[.uk] The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping: Home ... (ISBN 0871562782)

Good Introduction to Landscaping, good reference:
I have a couple of minor criticisms about this book, so let me begin with those. Firstly, it is showing its age. It makes frequent reference in the early chapters to the water shortages and environmental disasters that were widely expected to occur by the end of the century. As you know by now, those never really materialised. There is still plenty of reason to be concerned about the way American society (mis)uses resources, but the threat is neither as immediate or as dire as the author makes out. Secondly, in the suggestions on building planters, and retaining walls, the author fails to note the potential dangers of CCA treated lumber (now being phased out) and railroad ties treated with creosote. Lastly, more color illustrations would have been nice. Those that are there are very good. The b & w drawings are nice, but not as good as photos. Those criticisms out of the way, the book is excellent. The first few chapters provide the rationale for edible landscaping, then introduces the principles of landscaping, giving numerous examples of applying different themes to different climates. The chapters on techniques, especially in relation to trees (the basics of pruning, and plenty of advice on espaliering) are particularly good. An entire chapter is devoted to identifying insects and dealing with the undesirables. The second half of the book is a plant encylopedia. Handy to have in one volume, but if you already have a good plant encyclopedia, it is probably redundant.

Integrate beauty and function into your self-sustaining garden...:
Being in a rural area and living on a small family farm, we aren't overly concerned with decorative landscaping. We try to make every inch of our property productive and useful. Apart from the fields and pastures in use for livestock, we have allotted a small area for produce on our property. Within the 1.5 acres surrounding our farmhouse, we have made allowance of space for a vegetable garden (based upon the concepts of Edward C. Smith in his book titled "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible" and an orchard that adheres to the philosophy found in Patrick Whitefield's book titled "How to Make a Forest Garden". With the ideas found in this book, "The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping", we are now planning to landscape with a conscience and purpose aside from simple aesthetics. We are delighted with the information provided to serve as a foundation for our planning. We have given the 4 star review based upon the fact that this book hasn't been revised for nearly 25 years and could certainly benefit from more current data. And, we would always like to see more color photographs and illustrations to complement the text.

Excellent book !:
I grew up in a garden designed using this book, and now I am working on designing my own. It is a teriffic book with a lot of information about different edible plants and how to design an edible landscape. The only drawbacks are (1) it's a bit dated (new smaller rootstalks let you have smaller trees than you could in '82) and (2) it's a little bit california-centric.

sure would love a new edition:
I just wanted to add my voice, if the authors are listening, that this book is a great resource and a new edition would be so welcome. Some of the info doesn't go out of date, of course, but there are so many new cultivars and plants that are more easily obtained than they were 20 years ago that would fit well into the home landscape and the permaculture view of gardening. I got this book at the library and i may buy a used copy, but I would jump at the chance of an updated edition!

A great resource for planning and DOING:
I was a little skeptical of purchasing this book based on a few reviews here - suffice to say the book exceeded my expectations. True, it is an older book but the information is still good. The thumbnail info on size of plants, what they can be used for, how to grow them, certain things they need and so forth enables planning for even plants not previously grown. The photographs as well as artists sketchings gives a visual idea of what combining fruit/nut trees, flowers and vegetables looks like in various ways. The use of containers both large and small, raised beds and other methods of planting gives a variety of looks and possibility. Love the idea of a floating deck around trees! The warnings of some plants, such as bamboo, spreading as well as suggestions on using the plants grown are a starting point, but a good one. Possible miss on some things, such as the availability of bush cherries for those not wanting cherry trees; but those are few. There's enough information to adequately plan, to fit plants into the budget and allow for adding more later and to plant and make use of "wasted space" for the average person capable of reading, comprehending and following suggestions. A bit dated it's true but still a lot of great information and well worth the money. If you're buying one book on the subject this would be a good one, with a great deal of information, to start with!