A reference for landscape architects and designers to help select plants that are ecologically suited to the site. This e-book is the first in a series on planting design and plant usage in gardens, parks and other designed landscapes, with an emphasis on sustainability, for landscape designers, landscape managers, and gardeners: professional and amateur. The perspective taken is relevant to all non-tropical situations. It is also entry-level, assuming no prior knowledge of the plant sciences or planting design.
The book introduces the reader to the basics of plants – the different physical forms plants take, their needs, their responses to different climates and environments, their competition with each other, and to the issues around long-term performance. Plant ecology science is taken as a starting point, in order to help the reader understand why plants do what they do, and to try to predict how they will perform in the future. There is an emphasis on understanding plants as dynamic parts of a system, an approach which will do much to help reduce maintenance and improve the sustainability and biodiversity of plantings. With an understanding of how plants survive as living things, the designer and gardener can go on to create combinations which provide beauty, longevity and functionality; subjects which will be covered in future books.
The book introduces the reader to the basics of plants – the different physical forms plants take, their needs, their responses to different climates and environments, their competition with each other, and to the issues around long-term performance. Plant ecology science is taken as a starting point, in order to help the reader understand why plants do what they do, and to try to predict how they will perform in the future. There is an emphasis on understanding plants as dynamic parts of a system, an approach which will do much to help reduce maintenance and improve the sustainability and biodiversity of plantings. With an understanding of how plants survive as living things, the designer and gardener can go on to create combinations which provide beauty, longevity and functionality; subjects which will be covered in future books.
