Jan Johnsen - Gardentopia: Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces

PRAISE FOR GARDENTOPIA

Gardentopia is that rare marriage of the art of landscaping and the technical knowledge of how to compose a landscapeboiled down to readily understood and easily executed actions. This book puts you in the drivers seat and shows you how to chart the course to your own personal garden utopia.

Margie Grace, APLD International Landscape Designer of the Year, Grace Design Associates

The topic of garden design has been covered in a myriad of ways, but Jan has put an imaginative new spin on it. Years of landscape design experience paired with beautiful attention to detail evolve into this lovely new approach. I was excited to turn every page in order to explore Jans next take on artful accents, paths, themes, color, and plants. Gardentopia will become an essential source for my design classes, as well as a wealth of inspiration for my own landscape plans.

Lisa Orgler, PLA, Iowa State University, www.papergardenworkshop.com

Gardentopia is a feast for the eyes and the brain. Jan Johnsen has taken design concepts and made them easy to understand and use in ones own garden. Then, she has supplemented her ideas with beautiful and illustrative photographs. I can hardly wait to implement some of these ideas. This book is destined for my library.

Bobbie Schwartz, FAPLD

The design know-how that Ive gained through decades of practice is simply laid out here by Jan Johnsen for anyone to understand. From new homeowner to experienced garden designer, this book will take your efforts to a higher level.

Carl Molter, Landscape Designer, Host/Producer of WDVR FMs Into the Garden

Intriguing to the mindscape, Gardentopia offers insightful vistas of inspiration to the gardener in all of us. With respect and gratitude for the years of inspiration and generosity in spirit, thanks to Jan for creating a book that is destined to become a good old friend.

Michelle Derviss, Michelle Derviss Landscape Design

Jan Johnsen is one of the most popular writers on GardenDesign.com. Her insights have educated thousands. Her passion has inspired just as many. Now youll be able to find her insights and the passion in one place.

Jim Peterson, Publisher, Garden Design

Gradually and silently the charm comes over us; we know not exactly where or how... Frederick Law Olmsted

Garden lovers revel in being in an outdoor space filled with flowers, trees, and artful accents used in imaginative ways. Here, we feel a sense of well-being that is hard to match. So how can you transform your backyard into a place where, as the great nineteenth-century park designer Frederick Law Olmsted described, charm descends upon you? This book outlines the simple changes you can make that will turn your backyard into what I call a gardentopia, an outdoor space of delight and serenity.

I have spent my 40-plus years as a professional landscape designer transforming tough sites into appealing landscapes. I have learned a lot along the way and I want to share that knowledge with you. Gardentopia: Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces describes garden-making techniques that I have found to be especially helpful. Each of the illustrated suggestions describes a design idea, gardening pointer, or selected plant that you can use to improve your landscape, no matter its size. I chose to write it as a series of basic tips so that you can easily grasp each concept and say, Thats a good ideaI can do that!

I have always been in the business of creating beautiful landscapes for others. I studied landscape architecture decades ago, but much of my design expertise comes from my time working in Japan and Hawaii when I was a young adult. After returning home to the United States, I went to work for a Versailles-trained French gardener at a hotel called the Mohonk Mountain House in New York. It was there that I learned many of the on-the-ground horticultural techniques I write about. Most of the photos in this book are landscapes that I created with my firm, Johnsen Landscapes & Pools, based in Westchester County, New York. My husband, Rafael Algarin, and I have been running our company for over 32 years.

Although the landscapes shown in this book are primarily located in the northeastern United States, the garden tips I describe can be applied anywhere. Additionally, the captions that accompany some of the photographs include the story behind the image or describe some interesting detail.

The suggestions in Gardentopia are not complicated and span many aspects of landscape design, from configuring an outdoor space to choosing a theme for your garden to selecting the perfect plant. I have focused on these aspects of garden design because I believe that a basic understanding of them can improve both the looks of your garden and the value of your property. And, most of all, these improvements help make your garden a vibrant place where you want to spend time.

For ease of use, I have divided the book into five sections:

1. Garden Design and Artful Accent Tips

Site design is the framework that every garden needs. This first section encourages you to look at your yards layout with fresh eyes. Why not move that hedge, widen a walk, or add a bench? These tips offer ideas on layout, alignment, and more. I also discuss fun additions such as gates, features, and outdoor seating that make a garden distinctly yours.

2. Walls, Patios, Walks, and Steps

Hardscape elements such as walks and walls make up the bones of an outdoor space. This section gives you tips for the permanent part of a landscape. It offers ideas regarding paving, location of walkways, details such as edging, and other elements. These features are hard to change, once installed, and so you should consider them first before thinking about plants and planting.

3. Theme Gardens

Gardens with a singular focus grab the imagination and let us get creative with one fun idea. This section describes special-interest gardens such as a butterfly garden, medicinal garden, tropical garden, and others. We all love themes; they make a garden extra special. This section provides juicy inspiration for such an endeavor.

4. Color in the Garden

We see color before anything else in a garden, and the effect it has upon us is fascinating. Here, I celebrate the potency of color and its impact in an outdoor space. There are so many ways to combine colors, subtly or boldly, in a garden. Once you start down this colorful path, its hard to turn back. I share ways to use color imaginatively outdoors.

Gardenia bushes are warm-weather plants but you can grow it in a pot outdoors in summer. They are prolific bloomers with numerous pointed buds shaped like seashells that unfurl to reveal luscious, fragrant white flowers.

5. Plants and Planting

Finally, I touch on everyones favorite part of a garden: the plants. I describe a few of my favorite go-to plants. This is not a complete list in any way, and Ive limited my suggestions to some easy-to-grow and easy-to-appreciate plants. I also offer a few ideas on gardening and maintenance techniques that I have found helpful.