The American Meadow Garden : : Win A Free Copy of John Greenlee's Book!
Billy Goodnick, fellow member of the Lawn Reform Coalition, Landscape Architect, and "Cool Green Gardens" blogger has posted a review of John Greelee's new book, The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn, (Timber Press) illustrated by Saxon Holt's luscious photographs. While this book is not specifically for Florida, I know I'd like to read it just for its ideas on meadow establishment and maintenance.
Here's Billy's review:
"Trade In Your Old Lawn...
"You know I'm no fan of traditional lawns. They're stultifyingly boring and often serve no useful purpose-anybody seen the neighborhood kids playing in the front yard lately? They consume too much stuff and foul our precious nest. NASA photos put the collective national lawn at upward of 30 million acres. We can get by with a lot less. ...
"From the first page, John and Saxon beckoned me to join them in a field of words and images, touching on romantic and rational reasons to seek a "solution to the madness of lawn culture." Energy, water and resource consumption, polluted runoff, noise, greenwaste, and loss of habitat are offered as compelling reasons to murder a few lawns. And I agree with the guys that well designed, well managed meadow gardens are a lot more interesting than swatches of sterile, billiard-table-green turf.
"Chapter two delves into the natural ecology of meadows and the wide variety of forms they can take; the difference between warm- and cool-season grasses; and the non-grass species that impart unique personalities to different types of grasslands. I took a whirlwind tour of America, visiting seven geographic/climatic zones, learning how their unique environmental factors influence the types of meadows that are most likely to thrive in each.
"First Things First
"I was heartened to see that John devotes space to site analysis, perhaps the most important, but often glossed-over design phase. He explains why successful meadows come from close observation, then factoring into the equation the topography, drainage patterns, soil type, sun patterns and existing vegetation of the each site leads to successful meadows-sustainable "systems" that should require only minimal inputs and generate few harmful outputs."
To read the rest of Billy's review and to enter the book giveaway contest go to Billy's blog on the Fine Gardening website.
Ginny Stibolt
"Trade In Your Old Lawn...
"You know I'm no fan of traditional lawns. They're stultifyingly boring and often serve no useful purpose-anybody seen the neighborhood kids playing in the front yard lately? They consume too much stuff and foul our precious nest. NASA photos put the collective national lawn at upward of 30 million acres. We can get by with a lot less. ...
"From the first page, John and Saxon beckoned me to join them in a field of words and images, touching on romantic and rational reasons to seek a "solution to the madness of lawn culture." Energy, water and resource consumption, polluted runoff, noise, greenwaste, and loss of habitat are offered as compelling reasons to murder a few lawns. And I agree with the guys that well designed, well managed meadow gardens are a lot more interesting than swatches of sterile, billiard-table-green turf.
"Chapter two delves into the natural ecology of meadows and the wide variety of forms they can take; the difference between warm- and cool-season grasses; and the non-grass species that impart unique personalities to different types of grasslands. I took a whirlwind tour of America, visiting seven geographic/climatic zones, learning how their unique environmental factors influence the types of meadows that are most likely to thrive in each.
"First Things First
"I was heartened to see that John devotes space to site analysis, perhaps the most important, but often glossed-over design phase. He explains why successful meadows come from close observation, then factoring into the equation the topography, drainage patterns, soil type, sun patterns and existing vegetation of the each site leads to successful meadows-sustainable "systems" that should require only minimal inputs and generate few harmful outputs."
To read the rest of Billy's review and to enter the book giveaway contest go to Billy's blog on the Fine Gardening website.
Ginny Stibolt
Comments