Look behind the gates of twenty exclusive country estates from the Mornington Peninsula to The Hamptons in this magnificent book showcasing the work of internationally acclaimed garden designer Paul Bangay, whose love affair with country gardens dates back to his childhood. Feast your eyes on these to-die-for gardens, each of which features Paul's distinctive simplicity and elegance, as he writes passionately of his deeply personal relationship with each property and its owners.
"One of Australia's foremost landscape designers shares his wealth of knowledge on all things practical to do with garden design and construction. It covers everything from drawing a garden plan to building a retaining wall, and from fitting in a swimming pool to finding a lawn substitute and choosing drought-tolerant plants. This book is empowering: it gives readers an understanding of the first principles of good design, how to analyse a site and its needs, how to use space and visualise a garden, how to decide on and build the hard and soft landscaping suited to a particular garden style, and what jobs can be done by the home handyperson as well as what needs to be left to a professional. Above all it shows readers that it's possible to garden successfully and responsibly in the water-challenged environments we live with now."--Provided by publisher.
A truly great garden should enrich your soul, and those of many others - hopefully for generations to come. This is celebrated landscape designer Paul Bangay's inspirational story of creating Stonefields, one of Australia's most beautiful country gardens.
"Gardens designed by Paul Bangay are renowned for their elegant proportions, careful use of materials and inspired choice of plants. In one garden, precise box hedging will frame billowing beds of perennials; while in another, olive trees emerge from an undergrowth of rosemary against a dramatic coastal landscape. In a Paul Bangay garden, you can be sure that every plant has been carefully selected to achieve a particular purpose at a specific site. This comprehensive and informative guide answers the question: what do I plant and where? Rich with anecdotes about what has worked best over the years, and with a special focus on plants for our changing climate, the collection showcases Paul's A-list plants with photography from the best in the business, Simon Griffiths. Whether you're creating a garden for an inner-city courtyard or a rambling rural estate, this book contains the practical advice readers need to give their own patch of green the Paul Bangay look. This expanded edition includes a new foreword, two extra chapters -- on succulents and clouding -- plus the edition of more than a dozen other new plants"--Publisher's description.
"Paul Bangay is renowned for the expansive and elegant gardens with classical lines and symmetrical plantings that he has created in Australia and all over the world. Yet gardens on this grand scale are not accessible to everyone. With more of us living in apartments, townhouses and terraces, our gardens are now being squeezed into small spaces such as balconies, courtyards, lightwells or rooftops - and this makes for challenging garden design. In Small Garden Design, Paul applies his 25 years of experience with gardens of all sizes to reveal how best to structure, design and choose plants for small spaces. Chapters on Balconies & Terraces, Rooftops, Inner City, Lightwells and Courtyards are lavishly illustrated with photos by Simon Griffiths and enhanced with lots of practical tips on plant types, paving, irrigation, soil, outdoor dining, lighting and making the space appear larger. In this accessible and practical book, Paul shows us 'how to make the most of the small space you have, and how to transform it into the paradise that we all aspire to'".--]cProvided by publisher.
'Woodend was less than an hour from my Melbourne office, and the size of the school land was manageable. That was as far as my rational response to St Ambrose went - for I'd fallen in love with the schoolhouse. It had been tucked away for so long behind its walls of blackberries, like some sleeping beauty, that I wanted to wake it up, bring it to life.' The Enchanted Gardenis the story of how renowned landscape designer Paul Bangay came to build the garden of St Ambrose Farm, against the blue background of Mount Macedon. The breathtaking garden of vistas and green rooms that Paul Bangay designed, and photographer Simon Griffiths so evocatively captures, will weave a spell on readers.
A haven. A work of art. A legacy. In 1998 Australian designer Stuart Rattle purchased the dilapidated Musk schoolhouse and surrounding grounds. Over the following few decades it was to become his most enduring project - a true labour of love, with every detail of the buildings and grounds carefully considered. A sanctuary where Rattle could freely express his own taste. Now, this tribute to the much-loved designer takes you through every room and garden, with stunning photography by Earl Carter and Simon Griffiths. A beautiful memento of an extraordinary person. All royalties from sales of this book go to Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens.
'To live a life led by the seasons is to live one closely tied to a garden, and Stonefields is mine.' Paul Bangay's celebrated Victorian property, Stonefields, has now been under his expert care for 15 years. Today, the garden is mature and more beautiful than ever - from the vibrant autumn colours in the woodland and evocative dormancy of winter to the jubilant flowering of the crab apple in springtime and perpetual rich harvest of produce. In Stonefields by the Seasons, Paul takes the reader through the garden at different times of year to highlight the design principles he has applied to various parts of it, and the wide-ranging inspirations for his choices. Along the way, he gives practical advice on seasonal planting and outlines essential quarterly tasks. Reflecting on his time in this treasured space, Paul muses on creativity, experimentation, achievements and disappointments, his shifting attitude to landscaping, the universal cycle of life and the impact of climate change on his surroundings. More than just an intimate tour around Stonefields today, this book is an invitation to contemplate the essence of gardening and the intense rewards we can all gain from it.
Now in a handsome new edition, Paul Bangay's The Balanced Garden is one long, glorious stroll through more than thirty of his landscape designs - an invitation to discover the very different charms of a variety, of gardens from the minimalism of a rooftop space to the vistas and garden rooms of an extensive country retreat. As always, Paul is passionate about showing his readers the elements of good design - symmetry, equilibrium, focus, purposeful axes, correct scale and proportion, simplicity and restraint - which he sums up as the achievement of balance. But the great strength and surprise of all Paul's writing is his engagement not only with the creation of beauty through balance but with the problems and practicalities of garden making. He loves the challenges that sites, conditions and plants continually throw out to the designer, and what he has to say about his specific solutions is constantly enlightening.
For every gardener who cares about the planet, this guide to designing a bee garden helps you create a stunningly colorful, vibrant, healthy habitat that attracts both honeybees and native bees. In The Bee-Friendly Garden, award-winning garden designer Kate Frey and bee expert Gretchen LeBuhn provide everything you need to know to create a dazzling garden that helps both the threatened honeybee and our own native bees. No matter how small or large your space, and regardless of whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, just a few simple changes to your garden can fight the effects of colony collapse disorder and the worldwide decline in bee population that threatens our global food chain. There are many personal benefits of having a bee garden as well! Bee gardens: · contain a gorgeous variety of flowers · bloom continuously throughout the seasons · are organic, pesticide-free, and ecologically sustainable · develop healthy and fertile soil · attract birds, butterflies, and other beneficial insects · increase the quantity of your fruit and vegetable harvest · improve the quality, flavor, and size of your produce Illustrated with spectacular full-color photos, The Bee-Friendly Garden debunks myths about bees, explains seasonal flower progression, and provides detailed instructions for nest boxes and water features. From “super blooming” flowers to regional plant lists and plants to avoid, The Bee-Friendly Garden is an essential tool for every gardener who cares about the planet and wants to make their yard a welcoming habitat for nature’s most productive pollinator.