The Spirit of Stone - by Jan Johnsen (Hardcover)

About the Book

Natural stone is the new garden "fashion statement." Stone paths, walls, steps, dry streams (and more) are low maintenance and enhance a homeowner's property like no other landscape feature.

Book Synopsis

Natural stone is the new garden "fashion statement." Stone paths, walls, steps, dry streams (and more) are low maintenance and enhance a homeowner's property like no other landscape feature.

The element of stone in a garden has two important qualities: function and beauty. It also conveys a sense of permanence and place. Since ancient times, stone has been revered for bringing a special "feel" to a garden. In The Spirit of Stone, award-winning designer Jan Johnsen presents a richly photographed, authoritative guide to creative and practical uses for stone in the landscape: steps, paths, garden walls, dry streams, benches, rock gardens, driveways and more. Stone's practicality is especially appreciated by homeowners concerned with low maintenance, sustainability and water conservation - with the side benefit of enhancing property value. The Spirit of Stone is an essential idea book and how-to for designers, stonemasons, builders, homeowners and DIYers.

Review Quotes

"If you are planning a project this season, The Spirit of Stone is worth reading before you get started. It will change your perspective on the role of rocks and gravel in your garden." - Christy Wilhelmi

"Stone is beautiful, useful, and artful. So writes the author, Jan Johnsen, who then proceeds to illustrate this premise with outstanding photographs. There are so many ways to use stone in our landscapes and Jan offers inspiration as well as technical advice for installations of different types." -Bobbie Schwartz

"[Johnsen] has clearly taken her experiences with varied types of stone and turned them into ideas for utilitarian, decorative and accent elements in the garden. Her book comes with instructions for making dry stream beds, stone steps, walkways and rock gardens." -Pat Leuchtman

"Johnsen has written a detailed book that is enjoyable to read. Topics range from cactus rock gardens to gravel paths to karensansui--a Japanese "dry landscape." Inspirational photographs and installation instruction dominate the text, culminating in a plant pallet at the end. Those who are curious about using more stones in their landscape--including those curious about rock gardening as a style--will very much enjoy The Spirit of Stone." -Esther Jackson

"As a horticulturist, I must have seen a thousand gardens and not one stone. Fortunately, after reading The Spirit of Stone, I now have "rock awareness" as Jan calls it and I can now see - I even went back to photos I took -- that the stones were there all along." -Peggy Riccio

"This book is filled with ideas for adding small to large stones to gardens to enhance their beauty." -Joanne Kempinger Demski

"If you are looking for inspiration for your own landscape, along with the background on the many ways to add stone, The Spirit of Stone is a great place to start." -Susan Mulvhill

About the Author

Jan Johnsen is an award-winning instructor at the New York Botanical Garden, author of Heaven is a Garden (St. Lynn's Press, 2014) and a contributing editor for Garden Design magazine. A landscape designer and a principal of the New York design/build firm Johnsen Landscapes & Pools, Johnsen was awarded a 2014 Merit Award by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD). She is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and has worked in landscape architecture offices in Japan, East Africa, Hawaii, Vermont, New Orleans and New York. She blogs at Serenity in the Garden. She resides in Westchester County, New York.