Matthew Mead's Backyard Style

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Matthew Mead applies his trademark approach-deceptively simple, surprisingly affordable, and always stylish DIY-to the great outdoors. With step-by-step photos clearly illustrating how easy it is to create a shady nook with sail cloth, or an elegant alfresco dining room with flea market finds, Matthew bring his styling tricks of the trade to readers, showing them how to make their own spaces magazine-worthy.

Decorate Fearlessly: Using Whimsy, Confidence, and a Dash of Surprise to Create Deeply Personal Spaces

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Featuring inspiring interiors from today's top designers, "Decorate Fearlessly" shows us how to be bold and personal with our design choices, creating spaces that we love to live in.

Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden

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As host of the call-in radio show The Weekend Gardener, Jabbour fields questions and receives tips from a wide assortment of produce-growing enthusiasts across the U.S. and Canada. In this lively and inspiring handbook, Jabbour puts these networking skills to good use by showcasing the food gardens of 73 master gardeners, from Seattle to London. Whether the allotted space is a balcony or shady backyard, someone has offered an inventive design for it, including notable horticulture experts such as New York Botanical Garden director Toby Adams, landscape designer Jessi Bloom, and best-selling botany author Amy Stewart. Among the most interesting are Stewart's cocktail garden, providing herbs and fruits for mixed drinks, and a Chicago hot-dog garden, producing bread-seed poppies, mustard, and white onions. Every plan is accompanied by full-color illustrations, growing tips, and tweakable lists of crop possibilities. The abundance of creative advice here will help perk up the gardens of both novice and professional growers as well as satisfy the curiosity of anyone wondering what tickles the imaginations of veteran gardeners.Booklist (12/15/2013)

Planting Designs for Cactus & Succulents: Indoor and Outdoor Projects for Unique, Easy-Care Plants--In All Climates

Planting Designs for Cactus & Succulents

In "Planting Designs for Cactus & Succulents," a book made for the gardener and non-gardener alike, you'll find information and design inspiration for more than twenty attractive, low-maintenance planting projects.

The Backyard Homestead Book of Building Projects

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Whether you are raising livestock or just a small bed of herbs, there are plenty of useful projects in this collection. Author and woodworker Carlsen is in his element here, giving ample attention to safety, tools, and materials. Ideas are grouped by area and theme: outdoors, harvesting, storage, animal shelters, and miscellaneous. There are several standouts, including a two-wheel cart, a flower-pot smoker, processing racks, and a golf cart dolly. Each features an exploded view, measurements, and a list of needed supplies. The lack of detailed, step-by-step instruction is offset by very clear text. Library Journal (02/15/2014)

Five-Plant Gardens: 52 Ways to Grow a Perennial Garden with Just Five Plants

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In her newest, Ondra cuts through the confusion that would otherwise attend the process of creating a border or bed, including tips for creating a garden for a particular season or color scheme. She helps the gardener with a simple key: planting a magic five plants for a variety of beds. Her guidelines, which include a "shopping list" for each bed, reflect her skill as an accomplished horticulturist and include diverse color options (for example, "Stunning in Silver, " "Think Pink") and seasonal schemes. She draws sound distinctions, differentiating, for example, between full-sun-to-partial-shade and partial-to-full-shade gardens. Other highlights include the color photography of Rob Cardillo and a generous supply of design plans. Publishers Weekly (02/03/2014)

The Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden

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Versailles head gardener and TV host Baraton reflects on his three decades tending some of the most beautiful gardens in the world. Simply but thoroughly, the author narrates the history of Versailles, from the days of Henry IV sneaking off to these woods to hunt to the days of the revolution. The most surprising element is the speed with which an estate of such size was built. The gardens, on the other hand, sprung from the guiding hand of Louis XIV's gardener, Andre Le Notre, but then took their own sweet time to flourish. Baraton importantly points out how people rush about on the Rue de Rivoli and other parts of Paris but then slow to a snail's pace when they walk through gardens at Versailles. Gardens reach into your soul, writes the author, whether you plant them, harvest them or simply enjoy them. Kirkus Reviews (01/01/2014)