Conran Octopus Contemporary Garden Design is a well-illustrated and informative guide to the design of small gardens. David Stevens is a garden designer of some repute and academic standing: his approach is helpfully practical. "Contemporary" in this instance does not mean "Exclusively Modern": Stevens approach is eclectic and sensitive, on the one hand, to the nature and context of the site, and, on the other, to the sensibilities and lifestyles of those who will using the garden. So the styles range from austere minimalism to richly-planted cottage-type gardens full of incident. The book starts with a section on groundwork, which turns out not to be soil preparation but the pre-planning work of surveying, choosing a style, reading the garden"s moods and idiosyncrasies. Taking time to get to know your garden before you decide what to do with it, no matter how small it might be, can be a highly rewarding exercise. The section on planning and design is particularly useful. Stevens guides the reader through the range of complex decisions that must be made about effective use of space, structural elements and the incorporation of focal points and views; novice designers will find exceptionally useful his notes on the technical process of creating successive drawings for overall concept, detailed structural design and final planting plan. He concludes with a series of five before-and-after case studies (one of them his own garden) showing just what can be achieved by careful planning. The results are impressive, as the transformation of Stevens" own garden from "a wasteland of builders" rubble" to a richly-textured space articulated by structural elements and clever planting shows. --Robin Davidson