Gardening with Shape, Line and Texture

Gardening with Shape, Line and Texture bridges the gap between garden design books and plant reference encyclopedias. Linden Hawthorne looks at plants from a designer's perspective (where colour is often a secondary consideration) and emphasizes the important role that plant shape plays in the garden. After first exploring how fine art principles such as Divine Proportion and the rule of thirds can be successfully applied to plant compositions, she identifies different plant shapes — buns, tiers, fountains, diagonals, transparents — and shows how using them together contributes to the success of the finished design. At the book's heart is an extensive directory of plants organized according to shape, with advice on using their forms, lines and textures to create dazzling and artful plantings. This innovative plant reference delivers plant information in a form that neatly dovetails with the garden design process and will inspire gardeners to look beyond colour and begin to appreciate the whole plant.