Gen of North Coast Gardening says:

Makes me want to get outside and craft! There’s some fantastic inspiration here for the savvy craftsperson. Each project has simple step-by-step instructions along with a full-page color photo (or three) showing you the end result.What I love best about this book is that it’s helped me repurpose some of the trash I had waiting in the “go to the dump” pile. The rings from a discarded oak barrel will now be repurposed as a mold for garden stepping stones, which were shown early in the book. And some of the ideas don’t require any money at all, like creating “temporary turf tattoos” in the lawn using your mower. What a fun way of celebrating a holiday, to mow a pattern into the lawn to cheer passers-by.Is this a book of gift ideas? Maybe. Some of the projects are small enough to transport easily and would make great gifts. Others are large, heavy, or simply must be made in the owner’s garden, so wouldn’t wrap up well for a gift occasion. But enough of the ideas are good for this purpose that I’m certainly glad I got it a few months before my mom’s birthday, just in case I want to make a project for her! I have a few pages bookmarked as possibilities for all the gardeners in my life.My one quibble is that many of the photos in the book look a bit messy or “country”. For example, in the page showing you how to make a tabletop knot garden (a very classy idea), the finished result is shown in a Red Flyer wagon. It’s hard to imagine a more disparate pairing than an elegant French or English knot garden with a kid’s red wagon – it just didn’t work for me. In another photo of steel tanks used as planting beds (a look that can be marvelously urban and chic), the photographer didn’t remove the red and white label from the tank. That may have been intentional to give an authentic country feeling, but to me, it didn’t let the potential beauty of this project shine.So if you have an artistic eye and can visualize the potential in a project even if the presentation in the photo isn’t what you might personally do, then you’re in for a real treat with this book. And don’t get me wrong, most of the photos are stunning. The author did a particularly good job on her photos of projects using succulents, creating elegant pairings that would shine in any garden.The biggest strength of this book is that it makes garden projects seem approachable and fun, and gives you the confidence to do your own creative projects in the garden. If you have always wanted to add a few personal touches to your garden, but were unsure of how to do it, this book will give you a good grounding in the basic techniques and materials you’ll be working with, and will provide ample inspiration for getting started.

Isadore Ann says:

Good Book Even If You Lack a Green Thumb Okay, so I don’t have a green thumb, but I do enjoy creative projects and having a nice garden. That’s why I was so anxious to read this book. I really thought this book did a great job of speaking to novice gardeners as well as those with more experience. They offered very smart, common sense tips about how to start a gardening project, by asking yourself things like what’s the goal of your garden (to entertain, grow veggies, etc.), what kind of climate issues are you dealing with, and how much time are you going to realistically have to maintain it.They also talked about using various materials for different projects, and showed the versatility in each. By far the best section, though, involved the ideas for different garden layouts and projects. There were a wide range of project ideas, and I thought most people would be able to pull them off, even if they weren’t particularly creative. Also, the pictures throughout the book are absolutely gorgeous.