[.uk] Creating Your Own Japanese Garden (ISBN 087040962X)

A Keeper:
Have many books on Japanese gardening - this is the one that finally helped me begin to answer the "but how will I design and situate one in my space?" question. Nicely written, direct, and just enough examples to help you get moving!

Great illustrations and detailing:
My daughter was recently proposed marriage to in a japanese garden. They are planning to build a similar garden in their backyard,so this book was a Christmas present. She was thrilled and we went thru the book as she mentioned several items in the book that were relevant. It has alot of very nice illustrations and "how-tos",more than some that I looked at.This author was careful to include all aspects of the japanese garden. Plenty of detail.Very happy with my purchase.

Informative, specific, but ultimately not what I was looking for:
I think this a good book for someone ready to start digging now to create their Japanese garden, someone who knows exactly what they want to do. The beginning of the book was interesting, and provided good information about and reasons for the different elements of a Japanese garden - such as water, stone lanterns, bridges, and plantings. I was hoping for a little more inspiration through photographs and seeing more examples of gardens people have created. This book gets down to the step-by-step details of building fences and dry riverbeds for example. The book does have a nice materials/plant/planting guide in the back which I took a few notes from. But I'm in a brainstorming phase with my garden not the brass tacks phase, so I did return the book and will look into a book that is more photography-based and example-based, than how-to.

Good book to get good ideas:
After reading this book most of the way through, I thought it provided a lot of good information. My intention was not necessarily to design a true Japanese garden but wanted to create a garden and atmosphere that reflects the feeling and general appearance of a Japanese garden while still maintaining my herb and vegetable garden. The book gave a lot of pictures that were helpful to create that atmosphere in an American environment. Most if not all of the design elements were explained as to why and how they help to create the desired effect. Additionally there was a full chapter that described the history behind Japanese gardens, and I found that very helpful. Since reading that chapter I have picked up and English translation of the books described in that chapter. I felt this book was really helpful and plan to use it to landscape my backyard. One thing to keep in mind, is this is not a step by step how to book. It is designed mostly to give you an overview and an understanding of what elements to use, and how to use them.

Useful, Beautiful and Interesting:
This book provides useful guidance in planning a Japanese Garden with well written text and beautiful photographs. It inspires one to find a way to incorporate the concepts into Western style homes.