Garden Design and Landscaping - The Beginner's Guide to the Processes Involved with Successfully Landscaping a Garden (an overview)

If you're new to landscaping and you're not sure if you should DIY design the garden yourself or hire a designer, this book will explain what's involved, to help you decide. There's also tips on how to hire the right landscape contractor to build your garden as well as tips on the best places to learn about garden design, if you want to do it yourself. This book is an overview of the landscaping processes, not a step-by-step 'how-to' guide (see Rachel's other books for that). In order to create a fantastic looking landscaped garden, you need to know about the processes involved and how much it's likely to cost you. This book will give you an overview of the landscaping processes, from what you need to know in order to successfully DIY design your garden, to what to look for when hiring professional landscapers and designers to help you. In this book, professional, international garden designer, Rachel Mathews, from Successful Garden Design, will share over twenty year's experience as a designer and landscaping contracts manager. She will give you the low down on the main things you need to know BEFORE you landscape your garden. It can feel quite daunting tackling a garden, either on your own or hiring landscape professionals to help. You may not even know where to start; if you should DIY or hire someone. So, this book will explain what each stage of the landscape process involves, from the landscape design concept to creation, so you can decide which bits you do yourself. This book is an overview of the processes involved with successfully landscaping a garden, not a step-by-step 'how-to' guide (see Rachel's other books for that). The book covers how to work with landscaping professionals, tips on how to DIY design your garden, how to learn about landscape design. This book also answers the following questions: what's the difference between a gardener, a landscaper and a garden designer? Is garden design software worth using? How do I choose a landscaper to work with? How do you tell if a landscaper is a good one? This short book will save you a great deal of time, money and aggravation when it comes to creating your dream garden. You will get a great overview of precisely what is involved with creating a fantastic garden, so that you can spend your time, money and energy effectively and get the results you want with your landscape design. This new 2.0 version contains many more images and Rachel address the feedback left by reviewers.

I'm Rachel Mathews and I've been a professional garden designer for over 20 years. I'm based in the UK but do work internationally for clients in the USA, Australia, Malaysia, North Africa, Spain and Switzerland. Over the years I've designed every size, shape and style of garden. My passion lately is to create modern gardens with a natural feel, whilst incorporating plenty of edible foods.
In 2009 I did an online teacher training programme so I could learn how to teach garden design and since then I have been writing and teaching garden design to a worldwide audience via the Successful Garden Design website.
I'm currently taking a year out from my design and construction business to write another 3 ebooks and mini-garden design courses. I've fled the UK to the warmer climates of southern Spain; the warm weather definitely helps the writing process you know!