Rock Garden Design and Construction

It's a shame; the subject is a fabulous hobby and I love what rocks can do for a landscape but this book is not the answer for the person asking "how do I do it?" I honestly don't see who this book is intended for (the beginner? The pro?) and that's ultimately where this book fails (i.e. poorly thought-out "purpose.") My guess is that the U.S. rock garden society aimed to please everyone (including their member-writers) by compiling essays on various subjects (i.e. soils, different types of rocks used for landscaping, and regional factors) from people across various U.S. regions who have some degree of "experience." However, it ends up accomplishing very little because there is mostly very little detail. There are some good color photos that give the reader some visual ideas but many of them look nearly impossible for an amateur to execute. For example, there are some very general tips on how to mix a suitable soil but never any methodical step-by-step instructions with specific sketches how to place rocks and plants. Are we just supposed to know this from their high-level discussion? And what about the plants? Again, some general suggestions but didn't it occur to them to simply put in a detailed chart of plants for sun or shade that work well in the different regions they cover? Obviously, a rock garden in California is going to have much different plants than a shade garden in Maryland. They go into only the most general of suggestions.The writing style of the essays is quite "arrogant" too. Hardly written in plain English; seems almost like a transcription of some lectures they've given to their local societies; hardly anything that would be useful for an actual class.There was one good piece of research on the water-carrying characteristics of different soils and soil combinations, to their credit.Unfortunately, there are not many good "how-to" books on rock gardening to be found. Try to find something else but this one though.

This book covers all kinds of rock gardens, many possible features for them, many considerations to look into, and, as the title says, design and construction. Excellent purchase.

Wonderful design ideas.

Too much DIY verses real ideas.

I recently became interested in rock gardens and this book was very helpful in designing my own. My only complaint it I wish it had more pictures. Otherwise, very good.

This is a well-planned book that addresses all the major aspects of rock gardening and has ideas to offer gardeners from all parts of North America. One of its strengths is that the writers understand, through experience, the differences in soil and climate that influence rock gardening in different parts of the continent. Because of this personal experience the dissimilarities are addressed fully and not just mentioned briefly.With contributions from over 40 leading rock gardeners from all parts of North America this is a truly comprehensive book. The section I found most interesting and relevant was the generous chapter on "Soils" by Louise Parsons. A geologist and rock gardener, she looks at all types of soils, soil components and she offers guidelines for handling soils.The four sections of the book deal with design principles and materials, types of rock gardens, structures and containers, and regional styles and techniques. The book concludes with an overview of ten public rock gardens, from Alaska to Kansas City, where you'll find fine examples of rock gardening. There is an appendix describing ingredients for rock garden soils and an excellent annotated bibliography.I learned a great deal from this book - for one thing I had no idea there were so many types of rock gardens (who knew you could make a rock garden on a downtown balcony?). The writing is of uniformly high quality and each of the writers shares with the reader not just knowledge and experience but their passion for rock gardening.

This is the authoritive book on making your own alpine rock garden. I looked all over the web for references for constuction of alpine rock gardens, and this book was the only reference of value I could find. I built my own garden as the General Contractor using about 30 ton of quarried basalt rock. We visited 3 quarries locally, and hired a small landscaping firm to place the rock. The book provided valueable information to the novice on preparing the garden bed, particularly making the "scree", the sandly soil for the garden bed. The final scree formula was obtained from the book, 10 parts pea gravel, 10 parts builder's sand, and 3 parts peat moss. The landscaper mixed the materials with his track hoe in a pile, and followed my instructions from the book on placing the rock. The project turned out great and I had never done this before.

I am building a rock garden in my yard and found this book to be a tremendous source of information. I bought a copy for everyone in my dojo, as well as for several members of my motorcycle club.

Great book BUT this version has the 104 colored photos printed in black and white 😞