A Pattern Garden

The Essential Elements of Garden Making

A Pattern Garden gives us the tools for creating our own highly satisfying garden spaces. Easton identifies 14 garden patterns that she sees as fundamental to successful design and that will turn any landscape into a memorable and rewarding retreat. This book will help you identify what pleases you, and why, and provide inspiration and direction in the planting and layout of your own garden. Discussions of essential patterns, such as the creation of paths or the incorporation of water into the garden, are complemented by concrete advice about plant selection.

To read more, including excerpts from the book, visit A Pattern Garden's Web site, www.APatternGarden.com.

Media reviews of this book:

"Ms. Easton has an accessible, down-to-earth style in the book. ... When she writes or talks about her own garden and others, one is led to believe that even the most rank beginner should just do it: go ahead and decide where that path should go, imagine where it will lead, and what might lie, like a surprise, or a sanctuary, at the end."

—Anne Raver, New York Times, June 21, 2007

"The dry days of June are good for redesigning the garden. For great ideas on the subject, pick up A Pattern Garden."

—Jim McCausland, Sunset, June 2007

"The book contains the most beautiful prose. It reads almost like poetry. The many photographs by three different artists are stunning, and include various gardens to give context to a chapter's discussion."

—Thomas Mickey, Seacoast Home & Garden magazine, April 15, 2008

"Offers wonderful insight for garden designers as well as those of us who find gardening a relaxing romp through the soil. ... There is a richness of content offering garden lovers a chance to dream, plan, and consider architectural elements as food for thought."

—Kathleen Peabody, Grosse Pointe News, February 7, 2008

"Easton's design ideas are chosen for a timeless quality: an intimate bower of plants, dappled sunlight, reflection of water, the gentle give of moss underfoot. This is a unique book for contemplative garden design."

—Green Bay Press-Gazette, February 2, 2008

Customer reviews of this book:

"This is sure to become a classic!"

—Peg S. from Tucson, Arizona, July 9, 2007

"Inspiring! Can't wait to implement its ideas. Thanks for a great book!"

—B. R. H. from Black Mountain, North Carolina, June 23, 2007

"Probably the most beautiful book of its kind I've seen! Thank you!"

—James W. from Westport, Washington, June 22, 2007

"Such a beautiful book!"

—Anonymous from Keene, New Hampshire, June 20, 2007

"Very informative and excellent photos!"

—Sharon H. from St. Augustine, Florida, June 18, 2007

Read more media and customer reviews

An excerpt from this book:

Because I am a garden columnist, it is critical that I design and tend my own garden, for what I learn out there in the dirt informs all my writing. I found the courage to create a garden in large part from what I learned years ago in Christopher Alexander's book A Pattern Language (Oxford University Press, 1977), a groundbreaking slab of a book that advocates the idea that people should design for themselves their houses, gardens, streets, and communities. The surprising revelation that Alexander introduced was not only that they should design, but that they could. For many years I've also been visiting and writing about other people's gardens, and I've learned that the most successful and satisfying gardens are designed by the owners themselves, or with their close participation ...

Read the whole excerpt