Designing with conifers The best choices for year-round interest in your garden

Garden writer and photographer Bitner (Conifers for Gardens, CH, Jan'08, 45-2360) has produced an idea book for using conifers in garden design. This book does not have a lot of text, and its strength is in its well-composed and reproduced color images of conifers, both singly and in garden settings. The first chapters are organized by characteristics, such as shapes (spiky, mounding, weeping), colors (green, gold, silver, deciduous with fall color), and use in specific situations (hedges, topiaries, shade, front yards, etc). These contain useful general information as well as alphabetical listings with short descriptions of species and cultivars within the various categories. The book concludes with a detailed case study of the heavily coniferized home gardens of Oregon landscape professionals Cassandra and Bryan Barrett and with some short appendixes on an eclectic assortment of topics such as deer, wet areas, and Christmas trees. Although the volume is targeted at homeowners, Bitner's excellent photography will inspire professional designers as well as armchair gardeners. Summing Up: Recommended. All undergraduate students, professionals/practitioners, and general readers/gardeners. G. D. Dreyer Connecticut College