Cover -- Contents -- Figures -- Plates -- Tables -- Acknowledgements -- Preface to the Second Edition -- Introduction -- PART 1: PRINCIPLES -- 1 Why Design? -- Planting Design - an Expression of Function -- Planting Design as Management of Natural Vegetation Processes -- Planting Design for Aesthetic Pleasure -- What is Successful Planting Design? -- 2 Plants as a Medium for Design -- Plants as Living Materials -- Environmental Factors -- Cycles of Plant Growth and Development -- Aftercare -- The Landscape Designer's View of Plants -- Plants as Spatial Elements -- Plants as Ornament -- Plant Selection -- Functional and Aesthetic Considerations in Design -- 3 Spatial Characteristics of Plants -- Spatial Functions of Plants in the Human Landscape -- Ground-level Planting (Carpeting Plants) -- Shrubs and Herbaceous Plants Below Knee Height (Low Planting) -- Knee to Eye Level Planting (Medium Height Planting) -- Planting Above Eye Level (Tall Shrub/Small Tree Planting) -- Tree Planting -- 4 Creating Spaces with Plants -- The Experience of Space -- The Use of Spaces -- The Elements of Spatial Composition -- Enclosure -- Dynamics -- Focus -- 5 Composite Landscape -- Spatial Organizations -- Hierarchy of Spaces -- Transitions -- 6 Visual Properties of Plants -- Subjective and Objective Responses to Plants -- The Analysis of Visual Characteristics -- Form -- Line and Pattern -- Texture -- Colour -- Visual Energy -- 7 Principles of Visual Composition -- Five Principles of Visual Composition -- Unity and Diversity in Planting Design -- Inspiration -- 8 Plant Assemblages -- Plant Communities -- Two Principles -- Designing with Canopy Layers -- Some Typical Canopy Structures -- Deciduous Cool Temperate Communities (Europe and North America) -- Evergreen Temperate Communities (New Zealand) -- Design Interpretation.

Horticultural Factors in Plant Associations -- Growth Requirements -- Relative Competitiveness -- Mode of Spread -- Habit -- Longevity and Life Cycles -- Plant Knowledge -- PART 2: PROCESS -- 9 A Method for Planting Design -- Inception -- Understanding: Gathering and Organizing Information -- Synthesis - Generating and Organizing Ideas -- Realization -- Learning Through the Design Process -- PART 3: PRACTICE -- 10 Structure Planting -- Introduction -- Forest and Woodland -- Designing Forest and Woodland -- Planting Mixes -- High Forest/High Canopy Woodland -- Low Forest/Low Woodland -- Shrub Thicket -- Woodland Scrub -- High Scrub -- Edges -- Tall Edge -- Low Edge -- Outlying Groups -- Clumps and Copses -- Woodland and Forest Belts -- Hedges and Hedgerows -- Avenues -- Trained Trees and Vines -- 11 Ornamental Planting -- General Planting Areas -- Raised Planting and Container Planting -- Walls, Pergolas, Trellis and other Vine Supports -- Ornamental Planting in Specialized Habitats -- 12 Conclusion -- References and Further Reading -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W.