Review by Bob Walch

Deckscaping: Gardening and Landscaping On and Around Your Deck (Storey Books; $27.50) by Barbara Ellis offers plenty of ideas on how to either tweak your backyard design to make it a tad more appealing or launch a major make-over.

In her first chapter the author discusses some ways to create privacy and shade while incorporating special lighting, storage and facilities such as a hot tub, a barbecue area, or a waterfall and pond arrangement.

In the following chapters, the focus switches to specific concerns like how to arrange a container garden, landscape around your deck, incorporate trellises and arbors, and select the best plants for the deck. You’ll find some clever ideas for hiding drainpipes and using unusual containers like an old bathtub for plants.

If stone, tile or concrete are materials you’d like to fashion into your backyard plan, then the Sunset design guide entitled Patio & Stone ($22.95), by Tom Wilhite and the editors of the magazine, is the book you want to consult.

A group of top landscaping professionals offer advice on how to create a beautiful, eye-catching hardscape in your backyard. There are ideas here on designing inviting patios and flagstone paths, elegant stone walls and staircases, dramatic waterfalls and fountains, and much more.

Want to add a firepit, large boulders, raised flowerbeds or special features such as lighting and other accents? No problem. The information will be found in sections devoted to water features, walls, raised beds and edgings, paths and steps, and boulders and rock gardens.

The book comes with an interactive DVD that allows you to create your own design and view it in 3-D from any angle. The DVD will work on both PCs and Macs and will allow you to create a detailed plan that will help with any special permit applications that might be necessary.