for the job, covering all climate zones; and finally, a two-part section on "Construction," with instructions on how to work with basic materials, including wood, masonry, canvas, plastic panels, brick, and even soil. There's a list of 130 specific projects you can do yourself, including walkways, fences, raised planting boxes, storage ideas, and decorative accents of many kinds for the garden. This large book is a gold mine of information, instructions, techniques, and ideas for both the beginner and the seasoned gardener. --Mark A. Hetts