The New Low-Maintenance Garden: How to Have a Beautiful, Productive Garden and the Time to Enjoy It

Beautiful book. Its more about leasure gardening, which isn't what I was looking for.

The cover photo is so inviting that it just seduces you to read and drool! I am looking forward to putting it to use this spring for my expanded garden. Eat Your Garden chapter is my favorite!

There are many books on this subject and I own a lot of them. I decided on this one because of the word "new" in the title; curious to know how we can do low maintenance differently. I was not disappointed. The information is presented in an easy to read format that describes gardens around the country with different zones and varied concepts. Each story is accompanied by good pictures to further explain and to inspire. Depending on the needs of the garden owners, the story may focus on less plants/more hardscape or more foliage/less flowers; but each story explains how that garden was successful. At the end of each section, the author sets out a great list of resources to further your education: books, videos, websites. Throughout the chapters there are recommendations on how to incorporate sustainable aspects in your garden; how to attract wildlife; how to enjoy your garden without spending hours working in it. The format is great. You can view just the pictures and associated text and learn a lot; the main text is divided by gardens so it is easy to flip around if you want to read about your type; and the writing is well written and informative--specific plants are recommended in each topic to help with pulling together the "look". This is one of the best garden books I've purchased to date -- it has inspired me to complete my one acre garden -- believing that it can be maintained without hours of daily work.

This is a awesome book on personalising your own garden space.At first, I thought this was going to be a boring book about vegetable gardening.Not at all,what I thought it would be.This is a very insightful gardening book,about getting the most out of your garden,by using less.There are a lot of great gardening books around.This one also enters into the art of decorating and designing your ideal garden landscape.Your garden is your shrine and your peaceful retreat.Your garden is give and take.You reap what you sow into your sacred garden.The book was so enlightening on various ways of connecting with Nature ,without leaving your backyard.Gardens are more important now then ever.They add depth to one's character ,a sense of communion with nature and improves the happiness of others.This gardening book helps the reader work with nature,rather than pushing against the natural flow of the surrounding elements.

This is truly a book about gardening with ease. The only thing easier in the long term is a book like mine that is for your desk and just open to a new page. The author has hit all the salient points actually the true rules for maintaining a garden that pleases you. She includes the cautions. Every site has its own peculiarities and you the gardener must work within certain limitations. Most gardeners have learned this the hard way but a book like this helps you move on to turn losses into successes. Matt Cohen MD Zen of Watering Your Garden

I have a large, intensely gardened yard and have been looking for ideas of how to landscape the parts of the yard that I haven't yet gotten to in a way that would be lower maintenance. This book has lots of good ideas, photos, plant lists and tips to help. Highly recommended!