Simple Landscaping: Sustainable Construction, How to do More for Less

We can no longer afford to waste water on landscaping. This doesn't mean we can't use any water.

In my book SIMPLE LANDSCAPING, I explain simple and effective ways to approach design and construction. The green/sustainability movement is starting to merge with the tighter money times. Destroying the planet little by little with bad habits of consumption is meeting up with both tighter restrictions and higher costs. For instance the new reality is that the price of water is going up while availability is going down. So wasting money on ugly landscapes and then paying to maintain them is a losing game. Times change, and in this book you'll find low tech innovations that are both ahead of the curve and yet easy to implement.

The landscape industry includes landscape maintenance, landscape architects, landscape suppliers and landscape builders. I've watched landscaping as an insider for more than 40 years, much about the business has changed. The cast of characters has grown. Today we have more sources of landscape supply, more style choices and much more involvement from clients. However the key players - designers, suppliers, maintenance guys and builders - remain the same. Today many more clients are participating as do-it-yourselfers.

In SIMPLE LANDSCAPING you get my point of view as a builder/designer. This book is a normal non-fiction book and reads easily. Minus the glossy photos, it's written in the language of common sense. It's the story of techniques, ideas, and perspectives that I use for best results building and designing landscapes. It identifies what landscaping matters most and is focused on helping you get better results when doing your project(s).

For portfolio pictures, diagrams, and more resources and information, our book 55 MYTHS, TIPS, AND SECRETS: BEND'S ESSENTIAL GUIDE to LANDSCAPING is also helpful. Check out our website for great before and after photos. Bendpinenursery.com