I own a lot of gardening books and this is one of my all time favorites. I return to it almost every season. It's rare that a book with pretty pictures delivers on the substance and this one really does. Williams gives you a great framework for how to look at your garden, offers tons of beautiful examples and gives you lots of practical tips. Plus she realy has great taste which is unique and special as opposed to generic good taste which a lot of garden tomes support. I finally visited her garden when it was open to the public and it was even better than the book! She's extremely talented.

When I first moved into my new house (it was my first house) I read several books on garden design that would give me some kind of orientation about what to do with my back yard. It was a mess. Ms. William's book stood out (and still does) as the book that was most helpful and inspiring at the same time. It is beautifully written and well organized, and takes you through all aspects and stages of garden design, from principle to execution. Threaded throughout the book is a philosophy of restraint that I have learned is so important for the garden or any other designer who aims at the achievement of quiet beauty in his/her environment. Ms. William's book (accompanied with the beautiful prose of Nancy Drew, writer on garden life) is certainly a must have for anyone starting out in garen design, and the photographs make the book worth having for any garden enthusiast. I was shocked to see that no one had given it a five star rating till now!