Keith Davitt"s Small Spaces, Beautiful Gardens celebrates the possibilities for awkward, undersized garden parcels, demonstrating convincingly that no space is too small to make a big impact. Lacking dimensionality, most small gardens can be taken in visually with one glance. Davitt offers solutions for creating a sense of spaciousness and surprise, even in the most cramped, unlikely location. A landscape designer, builder, photographer, and writer, Davitt draws on 16 projects from his own portfolio. "Before" and "after" photographs help illustrate both the process and principles of reconfiguring an outdoor space. Who could imagine, for example, that as ugly a duckling as a narrow, shaft-like urban lot surrounded on three sides by cinderblocks, painted brick, and metal piping could be transformed into an enchanting series of multi-leveled wood decks, enlivened with container plantings? Davitt’s ideas are all the more convincing because he has photographed the gardens between peak bloom periods. Although spaces are lush with plant life, the book"s emphasis is more on design than plant selection. Offering neither budget remedies nor step-by-step technical advice, Small Spaces, Beautiful Gardens is, itself, a beautiful book to pore over for inspiration. --Jennifer Wyatt