Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Patricia Hill.
Design Your Natural Midwest Garden.
Madison, Wis.: Trails Books, 2007.
paper, 196 pp., ISBN 978–1–931599–81–8, $29.95.

A native Midwesterner, landscape designer Patricia Hill is familiar with the challenges of its climate and soils. As such, she provides some strong incentives for creating natural gardens in a colorfully illustrated work that highlights their beauty and sustainability in the landscape. Her design plans with photographs of plant material decorate the pages of this user-friendly guide. Organized by design purpose, such as entranceways, borders, woodlands, etc., the chapters contain descriptions of individual designs with her critique of suggested plant materials. Unfortunately, the author uses botanical nomenclature only occasionally, preferring common names; these terms may not be familiar to all readers.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.