Picture Perfect: Mowing Techniques for Lawns, Landscapes, and Sports

My clients are more than impressed with the designs our crews can pull off because of this book. I do a few little league fields here in the Pittsburgh area and they always ask us back when the families and patrons of their games comment on our work. Great book if you are looking to take it to another level...

Good informative book. I wish there were more patterns and and instructions, but what there is for instructions does lead to some pretty sweet patterns.

It was an interesting read

If ya want to make patterns on grass then this reading applies.....not much more though.

Excellent book! The Story of David Mellor and his techniques are great. Awesome book for that give a crap about their lawncare and ballfields.

Great book for anyone wanting to better understand how to make a lawn look its best.

I wish I could recommend this book! I really do. You know when your 13-year old writes one of his/her first research papers and repeats him/herself in every other paragraph just to create "filler"? Well, that's exactly Mr. David R. Mellor's problem in his book, "Picture Perfect": he repeats himself over and over . . . and over again. Holy cow!What IS a sign of a good "how to" book? Well, to me it is its thoroughness: you want to have all the info on the subject in one guide, right? (Or certainly, as close to it as possible.) Well, "Picture Perfect" is NOT perfect -- far from it.There are many problems with the book. One, Mr. Mellor is a bad writer. His aforementioned repetition of many facts does not create an appreciation for diligence; it signifies a sense of belittlement and ineptitude. Furthermore, although his writing style is accessible for the most part, it is confusing at times during THE moments when it should be the most simple and easy to understand: in the chapter in which he describes how to actually make patterns, he is far too complicated in explaining a simple task . . . such as mowing parallel, adjacent lines in opposite directions! In the first few chapters, Mr. Mellor uses bullets and subchapters to enunciate clear and important points. Great! Yet when he finally gets to discussing the actual techniques of pattern making in Chapter 12, he lumps all points into one, making for a poor overview: the main points don't "stick" out. That's really too bad.Two, the book is poorly organized. The first half -- yeap, half! -- is dedicated to A-Z lawncare. Come on! All he had to do was to state that there are many other books out there on lawncare, point them out, and get into the heart of THE subject. (That should have taken one paragraph.) And although very important, lawncare is NOT the subject of this treatise, right? (My favorite is Scotts.) Why try to outdo a book like Scotts in a few chapters . . . when the Scotts book covers lawncare brilliantly?! Makes no sense to me whatsoever! This IS, after all, a book on mowing patterns, NOT lawncare. All that Mr. Mellor had to do was to, perhaps, write an opening chapter of HIS advice, findings and nuances on lawncare, all of us having learned some from personal experience over the years. But no, Mr. Mellor tries to reinvent the wheel. In addition, to use black & white photographs in a book published in the 21st century is embarrassing! (No, not all photographs are black & white. But . . . ) Let me get this straight: this book deals with the visual sense, right? So wouldn't you want to use color photographs?! Get real! Furthermore, the illustrations in the chapter on making patterns are not used effectively: all mowing passes could have actually been shown in ONE illustration instead of several, thus making the instructions more accessible. Also, Mr. Mellor tells you that with practice, you will get better. OK, let me get this straight? I am supposed to pay $38.70 to be told that with practice I will get better at doing something? We already know that! That's the whole point of a "how to" book: it is supposed to teach you a subject so that you will decrease the amount of time for you to get good at something, right? Good Lord! (Nope, we're not done yet.) At the very end of the book, Mr. Mellor writes about some of his personal experiences when he worked at Milwaukee's County Stadium, one of which involved the chasing off of seagulls from the field. Again, let me get this straight: you are supposed to pay $38.70 to learn how another human being . . . chased away seagulls?! Mr. Mellor, you are very audacious! I thought this book is about making patterns on lawns? And finally, here is the greatest downfall of the book. The book is 160 pages long, yet ONLY 32 pages actually deal with creating lawn patterns. And actually, I am being too generous: only Chapter 14 deals specifically with pattern instruction which is . . . 18 pages long! So let me get this straight? You are expected to pay $38.70 for a book which only gives you 18 pages on that subject? Are you kidding me?!Now, having made this last point, let's look at it from a different angle. What does the fact tell you that only 18 pages out of a 160-page book actually deal with the subject at hand? Well, it tells me that the subject matter is NOT all that complicated! Look, if you have, or even HAVE NOT, any gardening experience, but are practical and use common sense, you can create lawn patterns. Sure you can! It ain't that complicated as Mr. Mellor would lead you to believe. I was successful on my first try . . . and so will you.Holy cow! Mr. Mellor, you need to seriously consider writing a second edition of this book in which you leave out the opening half on lawncare (and leave that to others), use color photographs only, and devote MUCH more effort and time to the actual subject: lawn patterns.So, if you have ANY gardening savvy and do NOT need your hand held, then I highly recommend that you do NOT buy this expensive book. If you DO need to have your hand held, then buy this book . . . I guess.

Summary: Picture Perfect is the ultimate resource for those who want to add even more beauty and interest to their grass by growing and maintaining healthier turf and cutting it in original and beautiful patterns.Review: Mr. Mellor is the Director of Grounds for the Boston Red Sox and is thoroughly knowledgeable about grass. His advice is sound, thorough, and easy-to-follow. He has you begin by testing your soil to see what it is missing, establishing your turf properly, fertilizing appropriately, fighting off weeds and disease, mowing properly with the right equipment, and solving problems.Once that grass is in place, he moves on to explain the art of adding patterns to the grass by using rollers with the mower to push the grass down. The color plates show many examples of this art form, which will intrigue you. If you are like me, you expected to see only geometric shapes using straight lines. Instead, you find gentle waves and delicate crossing patterns of all kinds.Having worked in my father's gardening business when I was a youngster, I wish I had known about establishing these patterns. It certainly would have helped to relieve the boredom of cutting the same yards in one of three patterns time after time.The directions are very helpful for how to deal with special problems, like temporary damage, making a mistake in the pattern, and repeating a pattern (you are encouraged to photograph your work to learn from what you have done).Picture Perfect also has a long list of resources you can access, especially from the Internet.Although the quality of the design and the printing are not as high as the contents deserve, the material is strong enough to carry the result to five star level. One does hope, however, that a future printing will create a version more like an art book to better feature the examples.After you finish becoming an expert on turf design, I suggest that you think about where else you can exercise your creativity in your yard. Have you considered sculpting shrubs like they do in the Disney theme parks? How about designing a sculpture garden? Do you have a Zen garden area yet?Create a better balance between the views in your yard and the thoughts in your mind. Let the reverbrations of inspiration take you to new heights of thought and harmony!

Great book. Seller provided excellent & timely service.