I consider Ann Lovejoy to be the quintessential garden writer of the Pacific Northwest. She has been labeled as the Mother Teresa of organic gardening and landscaping. Lovejoy writes for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and is a frequent lecturer and the author of 18 garden books.

”Organic Garden Design School” was published in 2001 by Rodale Press. The book gives gardeners not able to enroll in her design school on Bainbridge Island, Wash., an opportunity to explore her philosophies and techniques for creating a sustainable, easy-care garden. Her greatest hope is to promote and encourage gardeners to create gardens that are easy to care for, ecologically sound and enduringly beautiful.

How does a three-hour weekly garden routine sound? If you observe her methods of cooperation instead of control methods and think in terms of plant communities, it will be possible. That goal definitely won’t be accomplished the first year, but is possible in the years to come when the plants have established themselves.

We have heard it before but the adage of planting the right plant in the right place always bears repeating. If you want a plant to reach a maximum height of 4 feet, why plant a specie that attains a height of 6 feet and requires yearly pruning to fit your design? With the correct choice at planting time, you will begin the process of creating a minimum-care landscape.

The chapter on ”Gardening Where You Are” encourages gardeners to face up to regional realities. We sometimes find it difficult to give up the favorites in the garden that worked so well in another area. Fortunately, with more emphasis on regional gardening and using regionally appropriate plants, we can become better stewards of our land. Lovejoy suggests that with better plant choices, gardeners won’t rely on chemicals to force growth or bloom, which will automatically give them a savings in time and money.

Lovejoy’s chapter on natural architecture gives us things to consider over the winter. Although most garden books advise us to place tall plants at the back of the border and shorter ones to the front, she sees the border in a different light.

A sense of mystery and the illusion that a small space is larger than it is can be created by placing low plants around tall ones. Tall plants placed to the front of the border make your eye move past them to see what lies on the other side. She writes, ”The glimpsed scene has a deliciously secret quality, as if you are seeing something marvelous and hidden from other eyes.” I experienced that feeling this summer with a wild flower garden. Tucked under a canopy of black-eyed Susans, I discovered a carpet of sweet alyssum I didn’t know I had.

Thirteen delightful chapters lead the reader to the last 36 pages, which constitute her ”Organic Garden Design School Workbook.” Spending time with the workbook pages will enable you to create a site map and set clear goals, letting you to plan a garden that suits you and your lifestyle.

Granted, there are many plants in her suggested planting lists that we couldn’t begin to consider in our climate, but by studying their structure and coloration, we can mimic the effect with appropriate plants.

”The Sage Garden” was published by Chronicle Books in 2001. Sage is a member of the large genus Salvia, family Labeatae (mint family). Sage was prized in ancient times for prolonging life and increasing wisdom by strengthening the memory.

Lovejoy lists mint, lemon balm, hyssop, lavender, thyme, horehound and catmint as cousins to sage. The relationship, in part, is due to the tubular-shaped necks and flaring lips of the flower. According to Lovejoy, the sage clan contains some 900 recognized species of perennial, biennial and annual herbs as well as shrubs and subshrubs.

In addition to the chapters on landscape uses, the book includes instructions for cooking with sage, creating herbal hand creams, homemade shampoos, herb-filled bath bags and stimulating facial steams.

The list of books written by Lovejoy includes ”The Year in Bloom” (1987) and ”The Border in Bloom” (1990). Two of her books, ”Further Along the Garden Path” and ”Cascadia: Inspired Gardening in the Pacific Northwest,” should be appreciated for the outstanding photography as well as the text. All of her books deserve an afternoon in your favorite reading corner with a cup of hot tea.

Lovejoy began a new life in July 2004. She married and retired from her active life at Bainbridge Gardens. She will be devoting time to writing a new book, ”The Knitters Garden.” I wonder, is it going to be knit one, purl two or dig one, pull two?

Liz Douville can be reached at douville@bendbroadband.com.