Garden to the Max

Introducing “maximalism” as a garden design trend, here are 20 gardens where more is more

Every gardener is familiar with the impulse to buy more plants, any plants, all the plants. And, increasingly, gardeners and designers want to invite a plethora of beneficial insects, pollinators, and biodiversity to their gardens. Having a maximalist garden is definitely aesthetic; yet it also brings vitality back to the earth, in an abundant expression of more.

Garden to the Max celebrates 20 gardens from across the US that embrace maximalism through joy and wonder, nonstop blooms, and abundant layers. The book is a feast of gorgeous photography by Bob Stefko, showcasing individual quirkiness, wild collections, and bold, personality-packed plant combinations that amplify the grandeur of each garden’s unique vision, packing in plants for their exuberant style and ecological benefits. Featured gardeners include an amateur ornithologist seeking to attract more birds, an event planner’s tropical paradise, a pair of city dwellers reducing their carbon footprint, an urban garden pioneer promoting pollinator gardens, or a life-long biophilic propagating endangered plants to nurture insects.

Longtime garden writer Teresa Woodard shares stories of each garden and its fearless designers, the inspirations for their plant collections, and their hopes for our earth’s future. Information-packed sidebars full of standout plants and growing tips will inspire dreamers and gardeners to embrace their own passions. Garden to the Max gives everyone permission to bring the exuberant interior style into the garden and develop a spirited reverence for plants, celebrating joy and personality in the garden—to the max!

• “Teresa Woodard guides the reader on an exquisite road trip across America showcasing how gardening to the max can transform public and private spaces. With incredible storytelling and eyepopping photography, Garden to the Max is a maximalist journey into bold and innovative ways to create beautiful and vibrant places. Prepare to be inspired!”

  Laura Kunkle, Executive Director of America in Bloom

• “Gardening is rarely a casual occupation. As an art form, creating great gardens throughout history has resulted from of a sort of manic obsession. In Garden to the Max, Teresa Woodard captures the best diverse American examples of this passionate occupation. Gardens, and gardening are ascendant once again, especially in this post-pandemic world, and Woodard realizes importantly that gardens are best understood as self-portraits of their creators.”

  James Brayton Hall, President and CEO, The Garden Conservancy

• “To enter the pages of Garden to the Max is to enter realms of enchantment and personal expression. Enjoy each visit, absorb each space, and relax in the pleasure of each gardener’s passionate creation!”

  Hutton Wilkinson, Owner and Creative Director, Tony Duquette Inc, Dawnridge Estate and Gardens

• “The vibrant gardens in Garden to the Max, and the stories of the extraordinary gardeners who created them, bring to mind one word — EXUBERANT! Vastly different in style, each garden embodies their creator’s passion for color, creativity, innovative use of space and above all PLANTS!… all with a Maximalist’s embrace of abundance. Those that appreciate bold style partnered with good design will enjoy this book as much as I did. The wonderfully worded text describing the gardens and lessons from their creators, together with the spectacular photography, illustrate perfectly that good design comes in all forms and knows no bounds.”

  Sean Conway, author, garden designer, and producer of the TV series Cultivating Life

• “Gardens are as much about the people who create them as the plants that grow in them and the concepts behind them. Teresa Woodard expertly captures all of it in Garden to the Max, a book that celebrates exuberance and no-holds-barred gardening in a way that will inspire even the most timid gardener. And, the stories of 20 creative and joyful gardens and their gardeners are brought to life through Bob Stefko’s stunning photography.”

  Erin Schanen, Creator and Head Plant Lover, The Impatient Gardener

• “Garden to the Max is an amazing distillation of American horticulture that details the creativity of home gardeners throughout the country.  Each garden is designed with a dramatic flair that captures each individual’s personal approaches to plant collecting, design, and creating spaces with ecological capacity.  This book captures the “best-of-the-best” in American design with the Mountsier-Hardie garden of geometric whimsy; JP Malocsay’s pollinator wonderland perched above Pittsburgh; Irvin Ettien’s tropical oasis in the heart of Indiana, and the iconic work of Lauren Springer at high elevations in Colorado.  This work will inspire every gardener who believes that gardening is a dynamic act of artistic and personal expression.”

  Andrew Bunting, VP of horticulture, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, organizer of the Philadelphia Flower Show