Product Description

What gardener hasn't been disappointed with borders after spring blooms have faded? Designing a garden with the focus on flowers is missing half the fun, according to the author, an expert plantswoman and popular horticultural educator. Working on the premise that the form of the leaf is the most important design element, Glattstein explains the basic leaf shapes and how to balance them pleasingly. Color also adds dimension to plantings, and Glattstein includes individual chapters focusing on specific tonal palettes. Each chapter is filled with plant suggestions and hints for successfully incorporating foliage into the garden. More than 110 photographs illustrate foliage effects, from subtle to dramatic. This lively and information-rich book will benefit gardeners and landscape designers alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1226190 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 308 pages

From Booklist
Whether ruffled, woolly, with a metallic sheen, or filigreed like lace, leaves are among the most significant elements to be considered when planning and planting visually exciting garden displays. Writing in an engaging style that should inspire gardeners regardless of skill level, Glattstein makes a case for thinking long and hard about using the foliage aspect of plants to best advantage, including an entire palette of perennials, trees, shrubs, vines, and tender annuals. With her eyes trained on the details, Glattstein reveals myriad ways of incorporating plants with interesting or unusual leaves, whether one is developing new areas of the garden or integrating plants into an existing scheme. Always stressing a well-considered overall design over the mere gathering together of odd or bizarre specimens, Glattstein shows her value as an instructor by explaining concepts clearly, suggesting appealing species and cultivars for diverse climates and conditions, and providing options enough to challenge budding designers while also giving the experienced green thumb plenty to think about, too. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Consider the Leaf helps you add plants that will provide interesting leaf forms, textures and colors."—San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles, November 2003 (San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles )

"Glattstein explains basic leaf shapes and how to balance them plasingly."—Publishers Weekly, May 17, 2003 (Publishers Weekly )

"If you're one of those gardeners with a boring, yew-infested yard, and don't have time to plant and care for a lot of here-today, gone-tomorrow flowers, this book is your game plan."—George Weigel, People Places Plants, Summer 2003 (George Weigel People Places Plants )

A substantial read for serious gardeners. -- — The Bookseller, January 17, 2003

A substantial read for serious gardeners. Bookseller 20030117 This lively and information-rich book, filled with plant suggestions and hints for successfully incorporating foliage into the garden, will benefit gardeners and landscape designers alike. PPA News 20021217 Writing in an engaging style that should inspire gardeners regardless of skill level, ... Glattstein shows her value as an instructor. Booklist 20030109 The text ... offer[s] helpful suggestions for beginning gardeners as well as providing inspiration for professionals. -- Suzanne Hively Cleveland Plain Dealer 20030213 Consider the Leaf is festooned with striking color photos supporting Glattstein's appreciation of foliage. -- John Monteith Delaware Valley News 20030313 Even if you don't care a whit about foliage, you'll be amazed at the depth of gardening knowledge to be learned from the author. Hunterdon County Democrat 20030313 Written in a pleasantly conversational style. -- Lori D. Kranz Bloomsbury Review 20030318 Pleasant to read, informative and, with lots of pictures, an altogether unique and delightful book. -- John Van de Water Newark Star-Ledger 20030406 Eureka! Judy Glattstein in her 2003 book has written just what we need to reconsider... The author clearly provides insights into plant materials and plant hardiness zones and where plants are best sited in the landscape. -- Thomas D. Church Graine Thumb 20030423 Judy Glattstein does an excellent job in bringing to the attention of gardeners and designers, the importance of the color and texture of foliage of trees, shrubs and perennials... The price, considering the value of the information contained in the book is simply remarkable. -- John E. Bryan Gardening Newsletter 20030506 This lively and information-rich book, filled with plant suggestions and hints for successfully incorporating foliage into the garden, will benefit gardeners and landscape designers alike. Perennial Plant Association Newsletter 20021207 Presents designs for low-maintenance gardens in a range of climates and offers lessons for beginning gardeners and some ideas starters for professionals. Landscape Architecture 20030407 If you're one of those gardeners with a boring, yew-infested yard, and don't have time to plant and care for a lot of here-today, gone-tomorrow flowers, this book is your game plan. -- George Weigel People Places Plants 20030507 Glattstein explains basic leaf shapes and how to balance them plasingly. Publishers Weekly 20030517 A well-rounded, personal account of how leaf form, color, and texture may be used to best effect in the garden. SciTech Book News 20030522 A valuable book for gardeners and landscape designers. Avant Gardener 20030523 A book to delve into for inspiration and vicarious horticultural pleasure. -- Marge Howard-Jones California Garden 20030523 A treasure trove of solid information about foliage plants ... Glattenstein writes in a lively, accessible manner with obvious enthusiasm for plants. -- Ethel Fried Manchester (CT) Journal Inquirer 20030330 Full of more practical ideas than a year's subscription to mosts gardening mags. More From Isthmus 20030611 An engrossing read. -- Mary Davies Irish Garden 20030611 Very informative reading. -- Anne Marie Van Nest St. Catherines Standard 20030605 Best of all ... is the range of options presented. Gardener for the Prairies 20030616 One of the most inspiring gardening books I have read. -- Sherie Schmader Hunterdon Review 20030605 It's overflowing with good advice. -- Marty Figley Michigan Observer and Eccentric 20030626 The know-how is here. -- Jim Carlson Country Almanac 20030708 Consider the Leaf is a chatty horticultural primer on how to use foliage in garden design. -- Barbara Lloyd McMichael Bremerton Sun 20030525 If you are inclined to investigate further the effective use of plant foliage in the garden, I have just the book for you ... Judy provides concrete examples of how to mix and match plants with distinctive foliage for beauty and to solve landscape problems over all seasons. -- Liz Ball Springfield Press 20030820 A delightfully different, innovative approach to the esthetics of garden design--highly recommended. Taxon 20030215 Beginners and experienced gardeners alike will benefit from this inspirational volume. -- Connie Krochmal Washington Daily News 20031001 Consider the Leaf helps you add plants that will provide interesting leaf forms, textures and colors. San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles 20031127 You might expect a book listing plant combinations to be repetitious and boring, but Glattstein crafts the images so well that you feel you are traveling through a carefully designed garden, admiring the gardener's skill at selecting just the right plants to enhance each other's attributes and focus your attention. -- Karin E. Guzy Perennial Notes 20031201 Garden expert Judy Glattstein offers a thorough and thoughtful consideration of all the greenery that makes up a garden and how to use it to best advantage. -- Jeanette Ross Greenwich Post 20040424 Consider the Leaf offers options for low-maintenance plantings in a wide range of climates. Glattstein integrates examples from horticulture professionals and experienced amateur gardeners who have used foliage to provide solutions to their landscaping challenges. Michigan Gardener 20040409 A comprehensive guide to using foliage successfully in the garden. -- David Wheeler Garden (Peterborough) 20040409 I couldn't help but be impressed with the author's breadth of knowledge, and her ability to present the information in a natural manner, without even talking down to her readers. -- Jim Kemper Chicago Botanic Garden 20050419 Over 100 photographs help show how foliage combinations work together, so that you still have exciting contrasts of color, texture, and shape even when there are no flowers. -- Elizabeth Licata Buffalo Spree 20060401

Consider the Leaf helps you add plants that will provide interesting leaf forms, textures and colors.San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles, November 2003 (San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles )

Glattstein explains basic leaf shapes and how to balance them plasingly.Publishers Weekly, May 17, 2003 (Publishers Weekly )

If you're one of those gardeners with a boring, yew-infested yard, and don't have time to plant and care for a lot of here-today, gone-tomorrow flowers, this book is your game plan.George Weigel, People Places Plants, Summer 2003 (People Places Plants )

The text . . . offer[s] helpful suggestions for beginning gardeners as well as providing inspiration for professionals. -- — Suzanne Hively, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 13, 2003

From the Author
Judy Glattstein is an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and the Cook College Office of Continuing Professional Education at Rutgers University.

Customer Reviews

This Book Might Change Your Thinking on Garden Design
The leaf itself is not only worthy of consideration, it should be the determining factor, says this author. A plant doesn't earn its keep unless it has an interesting leaf that contributes to the esthetics of the garden. This is a different way of looking at garden planning, as most people choose plants based on their flower.

I used the book this spring when I redesigned my front herb and flower gardens, a task which was prompted by tree growth that had turned a formerly sunny garden into a shade garden. I learned that by "considering the leaf," I could have my flowers early in the season while the tree leaves were unfurling. Peonies, daylilies, ferns and hostas, arranged with respect to their leaf shape, gave me foliage and flowers throughout the summer. Furthermore, when arranged by leaf shape and color, I found I had an attractive display even when there were no blooms going on.

I found that design using this principle resulted in more color than what I would have otherwise. There are several sections of color plates to illustrate the different approaches and I am excited about using some of these ideas next year.

The Importance of Foliage
It is often the flower that entices us to begin gardening. But as time passes, the experienced gardener begins to "consider the leaf". Perhaps it is first in shade gardening, that one realizes the importance and beauty of foliage. Eventually we come to see that a beautiful garden is always made more so by the subtle textures, colors, and shapes of its foliage. Consider The Leaf is a fascinating look at designing with foliage.