If you didn't get the chance to attend the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show in May don't worry. Highlights of the annual London event are captured in "Best Garden Design: Practical Inspiration From the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show." Photos capture garden designs that run from classical to whimsical to "magical and mad." The book is meant to be a source of inspiration, whether one has a small terrace garden, an estate or anything in between.
- Cleveland Plain Dealer 2010 11 04
The author of this inspiring book on contemporary landscape design, British gardener Chris Young, has chosen as his source for this lavishly illustrated work the temporary garden displays at the Chelsea Flower Show.... Filled with ideas and tips from experts, the text is naturally exciting for dedicated gardeners: it covers a wide range of garden styles from bucolic cottage gardens and formal spaces to the latest examples of sustainability. All is not ornamental: there is a lengthy chapter on utilitarian plantings to satisfy those who want to grow their own crops. Even though the diverse plantings in thrilling combinations are the highlights of the show, readers will benefit from the latest ideas in hardscape materials, lighting methods, water features, and artistic exhibits incorporated into garden scenes.
- National Garden Clubs 2010 11 01
Best Garden Design is a valuable source for ideas on working art, paths, water features and other ornamentation into backyard landscapes.
- Kimberly L. Jackson Newark Star-Ledge 2010 11 04
For well over 100 years, England's spring social season has revolved around the Chelsea Flower Show... For all of us who can't afford that leap across the pond, the Royal Horticultural Society has brought the show's fabulous ideas to America by way of a truly outstanding new book: Best Garden Design: Practical Inspiration From the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. My gauge of a book's value is how much of its content is doable in real-life situations. I give this one an A-plus. The full-color book is well worth the expense because of its stellar content... The lover of modern style will find this book a real treasure trove. A plethora of innovative walls and partitions segment space, screen views and control microclimates. Combine this with spatial solutions for outdoor living in small homes, and the book becomes vital to every urban dweller, whether they live in a house or apartment. If highbrow English gardeners can do it, so can we.
- Maureen Gilmer Chicago Sun-Times 2010 11 30
The Chelsea Flower Show in England is the World Series of garden design and a vacation that gardeners save up for. But this volume is more than a ticket for armchair travel: It deconstructs photos of the often-fantastic designs to help readers figure out what exactly makes them appealing and what ideas they might use in an actual garden.
- Chicago Tribune 2010 12 14
I'm quite clear that I am unlikely to ever visit the Chelsea Flower Show, the epitome of garden shows held in London, England, every year since 1912. But with Best Garden Design by Chris Young, any gardener can receive practical inspiration on bringing a fresh, exciting look to one's own garden. Young presents tips from the expert designers who showcase at Chelsea, as well as case studies on particular designs showing why they work and how to achieve something similar. Nova Scotian gardeners will have to adapt somewhat for plant hardiness, but there are enough delightful variations in design, from post-modern to classical, that any reader should take away something from this book.
- Jodi DeLong Halifax Chronicle Herald 2010 12 05
For almost a century, the Royal Horticulture Society's Chelsea Flower Show has been the botanical ticket of the year in Great Britain. Landscape designer Young (deputy ed., The Garden magazine) culls the best ideas from the last five years' worth of entries, arranges them by categories such as entrance paths or sustainability, and then deconstructs them for home gardeners. He includes sections on types of plantings, e.g., perennials, herbs, kitchen gardens, and old roses, but the emphasis is on design via such factors as topiary, decking, garden art, and lighting. There are some great ideas for home gardeners here, but the book works best as a source of inspiration rather than a hands-on guide to the nuts and bolts of landscape design, for which Vanessa Gardner Nagel's Understanding Garden Design or Judith Adam's Landscape Planning are preferable. A good choice for armchair gardeners who enjoy British-flavored botanical treasures or for experienced gardeners searching for new ways to freshen up a tired home landscape.
- John Charles, Scottsdale Public Library, AZ Library Journal 2010 11 15
This book will give readers new eyes to transform their home and garden into models of affordable, sustainable beauty.
- Maureen Gilmer San Angelo Standard Times 2010 12 01
This book surprised me. While the fantasy factor is high (after all, this is Chelsea, my death), there are some novel landscaping ideas here that anyone can copy -- especially in the section on walls and walkways.
- Sonia Day Toronto Star 2010 12 01
Best Garden Design is a must study if you are searching for landscape design ideas. It is a library of the obscure. There are hundreds of innovative designs, including water walls, sculptures, modern sculptural mixing of media, and a section on sustainable design. There are classically executed designs as well, naturally planted with many modern touches. Photographs of container plantings are included. This 224-page hardcover idea book has 400 color photographs and artwork from the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show, including 20 studies with garden plans. It might be the first book I'd flip through for design ideas.
- Joel M. Lerner Washington Post 2010 11 27
Author Chris Young serves as a sort of tour guide to the show, pointing out features and artistic elements that set gardens apart. He highlights gardens in a variety of styles and explains what makes them special. While the book is intended largely to inspire, Young includes tips from experts that can help readers make their own gardens better.
- Mary Beth Breckenridge Akron Journal 2011 04 05
In Best Garden Design garden designer Chris Young has amassed a photographic treasure trove depicting garden spaces created exclusively for the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show from 2004 to 2009. This book brims with unique designs for any garden--large and small, urban or rural, formal or whimsical, royal or pedestrian. Chapters cover specific garden elements, such as planting, sustainability, and lighting. Each page features beautiful photos from the show gardens with captions describing how the design elements work. Illuminating case studies at the end of each chapter deconstruct the successful elements of award-winning designs.
- Caroline Bentley American Gardener, American Horticultural Society 2011 02
At first glance a book featuring highlights from the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show held annually during six days in May on the grounds of the Royal Hospital in London might appear to be of little interest to American gardeners. However, this beautifully designed and stunningly illustrated volume will delight a very wide, diverse international audience ranging from individual gardeners to nursery professionals and garden designers unable to join the more than 150,000 visitors each year at the Great Spring Show. Author Chris Young, deputy editor of The Garden magazine, is a trained garden designer whose writing enthusiastically conveys the scope of the show, the excitement it generates, and the practical inspiration and advice it offers to even beginning gardeners.... Readers of this book enjoy 10 chapters focused primarily on selected aspects of the show from 2004-2009.... Even armchair gardeners will appreciate this stimulating book suitable for all public and academic libraries.
- Julienne L. Wood American Reference Books Annual 2010 2011 03 01
The Chelsea Flower Show in England is the World Series of garden design and a vacation that gardeners save up for. But this volume is more than a ticket for armchair travel: It deconstructs photos of the often-fantastic designs to help readers figure out what exactly makes them appealing and what ideas they might use in an actual garden.
- Beth Botts Chicago Tribune 2010 12 09
While the book is intended largely to inspire, Young includes tips from experts to help your own gardens.
- Mary Beth Breckenridge El Paso Times 2011 03 31
