Since I'm currently resolved to redesign my yard in the interests of increasing its ecological value and decreasing required maintenance, this "organic garden design school" SEEMED like the perfect book for me. And there is a lot of good information in here, about design considerations, planting tips, etc, some of which I've found nowhere else, and which have made the book worthwhile to me. HOWEVER, winnowing that information from the book was not very easy. Though the title suggests this is a textbook, it is really a long series of 1- or 2-page rambles about one or another aspect of the author's experience gardening her own yard (and one other yard). This work is poorly edited and organized, and there is a huge emphasis on just those two examples of garden design. To apply the lessons of this book myself, I needed more than anecdotes from two situations unlike my own. I needed some generally stated design principles, as well as some very specific techniques (e.g. how to build raised beds like the author's). While this information is in there, and some of it is quite illuminating, those gems occur nearly randomly within the 1- or 2-page rambles. If the book was titled something like "Design Thoughts," perhaps I wouldn't be so disappointed, but a "school" and a "guide," with all the clarity those words suggest, this book is not. A workbook section at the end of the book makes up for this by finally providing the reader with a definite guide for action. But it would have been a much more of a "school" and a "guide" if the workbook had been integrated into the chapters, rather than tacked on at the end.
