Every gardener dreams of having a delightful garden. I know this is true: every year hundreds of thousands of people, just like you, visit gardens for pleasure up and down the country. Yet in reality the garden at home is often seen as an encumbrance that takes up too much of your time and energy. Keeping on top of it becomes something you are unable or willing to put the necessary time into because you have other commitments - work, travelling, caring for the family or enjoying retirement. Perhaps you know all too well how that feels? What is really happening is that your garden is out of tune with you and your lifestyle. By this I mean that your garden requires more time to look after than you have available. This situation occurs quite often and it does not come from a lack of effort, enthusiasm or horticultural expertise. I believe, based on eighteen years experience as a professional garden designer, that this happens because you have not based your garden on the three essential steps all beautiful and ordered gardens are based on, that I call The Garden Equation. The Garden Equation consists of three steps which if used and applied correctly will enable you to make the right choices about time and maintenance to create the ideal garden to fit in with you and your lifestyle. The three steps are: Step One: The Expierence of the Garden Know exactly what you want to have or do in your garden. What is it that makes being outside in the garden an enjoyable experience for you? Step Two: The Physical Conditions Identify and use the physical conditions in the garden that are already present and use plants that will thrive there. Work with nature, not against it. Step Three: Maintenance Considerations. Assess the maintenance implications of the design before the garden is built. If necessary tailor the plan while it is still on patper or your existing garden, to make sure that the maintenance fits in with the time you have. This book is a practical guide for applying my signature method of foundation garden design to your own garden, be it an existing garden or a new one you are starting from scatch. As a result of using The Garden Equation and adapting your thinking, I know that your garden will become a seamless and integral part of your lifestyle, beyond your hopes and expectations.