Hundred Best Books on Landscape Architecture

Peter Monro (Principal, Monro Associates Landscape Planning & Design 565 Congress
St. #308-309, Portland, ME 04101-3308 USA (207) 874-4774, voice & fax;
monro@maine.com ) had the interesting idea of assembling a list of the '100 best books
in landscape architecture' and compiled the following in 1998. His list is reproduced
below and comments are invited (eg using the online discussion forum)

DESIGN PRINCIPLES
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction Christopher Alexander et al
(Oxford University Press, New York, 1977)
Design with Nature, Ian McHarg (1994 reprint, 208 pp., b/w illus., PB,$49.95)

HISTORY of LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

The Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Humphrey Repton (London, 1803)
Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, adapted to North America,
with a View to the Improvement of Country Residences A.J. Downing (New York, 1841)
The Wild Garden William Robinson (London, 1870)
Colour in the Flower Garden Gertrude Jekyll (Country Life Ltd., London, 1908)
Frederick Law Olmsted and the Boston Park System Cynthia Ziatzevsky.
Pioneers of American Landscape Design: An Annotated Bibliography, Edited by Charles
A. Birnbaum and Lisa E. Crowder (U.S. Dept. of Interior, Wash., D.C., 1993) and Vol. II
(1995)

HUMAN RESPONSES TO LANDSCAPES

The Experience of Landscape, Revised Ed. Jay Appleton (1996, 300 pp., 47 b/w illus.,
PB, $47.95)
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces William H. Whyte ( The Conservation
Foundation, Wash. DC, 1980)
Discovering the Vernacular Landscape J. B. Jackson (1984, Yale University Press, New
Haven, CT)
The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs.

REFERENCE
Time-Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture, 2nd Ed. Nicholas Dines and Charles
Harris (1997, 960 pp., 2,000 illus., HB., $125.00)
Construction Design for Landscape Architects Albe E.Munson (McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
New York 1974)
Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the U.S. and Canada the staff
of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University (1976, Macmillan Publishing Co., New
York)
Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia Michael A. Dirr, (1997, 492
pp., color photos, tables, HB, $69.95)
Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines for Urban and Rural America: A Planting Design manual
for Environmental Designers Gary L. Hightshoe (1988 Van Nostrand Reinhold, New
York)
American Plants for American Gardens: Plant Ecology - The Study of Plants in Relation
to Their Environment Edith A. Roberts & Elsa Rehman, foreword by Darrel G. Morrison.
(University of Georgia Press, 1996)
County Soil Surveys by the USDA Soil Conservation Service. (US Govt.) THE

ARTS

Color Drawing Michael Doyle (Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York,1979)

OVERVIEWS

Landscape Architecture, 3rd Ed. John Simonds (1998, 405 pp.,color and b/w illus., HB,
$70.95)
Introduction to Landscape Architecture Michael Laurie (1986, 248 pp., b/w illus., HB,
$44.95)
Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape Architecture Norman T. Newton
(Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1971)

Tom Turner's Comment

Peter Monro's list is interesting and reveals that one needs to be specific about the scope
of a list of 'One hundred best books'. His list might be subtitled 'for a landscape
practice'. Tom Turner offers another list (below) of 40 books which, he suggests, 'every
landscape student should have seen':

Alexander, C. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction Oxford University

Press New York 1977
Alexander, C. The Timeless Way of Building Oxford University Press New York. 1979
Appleton, J. The Experience of Landscape John Wiley London 1975
Bacon, E. Design of Cities Thames & Hudson London 1967
Beardsley, J. Earthworks and Beyond Abbeville Press New York 1984
Chadwick, G.F. The Park and the Town Architectural Press London 1966
Clark, K. Landscape into Art John Murray London 1976
Cranz, G. The Politics of Park Design MIT Press Cambridge, MA. 1982
Cullen, G. Townscape Architectural Press London 1961
Forman, R.T.T. and Godron, M. Landscape Ecology John Wiley New York 1986
Francis, M. The Meanings of the Garden MIT Press Cambridge, MA. 1990
Geddes, P. Cities in Evolution Williams & Norgate London 1915
Howard, E. Garden Cities of Tomorrow Faber & Faber London 1946
Hunt, J.D. Gardens and the Picturesque: Studies in the History of Landscape Architecture
MIT Press Cambridge MA. 1992
Hunt, J.D., Greater perfections: the practice of garden theory Thames and Hudson
London 2000
Hussey, C. The Picturesque Frank Cass London 1967
Jacobs, J. The Death and Life of great American Cities Jonathan Cape London 1962
Jellicoe, G.A. et al Oxford Companion to Gardens Oxford University Press Oxford
Jellicoe, G.A. The Guelph Lectures on Landscape Design University of Guelph Canada
1983
Jellicoe, J.A. and Jellicoe, S. The Landscape of Man Thames & Hudson London 1975
Jencks, C. The Language of Post-Modern Architecture 6th edn Academy Editions
London 1991
Jencks, C. Towards a Symbolic Architecture Academy Editions London 1985
Jones, J.C. Design Methods John Wiley & Sons London 1980
Jung, C.G. Man and His Symbols Aldus London 1964
Kaplan, R., Kaplan, S., Ryan, R., With people in mind: design and management of
everyday nature Island Press Washington DC 1998
Kassler, E.B. Modern Gardens and the Landscape Museum of Modern Art New York
1964
Leopold, A. A Sand County Almanac Sierra Club San Francisco 1970
Little, C.E. Greenways for America Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1990
Loudon, J.C. The Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture of the Late H.
Repton Esq. London 1840
McHarg, I. Design with Nature Falcon Press Philadelphia 1971
McLoughlin, J.B. Urban and Regional Planning: A Systems Approach, Faber & Faber
London 1969
Meason, G.L. The Landscape Architecture of the Great Paintings of Italy 1828
Newman, O. Defensible Space Architectural Press London 1973
Newton, N.T. Design on the Land Belknap Press Harvard 1971
Potteiger, M, Purinton, J., Landscape narratives: design practices for telling stories John
Wiley New York 1998
Rackham, O. The History of the Countryside J.M. Dent & Sons London 1990
Thompson, I.H., Ecology, community and delight: sources of values in landscape
architecture E&FN Spon London 2000
Vitruvius, P. The Ten Books on Architecture Dover Publications New York 1914 edn
Walker, P. and Simo, M. Invisible Gardens -- The Search for Modernism in the American
Landscape MIT Press Cambridge MA. 1994
Whyte, W.H. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces The Conservation Foundation
Washington 1980