Judith Phillips
1 Helping me through the transition
I am a novice gardener and native Kansan, and was extremely daunted when moving into my new house made me mistress of a well-established, water-hungry New Mexico garden. By covering each kind of plant individually, with both practical and aesthetic advice, this book has allowed me to proceed with confidence.
Its strengths:
- I have found very few among my existing plantings that I couldn't identify (and care for) based on the descriptions and color photos in this book.
- The coverage includes both xeric and water-hungry plants that are hardy here, which has helped me maintain what I inherited while preparing to transition to a lower water use spread.
Its weaknesses:
- Now that I have survived spring clean-up, I am interested in more generalized landscaping advice that isn't included here. The focus is entirely on specific plants, with only passing reference to subjects such as designing a layout or installing a drip system.
2 Useful and well-organized info for New Mexico landscaping
As a fellow person in the landscape design profession locally, I am pleased with my purchase, though I don't agree with every bit of information in the book. Most important, though, Judith illustrates the subtle, yet important factors that influence how plants can grow sucessfully and where in our region. I have had some different experiences with climate data and some plants (Mesquite is one) than she has, but I highly recommend that natives and new arrivals alike apply the facts in this book to avoid the common plant mistakes made in New Mexico!
