Others say...

"Outstanding"
This book has a lot to offer. The first half of the book shows plant combinations - both good and bad with detailed commentary. The second half of the book has lists of plants by categories and matrixes. Very useful when you are trying to find a plant to fit a particular situation. Before I bought this book, I had it out from the library and kept renewing it. Decided to have a copy of my own. Now, I use it all the time.

"Average text -- for those who like yellow and red...."
Tracy DiSabato-Aust has put a lot of herself into her complex book, THE WELL-DESIGNED GARDEN. This topic (design not Tracy) certainly needs addressing. In lieu of hiring a garden designer which most new home owners cannot afford to do, new gardeners must rely on friends as well as multiple books and articles to address garden questions. Wouldn't it be nice to find a single source that covers everything-trees, shrubs, perennial identification and planting and growing specifics, as well as design issues? I doubt this book will satisfy that need. The gardening newcomer or even somewhat seasoned gardeners will probably find this book overwhelming in its detail while remaining unhelpful in addressing specific needs.

As the title suggests, DiSabato includes several garden design layouts, but these few designs are limited to a townhouse garden, a few 'house' patio/garden designs and the design for what appears to be large "estate", which makes her book little more than a sample portfolio of her own jobs which she probably had prepared for potential customers, and which she decided to transform into a `book'. This is not a well researched document that investigates assembles, and analyzes what a variety of garden designers have been or are doing. Rather than a menu of suggestions about designing, this book begs the question, What does she mean by"well-designed"? Does it mean done by Tracy? For example, if you seek information about building a small or an "intimate" garden, or dividing a larger area into many smaller gardens, you would do better to use Colston Burrell's INTIMATE GARDENS which includes a summary of examples pertaining to small garden areas (and is a good deal less expensive).

Preferring a minimalist approach where each and every plant is allowed to develop somewhat naturally into stunning combinations as well as preferring a palette formed along a blue-purple continuum (picture a relatively large area of Arabis punctuated with blue Scilla in the spring garden) I find DiSabato's penchant for overly busy concoctions-jumbles of hot-colored items each vying for attention- leaves me feeling unwell. DiSabato also appears to be a Funkia-fanatic (wedded to the Hosta Lily) and fond of other common plant forms with red, orange, mustard yellow and gold blooms. Her compositions are "enhanced" with twee garden ornaments-some of which would show well if they were not in competition with their various settings. Her best shots can be found in the section of the book where she discusses color and most of these are examples from other people's gardens.

This book is not worth the money you will pay to own it....

"Finally! Not the "Same old, thing" yet again"
Ever read a garden book and feel like it contains tons of recycled information - like one of those notorious fruitcakes that goes from home to home every Christmas?
This time around, the author dares to express some rather unique, even radical, viewpoints about garden design and color combinations. If you're a traditionalist, you might be a bit intimidated by some of the suggestions but this is an opportunity to let your gardening creativity take root (pun intended). Perhaps you'll discvoer, as I did, that certain plants just "click" togehter,even though their colors seem unharmonious at first glance.
If you follow DiSabato-Aust's guideline, you may well have the most beautiful garden on the block and find yourself falling in love with your yard again. There are lists of plants, suggested placement in relation to other plants and plenty of information about growing requirements. But it is the originality of this one that sets it apart. Beginner or expert gardener, you'll glean tons of valuable info!

"A great work."
I am designing a garden for my campus and continue to work on my home landscape. The Well-Designed Mixed Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust answers my questions like it knows what I am thinking. I was wondering about garden scale in relation to buildings, among other things, and now have a good idea. I find a treasure trove of information for my consideration and use in this book (as well as in the Well-Tended Perennial Garden). The discussion of color is intense and wonderful. The reference areas and examples are invaluable. The writing style is friendly and unstuffy. The information is inspired and important. I am grateful for this book both for my job and my home landscape. It has been commuting with me every day for the past 2 weeks.

"Depends on what you are looking for"
Overall I found this to be a good book that just kept coming up a bit short.

This is one of those books where the information is there, but the format is lacking.

Poor printing of lackluster photographs doesn't help this guide. If you are looking for different varieties of plants, they are here, but you can get the same information reading garden catalogs in January.

I liked the index of plants, however, splitting the common names into a separate index did not make sense to me. Reading the book I had to have on finger in the scientific nomenclature and one marking the common name list as well. I was running out of fingers!

What I did like was the suggested combinations of plants although I thought the somewhat sophisticated color combinations were not explained well enough to allow for experimentation outside the plants stated for many readers.