Since the first edition was published in 1992, Nick Robinson's The Planting Design Handbook has been widely used as a definitive text on landscape architecture courses throughout the world. It remains one of the few titles written by a practicing landscape architect and educator who is also a horticulturalist and accomplished plantsman, and which deals with the application of planting design on a large scale in landscape architecture and urban design projects. The Planting Design Handbook is distinctive for its elegant integration of an ecological approach with an understanding of visual and spatial composition. It emphasizes the role of vegetation layers and designed plant communities in complex and diverse plant assemblages for all kinds of sites and uses. This expanded and comprehensively updated third edition still provides a complete examination of principles and practice of design for public, institutional and private landscapes. It takes account of developments in theory and practice, especially in the use of perennials, and reflects a variety of media and approaches current in landscape architecture and design. All chapters have been revised and re-written to ensure updated references and new references have been added. Many new photographs of planting and projects around the world have been included, with examples of current professional drawings to illustrate the design process. It is generously illustrated, including a colour section and the beautifully detailed line drawings of the Chinese architect and painter Jia-Hua Wu.

造園家であり植物学者でもあるニック・ロビンソンが綴る本書は、単なる技術書を超え、大地に命を吹き込むための壮大な叙事詩と言えるでしょう。生態学的な知性と、視覚・空間構成への鋭い美意識が見事に融合しており、植物を単なる装飾ではなく「都市を呼吸させる生きた建築」として捉え直す視点は、読む者の風景観を根本から覆す力を持っています。 特筆すべきは、植物コミュニティが織りなす層状の美学と、中国の建築家・呉嘉華による繊細な線画が響き合う芸術性です。野生の力強さと緻密な設計理論が交差する誌面からは、人間と自然が調和する未来への情熱が溢れ出しています。庭を造るという行為が、いかに深く、高潔な表現活動であるかを教えてくれる至高のガイドブックです。