This is a guide to creating original and practical gardens, full of ideas and information for transforming gardens of every size and style. It looks at the work of some of the world's most talented garden designers whose ideas embody the new spirit in design today. Their garden schemes form a natural extension to the house, creating attractive areas for relaxing and entertaining, with imaginative planting schemes that mature quickly into beautiful environment requiring the minimum of upkeep. This book examines the principles on which the best of today's garden designers work and shows how to create the effects they achieve for your own plot, within the limitations of space, time and budget. With the help of more than 350 full-colour photographs of the best modern gardens in the world, this book should inspire you to think creatively about your own garden, from interesting and unusual treatments for the basic framework of boundaries, paths and patios to special features such as fountains, pergolas, lighting, ornaments, swimming pools, spas, summer houses and garden furniture. The authors also show how to use plants to their best advantage: how to contrast colour, texture and form, how to blend their softer outlines with attractive hard-surface materials, how to simplify colour schemes to focus attention on the plants, and how to position and group plants for maximum effect throughout the year.