Architectural Gardens Inside the Landscapes of Lucas & Lucas

A portfolio of ten lushly illustrated residential landscape projects in California's wine country, each a lesson in the alchemy of garden design, created by landscape architecture firm Lucas & Lucas.

The work of landscape architecture firm Lucas & Lucas extends the architecture of the house into the garden through carefully selected elements of design. Each of the ten projects in Architectural Gardens includes a design narrative that addresses the interconnections between home and land, detailed captions, and a site plan. Readers will learn how to implement features such as landscape windows, breeze-catching grasses, cascading concrete waterfalls, and trees with thoughtfully cast shadows to transform their landscape. The book includes a roundup of Mike Lucas's favorite plants—those best suited to different types of properties and for different purposes like drought tolerance or fast growth. The featured projects will appeal to garden designers, landscape architects, landscape contractors, architects, and home builders, as well as home gardeners looking for inspiration.

Thad Orr writes for publications such as Garden Design, Sunset, Better Homes & Garden, and Country Gardens. Previously, he was editor-in-chief of Garden Design magazine, where he developed stories on gardens, plants, landscape design, and floral design. He's based in Redlands, California.

Mike Lucas is design director of Lucas and Lucas, a landscape architecture and architecture firm based in the wine country hamlet of Healdsburg, California. Founded in 2005, the firm's work has been featured in Garden Design and House Beautiful.