The Landscaping Revolution: Garden with Mother Nature, Not Against Her

YES! Just the info we need to help save our planet. At this time of drought and incredible growth all over the US, with water supplies dwindling at a rapid rate, lawsuits over who "owns" the water, increasing use of chemicals not safe for man or beast (or bugs), incredible human stress due in part to lack of time (especially for enjoyment), come Andy and Sally Wasowski with their wonderful ideas for making our lives more comfortable and enjoyable. What good is all that outdoor space if all we do is toil to keep it alive with no time to sit back and enjoy? And why have the added stresses of increased personal spending for maintenance, as well as increased taxes to help pay for maintenance of public areas landscaped in high-maintenance plants and turf? I, for one, had begun to decrease the size of my own yard and add more native and low-maintenance water-wise plantings, when I found Sally's excellent book, "Gardening with Prairie Plants". On to the "Landscaping Revolution"--wonderful photos, great explanations, and some lively humor to help us realize we all need to have a part in keeping our world beautiful, safe, and here for generations to come. It is not our right to "use it all up". Returning to this type of landscaping plan will only benefit us all in so many ways.

I was kind of shocked to see that this title is now out of print. This is a real shame as this book deserves to be widely read. One reader here suggested that the book's cover may have put off too many possible readers--too radical. He might be right about that. But the author here is trying to kick off a sort of gentle green revolution and the cover certainly didn't offend me! I liked Landscape Revolution, very much and I would like to see the book used as a text for landscape classes. I do some landscape design myself and have taught it and this book would be a good one for students. All too often only one side of the coin is taught in our universities when it comes to horticulture and especially to landscape. The conventional way of thinking, with its heavy reliance on pesticides and chemicals and cloned cultivars, this is always taught. But the flip side, the holistic, organic approach, as found here, this is too often excluded. Landscape Revolution is well written, makes plenty of sense, and is a pleasure to read too. I heard Andy talk once in Columbus, Ohio, and he was a big hit, very dynamic speaker. He writes the same way. I write myself (Safe Sex in the Garden, Ten Speed Press) and I appreciate a job well done. I am not positive this book is for everyone, but for someone who likes to garden, who appreciates a fine landscape, and for someone who isn't too hung up on better living through chemistry, I'd certainly recommend this excellent book.

I am afraid the very folks who would benefit from reading this book will be put off by the 'revolutionary' cover. Most people need to understand how their suburban yard managment impacts the envirnment around them - but they won't voluntarily pick up a book that suggests they have to be revolutionary in order to make a difference. The content is much less off-putting than the cover, so perhaps this would be a good christmas "nudge" to someone who realizes things could be different, and they will save time, money, effort (and the environment) if they recognize Scott's Lawn company's advertising is trying to sell them on an outdated concept of what the American yard should look like.

This book has to have the most unappealing cover that I have ever seen. That thought aside, the authors do provide a sound case against what most Americans think of as "good landscaping". Get rid of the water guzzling lawn, bring on the native plants! It is a book with a good message and should be read.