About the Author

Following training as an architect and landscape architect in the United States and the Netherlands, James van Sweden's early practice led to a 1977 partnership with landscape architect and horticulturist Wolfgang Oehme. A revolutionary garden style quickly emerged and continues to flourish.
Mr. van Sweden's designs draw attention first to dramatic spectacles of informal planting and then to the practical beauty of architectural "bones" that anchor his gardens to the ground. The garden's underlying architecture is the subject of this book.
By revealing the secrets of his unusual design approach, Mr. van Sweden's recent books, Gardening with Water and Gardening with Nature, have inspired professional and amateur gardeners alike. His first book, Bold Romantic Gardens, co-authored with Mr. Oehme, is also considered a classic in the field.
Mr. van Sweden is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and recipient of many distinguished awards. His works are published widely in gardening books and periodicals, and he is a frequent guest on television and radio shows. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

"Van Sweden has an intuitive gift for assessing a garden, but in this book he explains how this has been developed by a disciplined and logical thought process, in which everyone can share. All in all, garden designing is a dialogue between artifice and nature....As the book explains and beautifully illustrates, every garden needs an architectural background to hold the design together."
--from the Foreword by Penelope Hobhouse

"Architecture in the Garden provides a good read for anyone interested in what happens beneath and before the planting material of a garden. The author draws upon the breadth of his practical experience and his panorama of interests to provide a text, which is lively and informative and not too technical. The book is ideal for all students of garden and landscape design."
--John Brookes, author of The Garden Book and The Indoor Garden Book