Landscape Architecture: Planting Design Illustrated

Thank you for your interest in my book. Before I start, I'd like to bring your attention to a book review entitled "A New Take on Planting Design" by Jane Berger, Editor & Publisher of gardendesignonline and a book review entitled "An especially 'reader friendly' and practical guide" by Midwest Book Review. I posted these reviews in the cusomer discussion session below. I think you may find them helpful. Book review entitled "An astonishingly detailed, extremely good book" by Tim Bigby: "Gang Chen's book is a little masterpiece. It's definitely NOT a coffee-table book--it's the book you would want to actually read and follow in order for your plantings to resemble those you'd find in a coffee-table book! He delves into three thousand years of planting and garden design theory in order to illustrate the concepts and principles. The illustrations, in black and white, are more useful than anything I've ever seen in gardening or outdoor design books done in four-color. The amount of information and guidance in this book is really hard to properly explain in a review, it's that overwhelmingly good. I HIGHLY recommend this book, to both professional designers and 'lay gardeners' who just want to figure out how to plant their own back yards." Book review entitled "New information" by Jan Whitner, Editor of the Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin: "As a long time consumer of gardening books, I am impressed with Gang Chen's inclusion of new information on planting design theory for Chinese and Japanese gardens. Many gardening books discuss the beauty of Japanese gardens, and a few discuss the unique charms of Chinese gardens, but this one explains how Japanese and Chinese history, geography and artistic traditions bear on the development of each country's style. The material on traditional western garden planting is thorough and inspiring, too. 'Planting Design Illustrated' definitely rewards repeated reading and study; any garden designer will read it with profit." Book review by Mary Lou T. Rocca: "This is a terrific book! What a nice suprise. Between all of the different areas of design covered, the pictures and the illustrations, I find myself reading it again and again and learning something new each time. The reference sections are also very useful and make everything so easy to understand. So many levels of those interested in Planting Design would find it helpful in many ways." Book review entitled "An information-rich planting design book" by C. J. Kaiser: "I enjoyed reading this book, especially the part comparing Chinese Gardens with Japanese Gardens and English Gardens. This book covers extensive information on planting design. I can see Mr. Chen put a lot of efforts and research into the subject and did an excellent job. It is also enjoyable to read the book as the pictures and the illustrations help me to understand any subjects discussed." Book review by Jed: "This book is extremely organized and well done. It sets up the fundamental framework of planting design. Not only does it discuss some commonly used plant materials in various gardens, it also uncovers universal principles and truth for planting design. Chen raises the bar by introducing plants' symbolic meanings into the planting design. The plant lists at the end of the book make it practical to apply the plants' symbolic meanings in landscaping." The following is my own review: Most of the existing books on landscaping or planting design are pretty boring. This book actually makes the subject of planting design interesting. I think many of you will like it. It is not only informative, enlightening, but also entertaining. Several people who read the manuscript told me that once they started to read, they were so impressed and they just kept on reading until they finished it. It is also a very