The Nonstop Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide to Smart Plant Choices and Four-Season Designs

I read the reviews claiming this is a very basic book on gardening, and yes,,,,yes it isThere are only SO many really intricate gardening plans that once could execute before it gives you and the nursery you work with a major headacheI HAVE grown perennials for 25 yrs, I HAVE gone complicated and gotten frustrated and tossed out plants , ( and normally those that came with a price tag that was on the high side)One thing I learned in all my years of gardening on 3 country acres,,,,,is KEEP IT SIMPLE( fill in the blank here)I have 4 heavy shade gardens that no longer have a single flower in them because 10 yrs ago I decided I liked the looks of the foliage better than the flowers and I think I did that before it became vogue to do just that. It was practical and it pleased my senses.These gardens are simple, they work,,,,,,they are filled w/ many hostas, climbing hydrengas, ferns and other shade loving annuals ( coleus, and yearly bulbs) so they work for me , All survived a huge drought we had last summer, and are looking pretty darn good w, the heavy snow and spring rains this yearI have succulent gardens in my birdbath and outside sitting in flat pots on the deck, and have mixed lots of herbs in my perennial border ( just bc its easy to snip for dinner!) and gosh,,it smells SO good when passing it! I garden for all sensese not just to look, but to smell good too!This year I dug up the entire front garden, had the wall re done and am doing almost ALL annuals fora full summer riot of color and its FUN!I added cannas, orange trumpet ,dahlias and a few other things bc this is really hot hot sun ( my home faces south west)Its fantastic the sea of color I created in a 5 ft wide by 25 ft long areaI like this book bc it shows anyone how easy it is to figure out things for a successful garden ( gardens in my case)Who says simple is cannot be stunning?? Add the angel trumpets and the elephant ears and the garden speaks volumes to me,So I want to say that this indeed is a simplistic way of looking at doing a garden the proportions are good, the ideas are very good, the plans alone are worth the price of the bookI just wish I had a book like this 25 yrs ago so I could have saved myself so many many expensive mistakes,,,,,,,but then again, a garden does teach you patienceLove the book would give this to any new homeowner or anyone attempting to design a wonderful garden for the first,,,,or the fifth time~

I had checked this book out of the library and decided I really needed it in my home library. I am currently looking for ideas to plant a large berm in my backyard and this book was full of ideas.

The Nonstop Garden is packed with all sorts of ideas and the pictures are lovely. Somehow the flowers and plants discussed in this book are exactly the ones I've been considering and wondering where and how to use them in my garden.The authors advise that we "Garden Smarter, Not Harder", which works for me. I'm tired. I'm looking for practical ways to make my garden beautiful without making more work for myself. I was particularly interested in the many advantages of planting a variety of plants: perennials, annuals, herbs, tropicals, trees, and shrubs, all together rather than grouped by kind. They say that variety is better for purposes of diversity, creativity, less maintenance, and year-round interest. Then there's the advantage of developing a habitat for wildlife.I know that I am enjoying a book when I grab my highlighter. This book is simple enough to be easy to understand and complete enough to teach me things I didn't even know I needed to know. I'm glad I bought it. Now I want to get back to it and dig out more ideas.

Wish I had this when we first moved into our house. We are in the process of re-creating our entire yard (+1 acre). It is easy to read and I love it that the author will indicate zone when describing each plant in her design. It is easy to follow her instructions and love the photos of the plants as well as the landscape design template. There is also a chart in the back showing peak performance of several trees, shrubs, etc. broken down by season. It also shows the zone. When describing each plant/shrub/trees, she will indicate which ones are invasive and their non invasive replacements.

I originally saw this book reviewed in the Home and Garden section of my local newspaper and immediately went to check it out at the library. I knew I had to have it! Not all of the information works in my "zone" but the ideas are original and it encourages me to incorporate annual plants among my perennials so I can have visual interest year round. The garden designs are a good starting place for updating my garden.

Great ideas, step by step instructions. Love this book

I am a novice gardener and I find this book to be a great resource for plants . I am looking to plan out a new garden area for the front of my house, and this proving to be very useful. It even gives you what % of each type of plant. The Nonstop Garden gives you many pictures of plants and many suggestions that I plan to bring with me to the nursery.

This book will be of no help to anyone but the beginner gardener, in my mind. I was really looking forward to detailed and specific advice about how to plan a garden that provides year-round interest but this piece of fluff doesn't even come close to being helpful. Their advice can be summed up in two words: variety and diversity. Plant a variety (trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, bulbs, etc.) of different types and then put 3/5/7 of them in clumps according to height. What a joke - if you have done any gardening, you know that already. And by the way, you can find better garden plans online at BHG's site for free. The rest of the book (75%) contains plant suggestions and sometimes offers companion plant suggestions - nice, but not what you are led to believe you are getting. I live very remotely and have to order books online and it is moments like this that I wish I could have just flipped through it in the store. I am beyond irritated that I wasted money on this book.