Garden to the Max: Joyful, Visionary, Maximalist Design

As soon as I read the introduction, I knew I would love this book. I’m so tired of hearing clients say they just want something that is low maintenance but looks nice. Although I’m a confessed plant-a-holic, as a landscape designer, I need to integrate new plants into the existing beds so that they look as though they belong, not just sited because there’s a space there. My plants are crowded and some die because they get shaded out but Teresa’s definition of maximalist design encourages me to continue using bold colors, textures, and layers to create beds filled with personality and joy.

A bonus of maximalist gardens is that they are full of diversity and thus tend to be pollinator heavens. 

The sites that have been beautifully photographed by Bob Stepko are as different as they can be, ranging from a small backyard in Buffalo to a “castle” on Long Island Sound. The sites visited all over the country, from east to est, north to south, very cold to tropical but there’s always a suggestion that could be meaningful. There is also a wide range of knowledge and experience among the garden designers. Some are homeowners with incredible imagination; some are homeowners who have availed themselves of professional landscape designers and horticulturists. Others are landscape designers who have confronted difficult sites and come up with very creative solutions.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have toured two of the gardens in the book and taken a zillion photos of each.  

Each set of gardens offers tips on various aspects of gardening so even though you may think very large properties have nothing for you, you would be wrong. There is always something you never thought of that you can apply to your garden or to a client’s garden.