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Shady Retreats; 20 plans for colorful, private spaces in your backyard Reviewed By Allan Becker of Bookpleasures.com
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/4160/1/Shady-Retreats-20-plans-for-colorful-private-spaces-in-your-backyard-Reviewed-By-Allan-Becker-of-Bookpleasurescom/Page1.html
Allan Becker

Reviewer Allan Becker: Allan has been designing and planting flower gardens, since he was a teenager in the 1960's. Now retired from the soft goods industry, where he held several positions in design, product development, and marketing, he has turned his passion for gardening into a second career, as a garden designer for private clients in Montreal, Canada.


In spring and summer, he provides his assistants, most college students, who transform his designs into flower gardens. In winter, he reviews books on garden-related topics for Bookpleasures.com and writes a Gardening Blog.

Allan earned a B.A. from McGill University, followed by two years of studies in design at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia). He lives in the Montreal suburb of Cote St. Luc, Quebec with his wife and travels regularly to Toronto and Boston to visit his children and grandchildren.




 
By Allan Becker
Published on October 27, 2011
 

Author: Barbara W. Ellis

Publisher: Storey Publishing

ISBN:  1- 58017-472-8



Click Here To Purchase Shady Retreats: 20 Plans for Colorful, Private Spaces in Your Backyard

Author: Barbara W. Ellis

Publisher: Storey Publishing

ISBN: 1- 58017-472-8

Let me show you my private get-away”, said the prospective client when she answered the door. Then, she led me into her back yard, overgrown with wild vegetation, and pointed to a clearing in its center, where slabs of antiquated patio stones paved the ground in the middle of the wild garden. There, she had placed an equally old, glass-topped, black, wrought iron table, with matching chairs. “This is where I eat my breakfast in the morning and sip martinis with friends in the late afternoon”, she explained. “I love the sound of the birds chirping and the rustling of the wild foliage when the wind blows”.

At very little cost, this homeowner created for herself a shady garden retreat, a secluded, private, destination. Whenever she visits that part of her property, she leaves behind her usual routine, enters a soothing oasis, and for the brief time that she spends there, transforms her life. Here, she is at peace with herself, at one with nature, and ready to engage in any activity, relaxing or exciting, that brings her pleasure.

A shady retreat is in the range of possibility for most homeowners. All that is required is a bit of imagination and the guidance that this versatile publication supplies. With the help of the book’s author Barbara W, Ellis, the architectural plans of Julie Burns, and the exquisite painted garden illustrations of Gary Palmer, any part of one’s exterior home, no matter how small or large, can serve as a retreat. Even a small porch or deck, will do.

To help the reader to navigate the subject and select a retreat that best suits one’s property and budget, the author presents twenty different plans. Each is elaborated in detail over several pages, starting with an awesome, painted rendition of the retreat at its completion. These illustrations give the book a dual purpose: It is both a versatile garden publication and an art book.

Each illustration is enriched with an architectural drawing, complete with numerical references that indicate where specific plants and garden furnishings should be placed. A recommendation for suitable plants follows, along with ideas to enhance the basic design. For example, in the first plan, the author explains how a small retreat can be transformed to feel more interesting, deeper, and farther away, by winding a short path out of sight, behind shrubbery and trees.

Among the twenty potential areas around one’s home that the author identifies for the creation of shady retreats are:- woodland edges, the terrace, a gazebo, a deck in the woods, a pool house, arbor, pergola, pavilion, seating area, a clearing in the woods, and a tree perch.

The book rounds out with an appendix listing those plants that are appropriate for these projects. Each is described according to its contribution to overall garden design. Where useful, a list of preferred cultivars is included, as well as a short note on the special uses of each plant; some make effective ground cover, while others show at their best when they are grouped in drifts.

Storey Publishing prides itself on supplying the public with practical information that encourages independence, in harmony with the environment. This book is a successful realization of that goal. It has been a great pleasure to take this journey into shady garden retreats with the author.


Click Here To Purchase Shady Retreats: 20 Plans for Colorful, Private Spaces in Your Backyard