This book is nothing short of revolutionary. For too long, garden design has given pride of place to architecture, artifice, and arbitrary principles. The results? Soulless landscapes where plants play subordinate roles. With passion and eloquence, Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden argue that only when plants are given the respect they deserve does a garden become emotionally resonant. Plant-Driven Design shows designers how to work more confidently with plants, and gives gardeners more confidence to design. The Ogdens boldly challenge design orthodoxy and current trends by examining how to marry plantsmanship and design without sacrificing one to the other. Supported by extensive lists of plants adapted to specific purposes and sites, Plant-Driven Design explores how plants interact with place. In addition, the authors' experience gardening and designing in a wide variety of climates gives their perspective a unique depth. In ideas, scope, and detail, this book both embraces and transcends regionality. By reclaiming gardens as a home to plants, this groundbreaking work will restore life-affirming vitality to garden design and profoundly affect how we understand and experience gardens.

“. . . gives plants room to flourish. . . the new book is packed with [Lauren Springer Ogden’s] lush photographs. . . .”

“The book pushes toward the sensual and involved part of gardening, toward pleasure and intimacy. Gardens ought to be places of change: hourly, daily, seasonally and over the years. It’s heartening to see a great big glossy design book championing our urges to get out and touch our plants.”

“[In] their fascinating book… the Ogdens explore how a garden can engage the senses, and seduce and enchant one with a sense of arrival and discovery.  Through it all, they aim to help gardeners create gardens that play to their plant’s strengths.”

"The must-have (old school) garden book of the season."


“A powerful argument for letting the plants lead the design.... Don’t try to digest this book all at once. It is meant to be dipped into, savored, consulted for advice and lived with, like an old friend.”

“This could be one of the best garden books of the first decade of the 21st century. Combining an ecological approach to plant selection with a strong sense of the aesthetic possibilities of plants, it adds an element that is all too rarely considered—that of how plant and gardens fit into and complement their surrounding landscape, and celebrate regional distinctiveness.”

"No matter what part of the country you (or the gardener on your gift list) may call home, this book is sure to offer plenty of inspiration.”

“An excellent book to add to your library…great advice for gardeners of all levels.”

“Plant-Driven Design champions the “plant-it-instead-of-pave-it” point of view better than any book to date.”

“The first chapter sets out to secure a thought process that puts plants first in any approach to design. It then flows effortlessly into a gallery of gardens and plant portraits interspersed with useful listings of plants for every situation…a great source of inspiration for anyone serious about designing a garden.”

Scott Ogden has prospected for new, garden-adaptable bulbs as well as proven, heirloom varieties in Texas (his home state), the South, Mexico, and beyond. As a horticulturist and designer he consults for and creates public and private gardens across the country. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Publisher: Timber Press
Distributor: Workman Publishing Company
Publication Date: 10-07-2008
Pages: 284
Measurements: 11.06in X 9.50in X 0.84in X 3.06lb