Gardening with Water : How James van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme Plant Fountains, Lily Pools,Swimming Pools, Ponds...

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Widely recognized as preeminent among contemporary landscape designers, Van Sweden and his partner, Wolfgang Oehme, are perhaps best known for their gardens featuring splendidly conceived lily ponds, swimming pools, and other beautifully integrated water elements. Van Sweden's book opens with an inspirational survey of ideas obtained from gardens of the U.S., Europe, South America, and Japan, but its primary thrust is a fairly extensive chronicle of water features that this team has executed. Although Van Sweden devotes sections to construction techniques, plants and fish, and general maintenance, home gardeners and professionals alike will probably find his forthright descriptions and detailed design drawings to be a valuable resource when they are considering incorporating water into a garden plan. Alice Joyce


Book Description
By bringing what H. Marc Cathey, president of the American Horticultural Society, has called "a new wave of naturalism" to America, James van Sweden and his partner, Wolfgang Oehme, have revolutionized American landscape design. Van Sweden and Oehme are internationally renowned for their public projects and private commissions: responsible for the Hudson River Park in New York City and several gardens of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., they have landscaped the properties of celebrity clients such as Oprah Winfrey and David Brinkley, as well as many more modest gardens for private homeowners.According to van Sweden, no garden is too small to benefit from the soothing, sensuous qualities of water. Gardening with Water, the first in a new series of books to be written by van Sweden, covers everything from birdbaths and small fountains to waterfalls, swimming pools, lily pools, and water edges. Writing for professional and nonprofessional gardeners alike, van Sweden begins with an overview of influences -- from Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water" to palace gardens in Kyoto, Japan -- before surveying close to a hundred of his own projects to illustrate how he and Wolfgang Oehme introduce water into their garden designs. Several chapters are devoted to practical questions: what to plant, where to plant, whom to contact, and how to build. Clear instructions are supplemented with numerous illustrations, extensive diagrams, and a detailed glossary of trees, plants, and flowers (including Oehme and van Sweden's trademark grasses).


From the Inside Flap
By bringing what H. Marc Cathey, president of the American Horticultural Society, has called "a new wave of naturalism" to America, James van Sweden and his partner, Wolfgang Oehme, have revolutionized American landscape design. Van Sweden and Oehme are internationally renowned for their public projects and private commissions: responsible for the Hudson River Park in New York City and several gardens of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., they have landscaped the properties of celebrity clients such as Oprah Winfrey and David Brinkley, as well as many more modest gardens for private homeowners.

According to van Sweden, no garden is too small to benefit from the soothing, sensuous qualities of water. Gardening with Water, the first in a new series of books to be written by van Sweden, covers everything from birdbaths and small fountains to waterfalls, swimming pools, lily pools, and water edges. Writing for professional and nonprofessional gardeners alike, van Sweden begins with an overview of influences -- from Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water" to palace gardens in Kyoto, Japan -- before surveying close to a hundred of his own projects to illustrate how he and Wolfgang Oehme introduce water into their garden designs. Several chapters are devoted to practical questions: what to plant, where to plant, whom to contact, and how to build. Clear instructions are supplemented with numerous illustrations, extensive diagrams, and a detailed glossary of trees, plants, and flowers (including Oehme and van Sweden's trademark grasses).


About the Author
Inviting and accessible, Gardening with Water will inspire all those who have ever dreamed of introducing water, that most magical and mysterious of elements, into their gardens. For, as van Sweden explains in his Introduction, "When we garden with water, we can indulge our fantasies."

A fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, James Van Sweden was trained in the United States and the Netherlands. He entered a partnership with horticulturist and landscape architect Wolfgang Oehme in 1977, and together they have been credited with creating the New American Garden style. Van Sweden was awarded the Thomas Rowland Gold Medal by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1987, and the Landscape Design Award by the American Horticultural Society in 1992. His previous book, Bold Romantic Gardens: The New World Landscapes of Oehme and van Sweden, coauthored with Wolfgang Oehme, received two awards of excellence from the Garden Writer's Association of America.


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Widely recognized as preeminent among contemporary landscape designers, Van Sweden and his partner, Wolfgang Oehme, are perhaps best known for their gardens featuring splendidly conceived lily ponds, swimming pools, and other beautifully integrated water elements. Van Sweden's book opens with an inspirational survey of ideas obtained from gardens of the U.S., Europe, South America, and Japan, but its primary thrust is a fairly extensive chronicle of water features that this team has executed. Although Van Sweden devotes sections to construction techniques, plants and fish, and general maintenance, home gardeners and professionals alike will probably find his forthright descriptions and detailed design drawings to be a valuable resource when they are considering incorporating water into a garden plan.


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