🌸 more is more 🌸

[insert Jungkook flower flower flower meme]

Urban Exuberance

While these gardens are beautiful and lush, I prefer a slightly more structured look. Not that I have a garden. Or a lawn. Or even a house. And I have a black thumb. Not very Taurus sun of me.

Dramatic Style

While I still wouldn't garden, and I'm a Japanese + Scandi minimalist at heart, a few of the later gardens are very much to my liking. Mainly the castle. I was very into the castle. An exuberance of wealth? Sign me up.

Abundant Naturalism

Still not exactly my style, but I like how natural each of the gardens are. They all fit into the landscape as if they were meant to be there. And isn't that the beauty of nature?

Curated Collections

I truly cannot remember what most of that was about. I enjoyed the Japanese moss garden. IYKYK

Bold Tropicals

Okay, so this will not come as a shock, but none of these groupings fit my aesthetic. However, I enjoyed reading about them and looking at the beautiful, lush gardens. And the different locales gave me ideas for domestic trips. I should probably do more of those. Venmo me.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press

I was attracted to this book because I seem to always be collecting new plants, making my garden rather crowded. I hoped to learn how to incorporate design into my random plantings. This book is a study of 20 different gardens, each incorporating maximalist design principles. Many of these are examples of turning a lawn into a lush garden. Each garden is photographed from many perspectives; I particularly liked the aerial views. There is also a personal story, a page of thumbnails illustrating some of the plants used, tips from the creators, and a "still life" made from the plants. It's a unique perspective on garden design, but I missed seeing a diagram that illustrated how the plants were organized. While I didn't really see any gardens in this collection that inspired ideas for my own garden, it was still interesting to view the various landscapes.

Thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for providing an advance review copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

Thank you to the author, Timber Press and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is more of a coffee-table book than a resource for gardeners, although I did pick up some tips - and lots of envy - along the way. The book profiles a series of gardens and gardeners, and is illustrated with stunning photographs of each garden. I did get a bit of a sour taste in my mouth after a certain point though, because so many ridiculously wealthy gardeners are featured. Their gardens are without a doubt gorgeous, but I could not relate to them at all or feel inspired for my own garden - the chasm between us was just too wide to ever be bridged.

Overall, this is a beautiful book and is worth a read if you garden in dryer and warmer climes, but I suspect it will primarily serve the Martha Stewart faction and the wealthier gardeners.

True confession...I do not have a garden but I truly enjoy titles about gardens. During Covid, magazines like The English Garden helped me to imagine a gorgeous life in the outdoors. My favorite destination is definitely my local botanical garden. Because of this love, I was delighted to be approved for this title.

The photos in this book are so vivid and beautiful. There are sections including Urban Exuberance, Dramatic Style, Abundant Naturalism, Curated Collections, and Bold Naturals in these pages so lots of variety. The featured gardens are from places from all over the U.S. Learn about them, their creators and get some good gardening tips.

Highly recommended for physical and virtual gardeners both.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

"Garden to the Max" celebrates the diverse and vibrant world of gardening, showcasing a delightful array of garden spaces. From sprawling plots bursting with vegetables to cozy containers overflowing with blooms, this book proves that you don't need acres of land to cultivate beauty and green a garden. "Garden to the Max" highlights the unique personalities behind each garden, offering glimpses into their creative solutions, hard-won wisdom, and the sheer joy they derive from nurturing their little patches of earth. While the book might not offer in-depth horticultural advice, its strength lies in its inspirational approach. It's a testament to the passion and dedication of everyday gardeners, reminding us that with a little effort and imagination, anyone can create their own personal paradise, no matter the size. If you're looking for a boost of gardening motivation and a reminder of the simple pleasures of digging in the dirt, "Garden to the Max" is a charming, inspirational read!

I adored Garden to the Max by Teresa Woodard! I found it joyful and while I was reading I was thinking wouldn't it be great to have a partner that is as enthusiastic about the garden as you are! I also enjoy the features of the people and their gardens and how the gardens reflected their personalities. Albeit many of the gardens did not suit my taste but seeing the orginality of each story and their garden decisions and elements was absolutely fascinating for me! It's such an original type of book. Our gardens are supposed to be refuges and sanctuaries for us and that each person made their garden their own unique sanctuary for reflection and joy made me smile.

I loved the resonant gardens, the undaunted garden and the color. This book also gave me inspiration and ideas. I am always on the lookout for garden elements that I love and that give interest to my pollinator garden especially. Were some of the gardens expensive and did not fit the budge for most of us? Yes? But that is not the point here. It's that we make things our own, let our spaces reflect us and create that space where we feel connection and a path to the healing that gardens provide. One of my favorite books The Soul of the Garden an unforgettable book I was reminded of that book while reading this one. Lauren Springer.

May our gardens resonate with everything we have in us and bring us joy. This book was definitely joyful.

I would like to thank Net Galley, and the publisher Timber Press for another gem from them and for the opportunity to read and review Garden to the Max by Teresa Woodard.

I'm a big gardening book enthusiast, if nothing else for the photos. I enjoyed flipping through this one. A lot of garden inspiration is to be found simply from flipping through.

Very lovely book that gives me so much inspiration for designing my own garden! So many great and gorgeous ideas in there!!!! And so many lovely photos! What a beautiful book!!!

This book contains beautiful photos of incredibly intricate gardens. It’s almost as if some of the scenes are blown up images of the tiny fairy gardens you may see hidden in a corner of your neighbor’s yard. Most of these gardens appear to have been lovingly crafted over many years to duly embody the maximalist style. While this style is not for me, I appreciated reading these pages and learning about different types of plantings and garden design.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book!

Garden to the Max is a fun coffee-table book for garden lovers. The spreads are beautiful and feature a diverse collection of garden styles. The brief interviews and blurbs that accompany each garden are interesting to read and explain the vision/inspiration. I liked that each garden had both macro and micro photos so you could see the overall vision and the details.
The book is beautiful, however, as it is a book that features gardens and is really just a fun perusal, I don't see myself picking it up for a re-read.

I was excited to get a digital copy of this for review.
Honest opinion, the photographs were stunning! I loved that there were bios of the garden owners, tips that could be applied to your own project, and plant suggestions. Overall though, there’s so much about the gardens in this book that would be impossible if not for massive amounts of money. Not for a typical gardener at all. It was still an enjoyable book and a great collection of garden ideas.

Gorgeous book with tons of great pics and info for gardens in all regions. I’ll be buying a copy once it’s released!

Thank you Timber Press for granting me an ARC!

This is such a beautiful, inspirational book for gardeners! I really appreciate that it includes everything from patio gardens with mostly plants in pots to huge yards with multiple areas. Each of the twenty featured gardens has plenty of information provided, with lots of close up pictures, overhead views, and even some how-tos relevant to the style of the garden shown.

What all gardeners need to remember is creating a garden - especially a maximalist garden! - is a project that will take years to come to fruition and is a constant work in progress.

This would be great to have on hand for inspiration or as a reference.

Thanks to Timber Press for the opportunity to review this ARC!

When I first saw the book Garden to the Max I thought it would be about large gardens like I have, and how to maximize the space in them. Actually, it is about small gardens that have been maximized. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the originality and ingenuity of the gardens and the ones that designed them that are showcased in this book.

I loved the beginning of this book and was about to recommend it to a friend who loves maximalist gardening and works at a garden center. After the beginning it went downhill for me though because it features so many ridiculously wealthy gardeners. One is a literal castle on the beach in Long Island with a garden the size of my town. Most of the people profiled past the start are just very wealthy and privileged, and they have beautiful yards but I don’t relate to them or really feel inspired for my thrifted, haphazard, happy, messy, maximalist Minnesota garden.

I think this is a beautiful book that will be a hit with the Martha Stewart types and wealthier gardeners. It’s definitely worth a read, especially if you garden in dryer and warmer climates.

I read a temporary digital loan of this book for review.

Maximalist plant lovers, unite!

In truth, I primarily wanted this book for the stunning photography; I have both a yard prone to munching critters and a 1.5 yr old who would trample anything planted. Surprisingly I was still able to take a lot from the text in this book. Blurbs about "Curb Appeal Colors" and what vegetation sports them, collections of similar but unique plants to group together, step by step instructions on smaller and more manageable (less destructible) projects.

Unless you have something specific you're looking for and you know it's in this book, I wouldn't suggest it as a resource on gardening. As a coffee table or entry table book, this would be a beautiful edition (to a maximalist home, especially!)

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Teresa Woodard and Timber Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!}