Planet Patio BBC Consumer Publishing (Books) ( 24 May, 2001 ) Book Our Price : £ 10.49 List Price : £ 14.99 You save £4.5 (30% off) Prices subject to change. usually dispatched within 24 hours.

Verging on vanity publishing...

This is a hopelessly inadequate book, badly designed with pictures and text both too small. The hardboard covers are thicker than the pages they enclose; it would have been better printed as a stapled booklet, to be sent out as a free mailing to advertise the TV series of the same name. Gardeners shouldnt expect to be given full botanical names for all the plants featured; genus names alone may be easy on the eye, but are hopeless if you actually want to acquire anything shown. A cheap, money-spinning ploy on the part of the author and his publisher. If youre interested in contemporary garden design, check out Joe Swifts The Plant Room - another BBC book but one with much more integrity and not burdened with the authors ego. Shabby.

Style over substance.

Unlike the excellent ground force books, planet patio is a fancy cover with little else. The photos are too arty to gain much useful information from, and the text does not explain how anything in the book was achieved. If you have seen a show and want to know more then DONT buy this book as the T.V. show provides far more information. I know Diarmuid and the BBC can do better.