Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives, by Evelyn J. Hadden (Timber Press) has it all: A compelling rationale for ignoring the siren song of the “perfect” lawn, inspirational stories from gardeners and designers enthusiastically embracing this timely trend, and step-by-step instructions for creating easy-care, planet-friendly patches of paradise. That’s why we’re giving a copy away.
The back cover of this beautifully photographed, idea-packed book provocatively asks, “What has your lawn done for you lately? Is it really worth the time, effort, and resources you lavish on it?”
I’ll give you a minute. Close your eyes (unless you’re driving while reading on your smart phone) and ponder these questions that many otherwise sensible gardeners overlook. Though Hadden isn’t a zero-tolerance, anti-lawn zealot (she makes the case that as a recreational surface, sensible “smarter lawns” are the still best choice of garden floors), it’s hard to read this book and not want to run outside and Kevorkianize that patch of green that sucks the life out of precious weekends and strains checkbooks.
Evelyn is a passionate gardener with a strong connection to the natural environment. In favor of the often chemically-treated, paralyzingly boring monoculture that is turfgrass, she reminds us of the effervescent diversity of a mixed meadow. She entices us to experience the subtle beauty of a living carpet of ground covers, the utility of water-purifying rain gardens, and the family fun that comes from a space where children can play and explore.
In part one, Design Inspiration: The Many Possibilities, Evelyn taps into her hands-on experience working on her own 5-acre lot on the outskirts of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. She’s been using this living lab to refine her ideas for creating a naturalistic landscape, and doing it with a chemical-free approach. She also includes the experiences and words of dozens of gardeners and designers from every growing zone, offering examples of no-mow solutions for every situation. (I’m honored to have one of my favorites designs included in the Xeric Gardens section.) Among the ten other approaches are sections titled living carpets, shade gardens, rain gardens, play areas, edible gardens, and for those not willing to completely sever their turf attachment, smarter lawns.
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It’s one thing to offer impassioned words of inspiration, and quite another to get down to the dirty, soul-satisfying work of bringing the vision to reality. Part two, How to Get There, offers ways to convert an existing lawn into a no-mow garden using eco-friendly methods. And since these types of yards might be a new concept for folks who’s gardening experience is limited to breathing mower fumes, there’s plenty of advice for getting started. Hadden is no Pollyanna, and faces head-on some of the initial bumps (or clods) on the path to a lawnless garden. The key is what the author calls “partnering with nature.”
“The most successful no-mow yards work like a natural system,
made up of not just plants that are native to the area, but based on the ecology of the site,” Hadden says. “I combine plants that would naturally associate with each other. By understanding how plants grow on their own, it increases the chance they’ll thrive without a lot of fuss.”
Part three offers an encyclopedia of plant choices grouped by growth habits: mounding, mat-forming, fill-in, and minglers. Each plant’s listing includes the recommended zone, place of origin, growth habits and character, behavior, and preferred soil and lighting.
I haven’t mentioned the luscious photography that adorns every turn of the page, many by superstar garden photographer Saxon Holt. These images provide design inspiration as well as intimate details of scores of beautiful plants.
I’m especially grateful that Evelyn wrote this book, not me. Rather than a raging rant about the evils of these insidious Blades of the Devil (I’m minding my manners in case there are children present), the author approaches her topic with eloquence and tolerance for those who aren’t yet prepared to go cold turkey. She’s a skilled writer, weaving her natural storytelling ability with fact-filled, practical gardening information. This book will benefit any gardener ready to step into a new adventure.
You can learn more about Evelyn Hadden’s work and find out how to schedule a talk, at her website, LessLawn.com.
| Post a comment by March 31 for a chance to win a copy of this book I encourage you to read this book and take its message to heart. And to speed that process, Timber Press is giving away a free copy to one lucky person who leaves a comment at this blog post. Tell us about your garden, whether you’re catching the going-lawnless bug, or any horror stories that might motivate you to call in a controlled napalm strike. Early in April, we’ll choose one name at random and dispatch a copy to your doorstep. For the rest of you, I hope you’ll add this great book to your library. But you might want two, just so you don’t worry about getting a little mud on the pages. |
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Comments
I would love a copy of this book. As a sustainable landscape designer, I am always encouraging clients to downsize lawn, and as we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Looks like a beautiful book -I have a new property in arid CO that I need some ideas for.
Always excited about ways to end the lawn obsession.
It's the year of the back yard (in our case mud pit) re-creation! The giant Sycamore has been trying to kill the grass for years and my dogs are helping - so we're going all in - all native plants - and all about windy paths, places to sit and enjoy, places to hide and hunt. And while it's still cold out the planning, imagining and process of gathering ideas is blissful too.
A garden/gardener after my heart! I have been trying to rid (minimize) the lawn for several year now...
we've been thinking of ways to rid ourselves of lawn, this book would help :)
I had a grassy hill in my backyard that we transformed into a beautiful garden. Where once I fought to mow a hill, keep grass alive, has turned to flowers and a walking path. It seems every summer I take a little more lawn and make it a little more garden.
Right now we live in town, but when we lived in the country I had a beautiful yard with day lilies, violets & other native plants I transplanted from the river bank.We plan on trying to find a place again in country that we can afford & I want to have plenty of ideas for no yard.Yards area waste of time, energy, resources & beauty.
OH Yes! no mow and beautiful color! Save money, sustainable, create a living environment, and the best - my ducks & chickens would love it! Please send me a copy.
We currently rent a house while saving to purchase a farm/homestead. Our current landlord refuses to let us replace the lawn even though we live in a drought area that will pay you to rip it out. As a sustainable landscape designer it is extremely frustrating and depressing to live with a water guzzling lawn surrounding our home. I live vicariously through my clients by helping them design sustainable landscapes until the time comes to design my own farm.
My garden is going to be a surprise this year. All new to me, since we just purchased our first home this January. There are already Hostas poking up, I've discovered a plum tree and an apple (excited to learn of the variety) and many other things. We have some raised beds out back also. Unfortunately there is butterfly bush all over the front yard. I need a plan to take care of that!
I would love to have this book. A tornado last spring took our lush forest of over 75, 100+ year oak trees, hosta's, ivy and other shade plants away leaving a sunny and bare ground. This type of gardening sounds like a perfect solution!
We built our home 20 years ago in what was once a hay field. Consequently we had a lot of lawn to mow when we first moved into our home. It didn't take long to figure out I prefer flowers to grass and each year the lawn shrinks a little bit more. I think this book is just what I need to put the lawn mower away for good!
No doubt I could gain some inspiration from this book. Our lawn has been getting smaller and smaller as we've expanded beds for shrubs and flowers the last few years. The project for this spring is a curved tapestry hedge to provide interest and more privacy. The idea of "no lawn" is VERY tempting!! :)
The first thing I did when we moved to our home that had lots of trees was to make a large bed of hostas, shrubs, Japanese maples, and perennials under the trees - SO much better. Now, I am in the process of making a rock garden on a steep slope that had to be mowed in the past.
What a great subject and resource. Less turf should be on everyone's to-do list. There is less mowing to be sure, but there is the opportunity to be creative, involved, and better educated about the possibilities. A view is not a lawn. The photos you have shared are wonderful. What an inspiration.
The most rewarding part of not having a lawn, is watching the children march up the swale, boxes on their heads, bamboo pulled along behind them,to catch a dragon hatchling,or two, in their magic maze, hunkered down in the tall grasses, giggling in anticipation.
Gratifying to see elements of my landscaping on the cover of this book! Now I will have a guidebook,to refine what we have here, and am as thrilled as when the seed catalogs arrive in the cold of winter.
every spring, when I clean up the edges of my gardens, another 6 to 12 inches of lawn disappears. Two beds have melded together into a giant heart shaped bed. I must climb on top of the garage to get some good pictures of it! Each summer, my husband walks around and says, "hmmm, what's different?"
13 years ago we bought our house with a double lot that was all trees and grass. Now it takes less than 5 minutes to mow. We have added bee hives and this spring chickens. There are now 2 ponds, raised beds for veggies and endless paths to explore. I still have more work to do in refining what I have begun. I would love this book for inspiration in my plans.
This spring we plan to take out a fairly large asphalt-covered area in our backyard (it came with our house), so I'm interested in considering some other options besides the default of scattering grass seed and having a bigger lawn.
I have a grassy hill that is hard to mow. I've been thinking about replacing the lawn with a nice low-growing alternative. The hill slopes down to a pond, so I don't want to plant anything that will obstruct access or the view. Can't wait to read the book!
Better hurry up if I am going to win this book - it's February and I've already started mowing for this season. ;(
I was just informed that due to my county's new septic code, I need to knock down most of my beloved woods to put septic fields in (almost 1/2 acre). My husband and I are heartbroken. Part of the job requires reseeding the area as LAWN! We don't need or want more lawn! When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a wildflower meadow on the very same spot. If I have to lose my woods, I would like to return it to a meadow, but not sure how. Would also like to spend time with my husband rather than watch him mowing every weekend.
I don't have a lawn now, but my "no-lawn" is pretty scruffy and could use some ideas to make it look better.
While I love lawn and want to keep a bit in the back yard, I do want to minimize the maintenance in the front, especially the lawn seems to struggle growing there. I'd love to win a copy of this book. Thanks.
I am so ready to get rid of the lawn. At 70 plus my hubby and I need something easier to take care of.
Experimenting with a smidgen of eco-lawn but rabbits love it. Need more ideas to cover the dirt on the terraces that I haven't turned into veggie plots. Can't have too many gardening books, right?
A great book full of inspiration and ideas is just what I need, as I'm currently attempting to turn a swampy, weedy, so-called "lawn" into a woodland garden.
I can not wait to read this book, one way or the other. I am ready to get rid of the last of my lawn in the back yard. The grass has been gone from the front yard for 9 years now. I love how it looks and how much easier it is to care for. Mowing grass is like cleaning the bathroom....a necessary evil.
I garden to solve problems. I have taken a rocky hillside that was impossible to mow and turned it into a rock garden. It has become my favorite garden ever! I would dearly love to turn the front lawn into a garden. It is over the septic system and drains very quickly and we have watering bans in the summer. A tough place to maintain a lawn! I would love to learn how to turn it into an eco-friendly space that looks good!
I bought a house with a huge lawn, and over the past three years I've been making the beds bigger and bigger. I'd love to have this book to give me more ideas.
I bought a house nearly 2 years ago and still don't know anything about keeping a "lawn." i heard it was good to mow/mulch but it looks like all that did was spread the weeds. i also love to feed the birds and the seed that hits the ground sprouts too. i can live without weeds. would love to do something different.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this incredible book!
Right now I have an ugly no-mow lawn. I could certainly use some beautification tips : )
This looks like a fantastic book! Even though we sell natural lawn fertilizer, we're constantly encouraging our customers to employ "smart" lawn and garden techniques, which often means replacing some grass with native plants, xeriscaping, or other alternative methods that regionally make sense.
Can't wait to read more about it!
I changed over my water delivery system to separate zones with different water needs, and now am using only about 1/4 of our previous water that fed a lawn and vegetable garden. We live in a residential area of Los Angeles and I am want to get the most out of all of our resources. I would love a copy of your book!
We live in a house that was built to be very Eco-friendly--geothermal heat, super insulated, low VOC paints etc. but then the disconnect: an acre of contractors special grass seed and a row of non native boxwoods along the front. Each year I add more native plants and the mowing time has been cut in half. My goal is to use one gallon of gas to manage the grass each year. I either need more ideas or a more efficient mower.
call your lawn a meadow...I do
I have been creating a large no mow area with bark mulch paths in a horse shoe shape with a paving stone patio in the center and lots of roses mixed in with perennials in the beds on either side of the paths. Its a great idea and when I'm finished hopefully less maintenance.
Since I moved into this old house, I have slowly (ok not so slowly) been replacing my front lawn with edible beds, fruit trees and flowers. It is my goal for the not so far future to replace all of the lawn with real beauty. I have turned al organic, and I would rather spend all of my time planting, watching, and enjoying. My yard is a sanctuary for everyone, birds, possums, frogs, and of course our night time friends. Most important to note, my neighbors (despite what I thought) actually love what I do. People in the neighborhood stop to talk to me about it and ask questions about their yards. Lesson to learn: most people will like your new yard, it takes courage to be unlike next door, but fear not! Everyone will love it!
I can't wait to get my hands on this book! LucieJM said it so well!
LucieJM said it so well! Trying to break through the American Dream mindset of having picture perfect manicured lawns can be challenging sometimes. I can't wait to get my hands on this book!
Billy,
Thanks for the invitation to read your post, and a chance to win the book. The living spaces pictures are so inviting. I put a stone path also in my front yard because grass quit growing in the shade,under the big Oak Tree and you can't imagine how many little neighborhood children merrily skipped down the path to visit my out-of-place concrete geese that I kept and dressed just to delight them.
Sincerely,
Gaga
http://www.gagasgarden.com
Thanks for the share. The book looks amazing and I can't wait to be able to read it. I am so ready for spring. Here in El Paso the trees are just starting to bud and the sun is shining bright. I am ready to start digging in the dirt... looking forward to some fresh veggies and fruits.
Sounds awesome. I have a backyard at our lake cabin that I would love to landscape without lawn.
Like many others who have posted here, I also increase the size of my gardens and remove some lawn every spring. I find gardens much easier to maintain than a lawn and far more interesting to look at and more hospitable to birds, bees, bugs and other wildlife. This book shows lots of ideas and gives practical how-to. Great addition to my gardening library.
I have a large suburban lot that I am trying to wean off large expanses of lawn. This book sounds perfect to help me with this endeavor!
I look forward to reading the ideas in order to transform our muddy hilltop property into a tranquil setting for the family and guests to enjoy!
Can wanting this book worse than I want a pocket full of purple perennials win me a copy? I really, really, really need this book! My yard is a helpless wreck of washed up hand-me-down items taking up space that should be converted to space that either 1) feeds my body, or 2) at least feeds my soul. Wouldn't it be great if it could do both?
Looks like just the thing to convince my husband that a grassless landscape is the way to go. The picture samples from the book that you provided in your article have my gardening juices flowing.
I got rid of my lawn 25 years ago and created a series of beautiful garden rooms instead. The only grass on our property is ornamental. When friends brag about their new power mowers, my husband brags that his wife spares him chore of mowing altogether!
I would love to discover a way to redo my yard minimizing the use of turf grass. As a resident of "coastal Carolina" with sandy soil and the need to water grass everyday during the summer a more natural approach would be welcome. Something besides just covering everything with pinestraw.
Wow, what a timely book. I am a landscape designer utilizing natives and hardy ornamentals whenever possible and often have clients that want to spend more time enjoying their gardens than tending a lawn (myself included). I could definitely use this book in my practice to learn new ideas. Sign me up please!
Bit by bit I am creating a no-lawn landscape. I am in need for some new ideas and hope that this book will show some great dog-friendly pathways.
This is just the book I have been looking for. My husband and I were just talking about the need to decrease the size of our lawn yesterday. Mowing two and a half acres eats up a lot of time on the weekend that would be better spent weeding, mulching and enjoying our vegetable and flower gardens.
Wow, I am so excited to read this!! My husband and I have been consciously reducing the size of our lawn over time with additional planting bed, gravel areas, etc. We are ready to get rid of the last remaining areas, but not sure how to design it to look good and blend into the rest of our neighborhood, which has lush lawns.
Converting lawns into living spaces is a wonderful and timely idea. Thanks for creating a book that shows readers how to do just that.
What a great idea. A way of foiling the skunks, too, that live on the grubs in the turf? How can I get this book without waiting for the drawing?
Great to see a book like this. I've begun just such is a long-term project in Atlanta (quarter acre along a stream plus additional land on which the structure sits). Having gotten rid of kudzu, brambles, ivy and privet, a series of pathways have been laid out among the remaining trees - including a stand of paw-paws - to create a woodland garden to be overlooked from the decks. Shrubs and trees of varying seasonal interest are now being introduced. Dwarf mondo is the closest I will have to patches of 'lawn.' This is the kind of book that should help pull together ideas to give this project coherency!
I'm a beginner on the gardening learning curve, eager to gain all knowledge. Although I live outside of the US, I am friendly with a lot of English-speakers in my area, and we share gardening tips, books and encouragement. Israel is quite conscious of water use, as we are chronically drought-ridden.
Looks like some great ideas I could use for my back yard!
I'm a disabled person and am always looking for easier ways to do less yard work but always looking for new ideas to try in and around my yard. I think this book would be a good reference for the tasks I have in my yard.
This book looks like it would be a fun one to read and gain new ideas.
I'm really looking forward to reading this. We recently bought a home on two acres, with way too much "boring monoculture". This book will help us immensley.
I am an advocat for removing our insistance on lawns. I am just beginning my landscapes design business and would like to encourage others to "see the light" on lawns. My own backyard was just not working in trying to maintain turf - too much shade, very dry summers, a slope that caused lots of run-off during rain events. I've created a rain garden in its place and am working on what the rest of the yard should look like. I would love to see this book and get some additional great inspiration!
We've been downsizing the amount of lawn on our property for years with flower beds. Now the only parts that remain are still in grass to provide a walkway through the yard. I'd love to figure out an alternative and this book looks like it offers many!
This book would be a resource with great inspiration to create a unique and eco-friendly garden space that could be enjoyed by many! This book looks beautiful!
Put my name in the hat!. More natural space in a yard is always the best thing for the birds and the beeeezzz!
I would love a copy of this book as well! We are consistently
battling issues with our lawn. 1. our wild puppy Maya. 2. a front yard that has two large maples that dislike having grass grow underneath them. 3. a large area in the back that we are trying to reclaim from years of neglect and poison ivy and turn in to a secluded garden area 4. large portions of former "lawn" that we tried to turn into garden beds till we discovered that our neighbors' black walnut trees prohibited using those spaces. 5. heavy shade and tree roots throughout. Not sure what we can do to help some of these but i will say that weeds and other ground covers are currently fairing much better than traditional grass and if we could use this to our advantage iId be much happier!
I hate mowing. Always looking for ideas to use the yard for a garden look.
love the idea of no mowing, so natural and gorgeous
We actually live in a pasture. I'd love to not mow all this grass surrounding us!
Every year I lose a little more lawn of my 1/4 acre plot with another new bed here, a vegetable garden out front, a drystream bed there... Perhaps this book will inspire me to go cold turkey and do away with what's left of the lawn all together! I look forward to reading it whether I win it or not.
Wow! I am in need of this book. We have only been able to grow moss on our "lawn" despite an undergound sprinkler system. Looking forward to reading it.
when designing and building my house 30 years ago, i had two caveats: no sheetrock and no lawn. i conceded on both to an extent and don't regret it; both have their uses aesthetically and functionally. however, i spend virtually no time or effort on the lawn, which is partly shaded and was initially seeded w/ conservation mix. never use chemicals. i have gardens everywhere and many areas of ground cover, several unintended runaways like various lamiums (the rabbits of ground cover), vinca, gingers both wild and european, sweet woodruff, hayscented ferns. would welcome some fresh ideas w/ a new book!
Trying to convince my family (who don't even use the lawn!) that a lawnless front is a better alternative for a ton of good reasons! Love to have this resource to share all of the possibilities with the unconverted!
Looks like a great solution book for water guzzling lawns, especially here in the west where water is considered a precious resource! thanks for putting this out there!
I think getting back more to a natural look is the best. I want a easier yard due to disabilities but, love flowers and color.
Wow....this book looks terrific! Our vast expanse of front lawn is a continual chore. I try every year to take a bit more in garden beds, much to the chagrin of my husband, who just can't be convinced to become free of his passion for lawns. (I think it's a guy thing...lol) Maybe a copy of this book will convince him. If not, I'll just keep taking bites of that existing turf and eventually, voila....no more grass.
Since my yard tends toward being mostly moss it makes a lot of sense to try something different. I live in the Pacific Northwest and lawns are not the most practical spaces.
Naturalization with native plantings is the way to go! I'm for anything that cuts down on time involved in taking care of a manicured lawn. The decreased use of chemicals is paramount here, too. Looks like a great book. I hope many people will read it.
It's always nice to see another book encouraging sustainable gardening, although this information has been out there for years and between the county extension office and the library is free for the asking. Still, I will look for it to see if it addresses low maintenance designs and info on some of the new grasses for my friends and family in drier climes.
I am truly interested in this book. I have three acres of area around my house plus a number of acres of woods. I can't for the life of me envision how to make my three acres a lawnless area. Three acres is quite a challenge.
I'm renting a house and my yard was once a well tended show garden. Now it's an uneven mess and I have no desire to purchase and deal with a lawn mower. Also, all sorts of wonderful spring and summer flowers are mixed in! Who has the heart to mow all of them down? I'm excited to get my hands on this book, I think it could offer me many solutions and ideas to get my yard looking great.
I moved into my house situated on a large city lot 20 years ago. My neighbor next door spends hundreds, even thousands of dollars on developing his almost acre lot and winning the local garden shows. I, on the other hand, enjoy allowing wild asters and daisies into my garden, and mix them with foxglove, delphiniums, coneflowers, rudbeckias, phlox, daylilies, hosta and an occasional mystery plant brought to my back gardens by the birds. Nothing that would interest the hundreds of people who visit my neighbor's yard during the garden show. In my neighbor's favor, he (and I) both reject chemical treatments on our property although we are surrounded by people who do. I would love to start a new fad to present to the gardenshow visitors on how to plant a no mow, non-chemically treated lot (mine is 110 x 270 feet) perhaps with a wildlife theme and would love a copy of the book.
I'd love to have this book. I have been working on converting my front lawn to thyme (mostly mother of thyme, I think you call it) over the past few years. It is finally completely done, with the grass having all been destroyed, but now I prefer a type of thyme that I only have a little bit of that is really low-growing, so I want it to slowly displace the other stuff. As is, I still have the pleasure of not mowing and, at a certain time during the summer, having a wonderful lilac-hued yard humming with happy bees, enjoying the thyme flowers. I'd love to have a bit of the honey they must be making with it - it would be totally delicious!
Sounds like a fun read! If I could do away with all my lawn, I would, but for now, I just keep it green and have the mow-n-blow guys keep it neat. New sprinklers and a new timer have helped with water control, and compost is helping keep it green. I love the idea of a more usable natural hardscape and perennials that fill in the holes. It's a slow process, but parts of the yard are working well that way. Other parts, well, maybe I just need some new inspiration!!!
I'd love to get some ideas from this book. I've been gradually doing away with the lawn in my backyard and replacing it with garden beds, but I'm at a point now where I'm not sure what to do. Also, my front yard is boring with a lousy lawn (large maple hogs all the nutrients) and little sun. What to do?
I've gotta have this book!!! We just purchased a home on 12 acres and the front yard is nothing more than weeds. I love flowering shrubs and lots of seasonal color but need some direction for this large undertaking. Can't wait to get started!!!!
I have been searching for a solution for my daughter's garden. This looks promising.
This looks like a fabulous book. Love the pictures. They make it look do able. My yard is an acre and way out of control. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
Sar
I've lived for 31 years on the edge of a coastal pine forest, trying to encourage the wilderness to come closer. I'm tickled at the idea of this book, designed to help fill in the remaining open spaces with attractive non-lawn species.
My backyard needs some work and this book looks as if it could be inspiring.
Thank you for the wonderful offer! If I don't "win" I will look for this book to purchase!
I have been successful in getting rid of most of the lawn in the back yard. Would love to do the same in the front and the ideas in this book most surely will help!
I need ideas for replacing lawn in shady areas and between herbaceous borders but that will withsatnd lots of foot traffic. The photos are breathtaking.
Sounds like a wonderful book! My kind of gardening which I need to further "develop". My only hesitation in entering this contest is that I'm not sure I can wait to hear who won - want to order the book now.
Love it! I live on a large, sloping lake lot and want it to have not grass, just rambling beautitul gardens down to the water,. No chemicals of course. This book is exactly what I've been looking for.
I looked at this book review again and it reinforced my desire to build a pond...bog garden.....waterfall....no mow area this season...now all I have to come up with the time and energy to do it. The water feature in the preview is amazing.
I love this idea after struggling with mowing the lawn and with even keeping a lawn alive where we live. This book seems like it would have answers to these concerns.
I too would love a copy of this book. We got a puppy a year ago who digs in with her feet each time she runs and stops. We never had a great lawn but now.... We have a lawn that is some turf and the rest seems to be goldenrod, buttercups, devil's paintbrush, dandelions, plantain, heal all, clover, violets, moss, etc. It's quite interesting when you look at it up close. I think we're on the way to something less lawn-like but it's not deliberate! This book sounds like it could give answers to a lawn that would cater to the wildlife we have so much of and less maintenance for us;-)
I have been looking fr no-mow ideas for our impossible to grow anything but moss and weedy front yard for a long time now. Even if I never win this book, I will definitely purchase it!
This sounds like a very useful book. Since we moved into our house 15 years ago I've been gradually getting rid of the lawn. We now have a patio, a vegetable garden, more trees, and lots of mixed borders (well, not lots -- it's only a 30' * 100' lot). I'm always looking for ideas for transforming the rest.
Can't wait to get a look at this book. Our back yard is already approaching no-mow status, simply as a result of mowing-neglect over the past few years. How I'd love to turn it into something beautiful.
I'm ripe and ready to re-envision my front and back yard. Have some ideas, need more. Book would be a boost of energy to leap forward in this endeavor.
Sign me up, Billy, you know I am a believer!
Just say NO! to Mow!
I've already added a 10x70 foot grass garden that needs mowing once a year, and I'm working on small patches of grass for the rest of my property. Small engines like lawn mowers are extremely high polluters, so my mower is a plugin electric model running off the solar panels on the roof.
A mixed species lawn cut high (3 to 3 1/2 inches)stays green without watering.
My husband-who grew up mowing a lawn every weekend of the sweltering Atlanta summer -and I (who also find grass "paralyzingly boring")decided to have no lawn when we bought our house out west. We put in a border of trees, shrubs, and perennials surrounding a small green rectangle of thyme plants. No mowing or trimming, once a week watering, and it stays green almost all year! With the beautiful photos like those in this book review, I think I could even convert my family back east to lawnlessness....
I'm really looking forward to this book for many reasons! I used to live in England where I've seen many forms of the lawnless garden. My most favourite one was meadow, tall with lovely wildflowers, a mown path in a circle leading to a private mown area where there was a table and chairs for tea or whatever. The only way to see this area was from an attic window!
Right now I have a patch of grass that I hate. Really hate. I loathe any and all time that I have to spend on it - it takes me away from the rest of the garden, such as it is. Every moment spent there is begrudged. What's more, I have dogs, big dogs, that tear up the grass and bring in everything hey can find: mud, stones, roots, branches and anything else of which you can think.
I'd love to have some new ideas to create a space I can enjoy, rather than sigh in despair when I see it.
I am soooo tired of our lawn. I really want to rip it out but we are trying to sell the house and move, so it's going to be our next house that has no lawn and I really want to get to right(er). Need all the ideas I can get!
we have decided that this is the year that the backyard lawn must go.
at our last house we lay black plastic, then yards and yards of gravel with thyme in pockets which spread nicely.
however, we're done with gravel and want something soft underfoot for us and our grandchildren.
with a near mediterranean climate on a pacific island, we do not water our present lawn and it looks abysmal.
i like a lot of the ideas in evelyn's website and want to learn more.
i've always maintained that as you can't eat the grass why pamper it?
no chemicals, less water equals a healthier environment.
jennifer in nanaimo
Although our house is situated on less than an acre, our backyard is (seems!)huge and needs some serious help. I think this book would be a great inspiration, not to mention educational in helping us figure out what to do with our lawn -- other than water and mow.
A mowless lawn would be my dream. Mowing takes all my time. Thank you for writing this book. Thank you for the opportunity to enter to win.
Every year I try to have less lawn and more gardens, slowly expanding. Had I thought it through a bit more, I would never had put the lawn in! I have more weeds than grass, that hawk weed is so invasive!. Its hard on a limited budget to do much year to year, but slowly ...
I would love a copy of this book. We had such a severe drought last year that I want to do some native grasses and add some other features so we would not have to water as much and be friendly to our environment. This looks like exactly what I need to get our property in shape.
This book is needed by homeowners, professionals and anyone concerned about how we manage out landscapes.
I'd love to win this book. Now that we are retired, I want to do more landscaping and less mowing to enjoy my senior year.
This book is just the inspiration I need to design a yard and get away from just the grass lawn.
I would love to have a copy of this book. I have a large area in my yard where I am attempting to create a no-mow area. It is pretty steep so mowing is dangerous, not to mention lack of time, or things being harder to accomplish as we get older.
The front of our property consists of three "terraced" lawn areas held in place by large old river rock walls...we've been slowly planting perennial borders but a lot of grass remains. This book looks like just what we need to completely transform these areas!
I have been planning for 2 years what to do with my yard! Some of it is washing down the hill little by little and some needs filled above that. It's too steep to mow there. I truly need ideas.
As I get older I want to mow less. Love the exercise, but, I have .69 acres and a steep hill in the back and a cordless walk behind push mower. So, a few years ago I started carving out patches, first for more fruit trees, then a bird/squirrel habitat and last year a vegetable garden. On my list of “to do’s” is a berry patch and the moving of my current strawberry patch. My newly functional yard has been a heart-warming welcomed change. I started a butterfly garden last year, however, it is not in the lawn area, but, it helps pull the yard together. I feel closer to nature, and now I crave new ideas to incorporate as I shrink my lawn. I would love to meander through your book.
Can hardly wait to see a copy of this book. Would love to convert my small front lawn to all garden.
There is less and less of my lawn as over the years I have nip and tucked away at it in the service of more shrubs, perennials, trees--and this book is encouraging me to do more and more of the same. I am not thinking in terms of napalm or Kevorkian, perhaps a bit strong for my way of doing it--just a little nip here and a tuck there, but this book looks like it will be useful.
Grampy and I've been steadily shrinking the size of our lawn ever since our last teenager moved out (nearly 30 years ago!)and we had to mow for ourselves. Who knew we were ahead of the curve -- and were saving the planet in the bargain!
Absolutely, Love lawnless gardens.. Anyone who doesn't love to pull out the lawn mower, pay crazy gas and oil prices, help the environment, and spend exrta chore time, mostly definitely should have an easy to care for, Lawnless yard. I want one but rent a house that's all lawn. Very strick mowing laws here in Lansing, MI. I love working in gardens, but mowing is never really fun. I'm a single mom and I have such a hard time keeping up with it. I need either a lawn-less lawn or a small engines class so I can learn how to maintain lawn equipment. Bet ya know which one I really want :-)
So interested in this, but I couldn't envision it for my 1 acre yard. It is inspirational to know she did it with 5 acres! We value no-low water usage and sustainable designs!
Would love not to mow. Since my son is off to college it is my chore now!
As a landscaper and an avid gardener, I have been working with eliminating lawns for all good reasons. I'm particularly interested in having a text that organizes the info in one place. Sounds like a "must have".
This book looks fabulous! I have an entire yard to re-do that is so weed ridden that Round-Up can't control it yet.
I also found out last night just how deep this property runs and we will need a little bridge to connect areas of the property over a stream. The back portion that I am describing,
is the IDEAL place to have "A Beautiful NO-MOW lawn!" This fabulous concept would run up to the house and surround it in time. Looks like great ideas!
Wow, This books looks fabulous, I would love to read it and see all of the interesting ways to create a cozy & peaceful backyard along with cutting down on some mowing since I have an acre lot.
Being a Florida Master Gardener that runs a Plant Clinic we have many customers that want to know about alternative lawn coverings. We make our best recomendations based upon the info distributed from the U of F. Will your book be of value to those of us in sub-tropical Florida zones 9B & 10A??????
WOW, this could not be more timely. We are getting ready to totally re-do our yrd into a no-mow yard. Getting to old to do that in the FL heat!
Thank you for the opportunity!
I'm having a daydream of handing this book out to everyone in my neighborhood. Imagining being able to go outside on a weekend morning and not choking to death on the fumes of lawnmowers!
This book looks so interesting. Who doesn't need more time to enjoy natures beauty?
What inspiration this book offers! I very much like its emphasis on "natural systems" - with the effort we make reflected in the success of our good choices. I'm especially interested in removing our circular driveway and creating a garden that both makes sense for the space and respects the environment!
This book looks like HEAVEN ON EARTH to me....I have battled boring turf for years and would easily consider this my yard Bible. Ms Haddon, you are my HERO!!!!!
I am currently in transistion to start this no-mow process in my yard. Over the last few years I have added gardens to shrink our mow-time. I would love to see the ideas in this book. Thanks for the opportunity!
Don't want to mow no more, no more,..... Would love a copy of the book!
We are transitioning to central florida and plan on removing all lawn and putting in local plants. Will this book help address this - offer panting ideas for our area - lots of summer humidity and lots of salt !
thanks
We would love a copy of this great book as we are getting too old to mow and are in the process of eliminating all the lawn (our ultimate goal) on our lot. We live on the Catawba River and want to replace the lawn to the water w/native plants. I'm excited about the book just from the pictures included in the description.
A copy of this book would really help with my next big project, which is to eliminate grass in my yard and still have a "green" walk and play area. I have extended my flower beds about as far as I want to, and want to set them off with bands of green that need little care. With soil that is sand and clay, even though I have amended it, I have not found anything that really works. suzannejoyce
We started in 2002 in our previous home in Texas... to eliminate grass that just 'grew and had to mowed and weed/feed 2x a year...
We created an outdoor room that we loved. We had butterflies, hummers, lizards... alll kinds of creatures and it was beautiful.
Ww sold our home and moved to Tennessee to build our new home. But we had been 'bitten by the bug' to eliminate grass and enjoy another outdoor room. Folks stop by to see our landscaping and all are in awe and now - we are spreading the fun of 'playing in the yard and garden' - we can have our own workout without going to the gym! Instead - we invest in landscaping we enjoy and the wildlife it brings. Web grow vegies among the flowers and love it.
Come sit with us as we rock in the gliders at night and enjoy a glass of wine as we stare at the trees...
We are on an acre and continue to eliminate our lawn replacing it ponds and flowering garden areas with all season interest.
Great ideas...Just what we need...Thanks...I'm also renewing!
I have a great crop of moss in my Oregon lawn. I've often wondered if I could simply have a moss lawn! Maybe this book would give me some ideas on how to make freinds with the moss. :)
My 2 acres of property INSISTS on growing moss. I live on a corner and instead of fighting it, I am gardening and landscaping WITH it! It is a challenge, especially since I live in a neighborhood of finely manicured green grass lawns but I am determined to create a landscape that works with the moss... AND the rocks! This book would be a real help! My yard has been asking me to "work with it" for several years! It's about time I listen :)
Garden paths, wildflowers, I'm excited to see all the ideas in this book and bring them to life in my yard!
Thank you.
i have created several large mixed borders, but have hardly made a dent in my over two acres of lawn. Most of it is large pasture behind the house . I either need to get some farm animals to graze it or I need this book.
We all need to do this! Californians especially. I encourage all of my clients to follow this course. Having Saxon Holt's beautiful photography to illustrate how wonderful a meadow can be compared to a lawn makes it so much easier to be convincing.
My husband and I struggle with our yard and (ahem) "gardens". We want to have something beautiful and easy care since both of us are getting older and having more health problems. Our yard isn't big so it won't support a lot of large bushes or trees, but its not so small containers will do either. Please help us make our yard a beautiful place to enjoy not avoid! Your book would be a big help! Thank you!
Toni
I would love to have a copy of this book. I have been trying to downsize my acre lot to mostly gardens for about 40 years. still got a long way to go. the less I have to mow the better off I feel.
If I could just convince my wife we need less lawn. I only have about 6000 sq. ft. on a half acre lot, but I'd still like to remove more. Looks like a great book.
In order to create a 'low maintenance' yard, the disturbing trend in my area is to remove anything living and put down gravel. I am just starting up a Garden Coaching business and I would use this book to advise clients of beautiful, easy to maintain alternatives.
Wow. I hope there's a lot more pictures. They look amazing. I am looking for ideas to extend my bird feeding island to the deck area. This looks like the book that can help.
I am also a garden designer who specializes in sustainable design, so I am sure this book would have lots of great ideas and useful advice.
Evelyn Hadden's book is a very welcome tutor for turning the labor-intensive grass lawns - which are composed of non-native grasses requiring endless care - into easily maintained and beautiful green areas. The pictures are beautiful and show her skill in design. This is a book that I would read from cover to cover and save as a reference book.
I dream of not having to mow my lawn. Any guidance that helps me reduce the mowing yet provides an attractive, welcoming, and usable space would be appreciated. If this book lives up to its description, I would love to add it to my gardening library.
For the past 4 years I have been eliminating my lawn section by section. I am down to a 30sq area and am waiting for an inspiration for that area. Evelyn Hadden may solve that last area! It has been a relief to no longer need a mower and I am constantly receiving compliment on my new garden
There is a place in my library for this inspiring new edition.
My lawn is almost gone, but my sister in Texas is still mowing two acres on a riding mower - the gas fumes and sound of mowers across the land in the summer there are unbelievable. Sure would like to share this to give her some ideas.
I have spent many,many hours over the past five summers getting rid of my lawn and replacing it with some incredible plants. I love the result!! A copy of the book would be great for even MORE ideas.
would love this book - i have been preaching no grass for 30 years!
We moved in 11 years ago to a yard where the contractor had just seeded everything with grass. I have been slowly decreasing the grass with garden over the years. The ultimate goal is to be able to have just enough lawn to appreciate walking over it with bare feet on a summer day.
Your book comes at the perfect time with so many becoming more aware of the chemical companies and the dangers of their pollutants, as well as the benefits of organic gardening. I have not been able to keep a lawn because my neighbors pay big money for lawn services and chemicals, so guess where all the critters come for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? ;) But it only takes one person to start a trend.
My fiancee's lawn has benefited from about 15 years of benign neglect: there's white & red clover, violets, buttercups, dandelions, daffodils, and even deep pink sweetpeas naturalized all throughout. All of these are wildflowers in this area. All(!) I need to do is take out the (unfortunately, several) deceased arborvitae, take out the Norfolk Spruce that was butchered by the power line co., get rid of the grubs that have invited moles to come snack on them, & get the rest of the yard into low-maintenance prettiness too. Shrub & tree selection is harder for me...
I live in the country. And my south facing, side yard, of my house needs help! I killed all the grass on a 50' x 50' area. Three early springs ago. That spring I planted Dutch Clover. And while it looked great. It was a little to tall to be so close to the house. And that summer when the plants naturally died back a little. In my hot and humid summers. My husband cut the clover to short, with his mower. And killed it and crab grass took over! Two early springs ago, I burnt all the crab grass, in the 50' x 50' area(I don't know if that even helps!). And also sowed the seed to late, for it to get established. And yes once again, all that hard removal work, and seed money, down the drain. For the past year I have just had thick black plastic over the area. And I need to do something, but need some good advice, first! So this book looks great! If I don't win I am going to have to get together the money to buy the book no matter what. Because this area has been an eye sore for way to long. Thats visible from the street. But, since I am broke. It would really help out, if I won! Thank you for the opportunity!
We started to get rid of our lawn a few years ago. It did not thrive under the large trees. So, little by little, we are replacing it with gardens. Need some new idesa!
I have been trying to get rid of my lawn for years, but it's really big. I could use some advice!
At "73" Yes I would LOVE a no mow yard
After a 20 yr leave from the mid south we returned to the normal of the grass (turf)is king replete with all the chemicals and water to keep it green and alive. The irrigarion system watered the few beds only 10 minutes while the grass needs twenty five minutes per watering. We started ripping up 1/3 of the front yard and replaced it with a shade garden. Many neighborhood people have enjoyed our shade garden but so far, no one has followed our example. I can't wait to get the book as I have the remaining turf to "mow down" so to speak and leave paths of grass and stepping stones for water drainage.
I've been looking for a book like this FOREVER! Both my husband and I are getting older and our front lawn is a bear to keep up. I'm tired fighting with dandelions (and there are too many just for salads).I've been trying to adjust my backyard so that there is more walkable space without gravel. But I DEFINITELY do not want grass. With this weird weather this winter, our water tabke will be low. This would be a wonderful start to something new and exciting. The photos look wonderful and will give me something to show my husband when he asks what it will look like. Thank you for writing this beautiful book.
Would LOVE this book. Live out in the country, and have way too much to mow....Love gardening ideas!!!
One has to be courageous in tearing out a lawn with an exotic landscape if one lives in a small neighborhood. I did not realize I would be so criticized in Carpinteria, CA by even thinking that native plants and shrubs around a front yard stone path with sufficient wood mulching would be a welcoming change to Birds of Paradise, Pepper trees, and mowed grass infested with Oxalis. I survived and hopefully a few neighbors added Ceanothus as well as the other native shrubs that put on such a striking display.
No grass?!!!!! Ok, less grass . . . anything that shows us how to easily maintain our yard is welcome!
I need some advice for the barren area beneath our large oak trees. Has a few wisps of grass, so needs to be mowed, but mowing causes a nightmare of dust in the summer. We need something there instead of grass!
Been wondering how to replace the lawn in the backyard in my quite small backyard. Need ideas.
Sounds like just the book to share with my Texas son and his plant-loving cul-de-sac neighbors ( after I glean all the Indiana appropriate ideas!) Our patio home could use less grass and new landscaping ideas.
I have read so much about this book. I would love to win a copy.
my spouse and I have battled over how to take care of the grass portion of our lawn for as long as we've lived in houses with lawns. When we lived in the Houston area, I was temporarily victor since xeriscaping was the only way we'd ever get green without ridiculous watering bills. Now that we're back in the Midwest, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how a half acre of dandylions can be converted to something more agreeable without Mr. Chemical!
I would like a copy of this book if my name is drawn. We are starting to raise chickens, or will be. I will soon start organic seeds inside after a hiatus of 20+ years. My husband is too busy with the above and work to dig up lawn now for more garden, so we are doing a 4x4 raised bed. We inherited 1.5 acre of grass, some of which we want to keep for grandkids, but whew! Bit by bit it would be wonderful to have something planted that gives back instead of taking!
I would love to have this book. Since we moved into our new home in the country ten years ago, my husband and I have gone round-n-round. He hates mowing, but wants about eight acres of lawn. I am trying desperately to change his mind....it's working....one tiny garden at a time. This book might help me reach my goal sooner!
Just one thing - Bermuda grass!!! If that doesn't make you want to get rid of a lawn, nothing will! Much rather have native plants and flowers.
I would love and could use a copy of this book. I stare out my front door at a grass hill that is next to impossible to mow.
This looks like a fantastic way to replace the grass I lost last summer. Gorgeous ideas, and I love that we can get away from chemicals.
This book is on my wish list. I would love a copy! I have slowly been transforming our lawn into different garden areas and am always searching for inspiration. I had planned to leave a little bit of lawn area, but who knows, after reading this book I might be inspired to be rid of it ALL!
Love it!!!! I have had a few awesome clients take the no-lawn plunge... I encourage them to come and experience my front garden--which is now mostely native woodland plants and home to a huge kids play area :)(losing a lawn can be traumatic otherwise :) )... As an ecological landscape designer, I have no use for lawn anywhere that grass doesn't want to grow anyway. If you don't need to play golf or tennis on it, there are some other great options. It looks like Beautiful No-mow Yards will be a great reference book to add to my library ;) ... I can hear sheets of kentucky blue sod crying in terror as we type our comments :)
I would so enjoy this book! Hubby and I are exhausted trying to maintain a "presentable" front yard. Last year was the Lawn of Crabgrass. The year before, cinch bugs destroyed the whole front yard, requiring digging up and reseeding, and just as the new lawn took, moles arrived to dig it up with their tunnels and hills. ENOUGH! I've already expanded the front garden bed in front of the porch and along one side of the house. There's only one other rogue neighbor whose entire front yard is a (rather messy) perennial garden, so we would welcome new ideas to tastefully reduce the mowable area.
I could really use the help of this book for both my front and backyard. I would like to turn them into useable space for my family instead of a patch of brown grass in our very hot summers.
I desperately need a copy of this book! Our water company has put us on a strict water budget with stiff penalties for going over budget. It has become impossible to maintain an attractive lawn on these restrictions and our curb appeal has suffered dramatically. Our goal is to redesign our front yard with water wise landscaping in place of the grass this spring. This book looks like just what we need for inspiration.
My house was originally one in a neighborhood of four-room summer cottages, with the septic system in the front yard. Many years ago the system failed, leaving me with no lawn and the perfect opportunity to start planting what I really wanted -- perennials! We've also incorporated a small raised bed vegetable garden as that spot gets the most sun. I use containers, too. Wit, whimsy, color, variety -- what more could a gardener want. Ahhhhhh.
this would be the best thing in the whole wide world to win!!!!
I am in the midst of transforming our backyard from a bare, giant, blah.... to what i hope to be a wildflower and flowering garden paradise!!! i hope!!!! the cover of this book GREATLY excites me!!! please pick me, klyb
How nice to read all these comments from all of you who have converted lawns to lawnless or less-lawn gardens, and from those who would like to exchange some lawn for more rewarding options. I wish we could give every one of you a copy of the book... especially the landscape designers. Think of all the yards you would transform!
Thanks, all of you, for reading Billy's entertaining review and for helping us to rethink (and shrink) our national lawn. And Billy, thanks for the compliments!
Evelyn Hadden
we live on a lake with lots of trees. I don't grow grass only moss. Our "yard" area is limited so would love to have suggestions for easy care. In my 70s so not anxious to make myself more work. This book sounds wonderful.
Oh! Please pick me! My thumb is only half green and I need help.
I would love to look at a garden instead of lawn. Besides saving money on lawn care, it has to be better for the environment.
I would love to own a copy of your book. I am struggling with a sloped back yard which has plants on both sides but the middle section is a mystery to me. I also would like to turn the majority of my front yard on a busy city street into a no mow area with screening. Thanks for the opportunity to own your book.
Our front garden is 50% lawn and we're planning on getting rid of it as soon as we have the back landscaping done. This books sounds like a good planning tool. I would love to win it!
No-mow is the way to go! Looking to cut down on my 10-min with a push mower workload.
I've been working to replace my lawn with a "no-mow" yard for the past six summers. This is the year (fingers crossed!) that I replace my have-to-mow grass paths with gravel!
This is exactly what i want to do for our front yard, now to convince the spousal unit
What a wonderful book. Have already exchanged all the back and side yards to stone paths around large garden areas. The front yard still has 1/3 its original grass and am looking for ideas to replace that as well. Looking forward to a good read!
Our full-shade yard is slowly being transformed into a no-grass garden. I have some lovely "ground cover" (weeds) that I would like to identify and cultivate in a rock garden. I am looking forward to some new ideas for our shady space.
Not only do I hope for a copy of my own but I just put in a suggestion for purchase at my local Okanagan Library.
This concept is ideal for our times of plenty and of drought. I cant wait to get started. Im a beekeeper and this will blend so well with what I want to do here.
bless you
justachick
How I would love a copy of this book to inspire and lead me down a journey I have already begun. We bought a place almost 4 years ago and ripped out the lawn and foundation plants. I am close to retirement and my husband has health issues. So, I want to have beautiful landscaping, but be able to take care of our property myself and control our costs without my husband feeling guilty.
I see a bright future in store for my front yard with a little help from this book!
This s JUST the book I have been looking for - with a yard full of possibilities and not being a very creative individual, I need all the help I can get to creat a yard space with NO lawn since I am allergic to mowing :)
We're slowly but surely doing the same, minus one smallish area (essentially the only flat spot in almost 7 acres) where we want to have picnics and play croquet! Can't wait to read the book.
Can't wait to make a positive change. I'm looking for great ideas using local plant varieties and stop the turf wars.
thanks.
I also have been trying to convince my husband to get rid of our St. Augustine Grass in Houston. I have built huge beds all along the property on my 1.25 acres but still have way too much lawn. I would love to keep some of it but don't really know how to accomplish this without looking like an eyesore and turning it into a bunch of weeding maintenance. I have put in many crushed granite paths which we love but they do require maintenance and although I hate using chemicals it is necessary at least once a year. I am a lone gardener and although I enjoy gardening it is somewhat overwhelming as I get older to work in our immense heat and humidity. Your book sounds inspiring. Hope I win.
Lawn mower and gas cans 4 sale!
Green, beautiful and safe homes!
Wildlife welcome, let the dance of the garden begin!
Would love a book of direct direction!
My hubby & I have salvaged slabs of granite from an old dump, hauled them by bicycle and created a patio, path, steps, bench & a rock garden to replace grass in front of the house. It now is a wow factor! And we are going to do more this summer with driftwood & other finds from the beach to create other spaces where there are wild flowers trying to survive, and let them take over for a natural environment. It is an ongoing passion and new ideas are always welcome! When I let some of the grass grow up last year I found a clump of it was a beautiful ornamental grass!
My husband disappears for hours and hours every weekend in the summertime to get the mowing done. We have a large property with two pond levees to mow and lots of mowing around the many trees we have planted over the years (cypress, pines, fruit and nut trees. It would be great to come up with some alternative and it sounds like this book might be extremely useful to us. It might even help me get my husband back in the summertime!
I have wanted to get rid of our lawn for quite some time as it is difficult to keep it up because of many large oak trees. I would love this book so I can show my HOA exactly what I have planned for the front yard.
looking for some design ideas for low maintenance front garden to replace a 15'x50' rectangle of turf bisected by a skinny "contractor's special" 28" wide walkway. Need to jack it out, make decent-depth beds along the front of the house and replace walk with some sort of hardscaping. I NEED IDEAS that won't break the bank but add scads to curb appeal. Also water use needs to be low, low, low as the local water purveyor is pushing for vastly increased water fees.
I am slowly chipping away at 3 acres of mowed lawn and would LOVE ideas on creating meadows and living spaces. This book sounds like a wonderful resource.
I would love to have this book. My family has a lawn in India and I, definitely, would like to consider another option.
What a wonderful book. Thank you for the opportunity to win. Just what I always wanted - a mow-less lawn.
When I moved to my current house, the front yard was a concrete basketball court. I busted and hauled the concrete into terrace walls for the backyard and converted the front into half garden, half lawn, which, I'm proud to say, gets mowed 4 times a year. I'd like to cut that back but still use it for a sitting area and party area. It's very sandy soil. Hope this book can help.
going au naturale here would encompass grass spurs, fire ants and god knows what as my 'yard' is primarly made of what is known as 'Apalachacola quartz' aka SAND. Would be interesting to see what is possible in Zone 9. Beautiful book.
I would love ideas to replace the grass on my drain field. Mowing a drain field only compacts the ground more. I'm sure 'Beautiful, No Mow Yards' would help me with plant selections.
I attended her "NO MOW" session at GreenSprings Gradens in Fairfax, VA. I am hooked, such great ideas! I am so tired of fighting our shady yard. This book would be the perfect reference.
I love this title, yards become gardens when rather than having a lawn as the prominent feature it showcases plants! I hope this book inspires my neighbors so that when i walk my toddler around there is some great plant compositions to look at as well as birdlife!
This book is great - and such good timing - I will be moving soon at a new home with a huge 1 acre yard, and i will need lots of ideas to work with
I have no imagination...I need professioal help. I never win anything, but I'll give your contest a try & when I don't win... I'll buy this informative book.
I need this book!
This looks like just the kind of book my husband needs. He is getting tired of mowing.
I would rather have colorful blooms than monotone green lawn.
I hope I win this book! I definitely want to get rid of my lawn and hope this has some lower maintenance ideas.
We have a tiny little lawn as opposed to the acre water waster at our old home. I was drawn to this book since the cover photo is EXACTLY the situation I have - small patio with a slope in the rear of the property. Was at a loss how to plant it until I saw the photo. I'll bet there are wonderful ideas inside that are easy on the planet, my well and the ears. I live in a peaceful cul de sac and can't stand the noise or exhaust from mowers, blowers, etc. Kudos to the author for showing us lovely alternatives.
I'm always looking for new information to pass along to my clients. The less lawn the better - bring on the plants!
This book would come in so handy in my landscape planning! I would love to have it.
I'd love to get this book to give to my mate in the hope of getting him to agree to nix the lawn. How I'd love to convert it to a garden!!
SIGH!! At last, a book that allows one to see through the eyes of practical application. The author is glimpsed as a hands on person capable of taking the challenge to eliminate the tired monotony of 'greensward' promoted by turf growers and fertilizer producers alike.
I regret this book full of ideas was not written six years ago when we bought our home and cleared the scrub so we could plant a lawn. At that time it was possible to change the contour and grade in sites more suitable for plantings.
Now the challenge is to restructure slopes, crowns and some barren areas, transforming lawn into another world that is attractive to those driving by.
The review stimulates a desire to transform the green to a more subtle color scheme, one that brings change as the seasons progress.
I hope to read "No-Mow Yards" and gradually work the ideas contained therein into reality here. Adios Lawn!!
Can't wait to read it! I love the expanse of no mow grass but the next one will need a blueprint for changing your HOA rules. :)
I live very close to nature and would love the ideas to keep my garden looking good with it.
I would love a book like this. We are starting to acquire some rental houses and I would love to be able to do something nice for my tenants. Plus I am getting my children into gardening and it gets them off of games.
This is such perfect timing, our backyard needs some serious help! I can't wait to read this book.
I just bought a home with 1.25 acres and I am VERY interested in learning how I can plant a beautiful, no-mow lawn.
I would love some ideas for yards that children and pets can use.
Living on the arid plains of WY, our yard is a mess and requires way too much water to look so so. We'd love to change to a low maintenance yard
Awe, the landscapes in these photos is my dream yard—not just front and back but all around the house. I love a combination of color and texture found in plants well paired, various heights and bloom periods, and courtyards for guests, and simply daydreaming. A landscape like these would certainly draw one, even non-gardeners, outdoors more often.
Our yard is a mess and this book looks awesome. I would love to have a low maintenance no mow yard, but have no idea where to start.
I love the concept! Now, I just need the book for some how tos.
I would love to win this book. I would like to eliminate all of the grass in the back yard. I am looking for inspiration.
I was on-board with this idea years ago,I'm very much into medicinal plants and edibles in general, so I have no interest in grass, what does anybody really do with it?
There are so many other choices so why bother?
I'm trying to convince my girlfriend,who just bought a new house, to get rid of most of the lawn, which is badly neglected anyway, in favour of no mow plants and garden spaces. If I ever have a home of my own, grass will have only a minimal presence. A copy of this book would be super to help my friend see what she could do with her yard !
I love the idea of a no-mow lawn. I wonder how well this would work with two dogs though. I would love to see a comment from someone who has dogs, mine are small and medium sized, and has gotten away from grass!
Wow a book on no mow,just what the hubby wants. Living in the Texas Hill County with rocks and cedars. It will be fun to add some style and color to the landscape. We have almost 7ac so this book will be so helpful. Also we have rainwater collection and need to conserve water. Cheers.
I am helping my son create an eco-yard. We removed 90% of the lawn and he has planted woolly thyme to take its place. There is much more to do, and this book would be a fantastic resource. Thanks for the opportunity!
I'm slowly replacing our lawn areas with what I hope are low maintenance substitutes. A wet, muddy area under two shade trees is now filled in with a do-it-yourself stone patio, and I am slowly transitioning the front lawn to a small cottage garden. Would love to read this book!
I did away with our last plot of grass last spring. Planted ground covers _ two of which have turned out to be thugs. One I will completely remove; another I will hope to control as it is pretty. What to do next though to control the weeds and replace huge bare spots? I need this book!
Even in Canada the idea sounds appealing. I currently have a no mow yard and it is great. My time has been spent pouring over your website for all kinds of ideas for my daughter's first house. It has a big yard in need of lots of love and attention. We start at the beginning of April to make the transformation. No mow makes great sense for us.
I'm already sold based on the sampling of photos shown. Just the kind of book an Iowa gardener needs to get through a long cold winter.
Thanks for the chance to win this beautiful book. At 72 I have the smallest yard I've ever had, but do want to maximize the growing space without wasting any on grass!
I keep reducing the size of our lawn because I want more room for plants and would rather spend time enjoying and maintaining them than cutting grass. I'd love help defining the structure and making the best use of my available space!
I live in a dry climate and options for more water concious gardens are always great.
This looks like an amazing book! I love the concept of no lawn/small, smart lawn. Hope I win this book!
I have 5 acres with 1 open for a new design,This book would be a great help in finding new ways to have no lawn.
We bought a battery powered lawnmower last year to be more green, even better would be not to have to mow it. I would love this book. Thanks
I would love this book. When we built this house I wanted no-mow lawns but hubby and builder decided we were going to have a front lawn! At least the back is all natural with garden and flower beds -- now I just need to find a design for the half of it that receives little sun.
This sounds like just the book I need. We are on an acre of land - most in the back yard and mostly open spaces - red dirt and lots of weeds (I call them wildflowers). Bet this book has lots of ideas. Winning a copy would do wonders in transforming nothingness to something on which to feast the eyes.
I have been trying to go lawn-less for years. My backyard is slowly becoming woods - mostly native plants - love it! Having more difficulty in the front - all neighbors have lawn - lawn - and more lawn!!plus round and square shrubbery. So-o-o formal, unnatural, and to my thinking not very pretty. My yard already looks different - but I don't want to stand out looking like an unkempt yard. Owning this book would be a Great Asset in helping finish or even changing some things.
This has to be the year....I'm 72 years old, broken ankle that won't heal, at least 1 of my 4 acres are grass, been trying to do no-mow for several years but I need direction.
I need this book! Segueing from lawn to more enlightened choices is not as easy as it may sound.
The idea of creating gardens receives all kinds of support from the man who mows the lawn here! I'd love to have this book to help us make that happen.
Beautiful ideas, right on time for the busy yard season. Good job Evelyn. My Mothers and granddaughters name by the way!
This has been my plan for sometime to slowly encroach on the behemouth of green that takes too much energy and time in my own life....Looks like a fascinating book...
We sold our home with our prize-winning garden and have moved to a town home. At our house, we had reduced the grass to the point it took my husband only an hour to mow instead of the four hours it took him when we moved in. Now at the town home I am appalled that they water the grass several days a week and mow so low it scrapes some of the grass off. This has to change. I am now on the association board and hope to influence change. Some no mow grass would be a great start.
I started a few years back, so far i have most of my backyard with no grass, this year will finish the rest of it. Have of the yard is my vegetable garden and then i have a gravel pad with a picnic table on it...my front yard is getting smaller and smaller too. I just can't figure out what to do with the yard from the sidewalk to the road..I would love one of those books. Maybe will give me more idea's
I've been gradually reducing my front lawn, with the help of my teenage son...digging up sod, covering with newspaper and mulch, and planting bulbs, annuals, and low-water groundcover. It's a slow process but I'm loving the result and looking forward to a more interesting front yard!
This book sounds amazing! Mowing season is upon us and, every year, it's something I dread.
I've been working on minimizing the lawn on my 3/4 acre lot. I made several tree islands, and fairly large gardens around the house when we added an addition. We have both sun a shade, but probably most of the place gets partial shade. In fact, the lawn we have looks pretty shabby, although I am happy to say that it does have more and more clover. In any case, having perused this book on Amazon, I think it would give me good ideas, and considerable help in getting me further towards no more mowing. Wish me luck.
"Oh, nothing will ever grow there," my cheerful neighbor said, the first time she caught me trying to make a little hole in our desolate back yard -- a dry, stony slope in Jerusalem where nothing had been planted in decades. Except, that is, for some patches of fine grass (reminders of a misguided former tenant), which greened up for a month or two every winter before disappearing into dreary brown dormancy for the next three seasons. Good thing I like a challenge. Seven years and much reading later (starting with Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden, still my Bible), my back yard is a xeric dreamscape, terraced with all those stones I've pried out of the dry ground one by one, and a-bloom at the moment with crocuses and crocosmias, cyclamens and scillas, ipheions and irises, daffodils and daisies, all tied together by big, brash succulents, silvery shrubs, and lush perennials that make do with minimal irrigation all year long. And that grass? I plucked it up, patch by little patch, and transplanted it into my "magic circle" (about 5 feet in diameter): a tiny lawn that's green for a few minutes every winter, then "magically" turns brown -- to convince my friends and neighbors what an absolutely idiotic idea it is to even think about planting a lawn in a parched Jerusalem garden.
Woo Hoo, I'd love a copy of this. I have an acre most of which I'm trying to xeriscape. Tried some blue gramma grass but I'm not happy with it. I'd love some ideas for alternatives.
Looks like a great book. Can';t wait to read it!
I have a fairly large front and back yard,of which i have maintained alone for many yrs. now, until 2 yrs. ago when i has a heart attack of which i ended up in the hosp. and had to have a quadtripple by-pass and last yr. had to go back in for stints where grafts had collapsed and now it is limited as to just what i can do in my yard,i love flowers and plants even more now and do grow some and have pretty good luck with them,i have for some time thought on just having a full yard both front and back filled with all kinds of beautiful wild flowers that attract both butterflys and hummingbirds.but i'm not too up on just how to do it.it would keep me from having to mow,and bring such beauty to enjoy.thanks for all sugestions and advice from experienced friends. :)
From the look of those pictures, I would certainly use this book!
We took out the grass last year and are experimenting with replacements to green up our "mulch yard." Really need the book!
Tis fits so nicily into my dream of having more livable, cozy space outdoors...that isn't easy with 2 acres of yard/garden space to work with. Looking forward to reading this and would love to win a copy!
I'm a budding landscape designer in my area and I am always looking for new ideas and current trends that I can recommend to my clients. This will be an awesome book in my arsenal.
My husband and I have been trying to establish moss under a tree in half of our front lawn for the past 4 years with only minimal success. When I read the about this book, I immediately added it to my "Want Book" list. Hopefully, it will give me alternate ideas to try in this area.
I am one of those that is looking to reduce the lawn in favour of plants, shrubs and perennials. I think lawns are time consuming, water guzzling and high maintenance. A copy of the book might help me change my mindset!
I am dying to turn my yard into a no-mow paradise. Maybe this book will help me figure out how to do it.
Twenty years ago our 1+ acre of new yard was nothing but dirt and the big push was to stabilize what was left of the topsoil. So being in a hurry my husband walked around for hours with a hand seeder. He did a great job, but in the last twenty years we have been removing lawn and planting flowers, shrubs, trees, and ground covers. Just took the big plunge and bought a reel mower from People Powered Machines. Would love to downsize the lawn to a point where I could use this mower and do the job in only 1-2 hours. I'm now working on my permaculture design certificate; this would be a great resource!
Chickweed! something new - could use the book - please send! Thanks
I'm just starting to landscape my yard, and this book looks like great inspiration!
When we built our house on a hillside in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1969, we sold our lawn mower! We have lots of trees, vinca minor, bulbs, the phlox my husband calls wild sweet william, and a large swath of hellebores, which started blooming in December and are still going! I need to organize the lovely growies, but I wouldn't have a grass lawn for love or money! The book would be a real help in deciding how to proceed in such organization, especially as we age in place!
So many of us are seeking alternatives to the classic lush, vibrant green, weed-free lawn carpet for a variety of reasons, and this book obviously offers alternatives that can be aesthetically pleasing, chemically free and ecologically sustainable. This year I plan to dedicate part of my back yard to this concept as a "test run" and would appreciate having this book to help me plot it out. Great ideas!!
We have just moved to Wyoming to a zone 3-4 area in the country. Coming from a zone 5 area in town, this will be a challenge for us. There seems to be a lot of wind, clay soil and extremes in temperature. We would like our flat areas to have native grasses that don't need much water and don't have to be mowed. By the preview of this book, I know I would get awesome ideas on how to keep grass that has to be mowed to a minimum and create a wonderful garden space.
Beautiful book! I browsed through the book at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. Great ideas for transforming my front yard.
I would enjoy using this book to remedy my landscaping issues. Thank you for having such a fun drawing!
When I was much and Mom would tell me, "Go mow the lawn." I hated every minute.
In my twenties mowing became a break from worrying about everything else and I got to like it.
Now it is a bore and a pain in the, well, you know.
I'd still have a lawn in back, because our dogs need a place to play, but the front would look great with: no lawn, a nice patio, some fruit trees, streambed, flowers and shrubs.
This is a really great idea. We live on a very hilly property. It would be great to landscape some of the more difficult areas so that we would not have to mow. Sometimes mowing can be dangerous to your health.
I would just love this beautiful book. We've already mulched most of our yard but still have a small area of grass and I need ideas on how to change it. Thanks for the chance!
I LOVE this idea! I have been enlarging my gardens each year with less lawn, but I need some creative ideas so that it looks better.
I'm always looking for something new to do in the garden. Since finding a new home a few years back I have built a beautiful new garden full of lily's, iris, spring bulbs and a few perennials. This year adding a few different later blooming perennials and large raised boxes to grow vegetables (hoping the ground hogs cannot reach!).
But OH! The yard! Oh, the yard... We have 3 large elms, statuesque for sure, but the shade is intense in one area, full sun in another and a shady bank that canNOT be mowed. I've spent much time throwing things at the shade and the bank and some have stuck and some have not. To have this wonderful source is a great idea. Even if I buy or go to the library. Gee, I hope the librarian doesn't mind a few smudges of dirt...
We have drastically reduced our lawn area on our 1-1/4 acre lot over the past 25 years and continue to look for ways to completely do away with our lawns. The cover of this book alone makes me want a copy of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to win it.
This looks like the perfect book to inspire me to take a more creative approach to designing my garden. I live on a small lake and have been revising back yard to form a quiet oasis. There's a mixture of a cottage garden with old roses, irises, and a variety of perennials and herbs, and a shaded area with lots of hydrangeas, ferns, trillium and hellabores. I'd like to connect the gardens so that one area flows naturally into the other to create a lush, comforting, relaxing space.
Years ago we started with wildflowers, to reduce the amount of lawn to cut, but the weeds won.
So we changed to native shrubs and now we can't stop planting.
My dear husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease just a few years ago. He always enjoyed his gardening so much... he was even a small hybridizer of specialty roses for a little while! We are very lucky to have about an acre of land in Northern California, right on the beautiful coast near Mendocino. Now that he is partly disabled, he's unable to manage the large areas of our humble little property which are "supposed to be lawn." We're in desperate need of new ideas for improved maintenance as well as information about how to make our large overgrown yard into a real garden. We're at "an age" when we'd like to find enjoyment & relaxation in our natural surroundings but as we both have disabilities, we're just struggling to keep things looking nice at all, and have no resources to get the help we need. It sounds as if Evelyn's book has so many great ideas - especially "No-Mow Lawns"!! We'd be ever so grateful to receive a copy of the book - and "dig in" to creating some beauty in the space right outside our door!
This book should be required reading for everyone in my neighborhood. Perhaps they'd opt for a more sensible approach to a lovely property instead of dousing their lawns with toxic chemicals that stink up the whole neighborhood. I'd love to have a copy of the book to help with my lawn eradication project which began several years ago. Then my yard could become an example of the beauty that can be attained without a lawn. Hopefully, the neighbors will follow suit.
I started ny private campaign against grass when I removed a tiny lawn from a brownstone in Brooklyn, replacing it with a dogwood tree and mulch. The tree thrived and I deposed of the mower.
Years later I bought my current home with 2 acres. Grass going down a steep hillside to a pond, grass almost everywhere. Today the back area is series of beds with rocks holding the soil in place while shrubs and perennials provide year round inerest. Their is a large (over 1000sq ft) native shrub bed, native grasses on the hellstrip, formal beds around the house. There's still some grass, but the amount shrinks every year.
I've been lobbying against grass ever since we moved to our little 18 home development. The builder did no soil preparation and our little postage stamp lawns have struggled to grow. I'm sick of the moss and weeds and of having to thatch, aerating and fertilizing to no avail. I would rip the grass out in a minute if my HOA would approve. Maybe this book will convince them! BYW, the back yard is a series of raised beds, flagstone and gravel. I love it.
The idea of no lawn suits me fine! My back yard is shaded, sloped and uneven, and some of the ideas I see would look much more appealing than just plain grass!
I'm really anxious to read this book. I'm a widow for 22 years now and love gardening. But since I'm going to be 75 soon I've slowed down a bit. My "grass" is just weeds that are mowed to look like grass, at least its green.Although my daughter's dog comes over and runs dirt paths in it. I just don't know what to do with it. My back is in bad shape so I can only work in the yard for about 1/2 hour and then have to sit down to rest for about 20 minutes til my back stops hurting, consequently I don't get too much done everyday. If I don't win this book I think I'll have to buy it. Please tell me how. I also have a big hill on one side, but since water is precious here in California I only plant succulents on it. They almost water themselves.
I do a lot of work for people who are tired of mowing grass, and when I talk to them about a no-mow back yard, or even a partial area without grass, they become very interested about the possiblities - especially when they learn that they'll be saving money on their water bills. This would be a great addition to the other books I present when I meet with a new customer. Thanks so much for the opportunity!
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Being a Master Gardener in Brevard Cty, Florida and running the Fee Ave Library MG Plant Clinic we are often asked questions regarding Ground Cover varieties, their availability and their ability to survive in our hostile environment. If we were fortunate to be chosen to receive this book it will be stored and used within the Library by the general public and customers of the plant clinic. Thanks for this opportunity to enhance of clinic's Library.
Just purchased "Beautiful No-Mow Yards," plus to other books by Evelyn for my Kindle. More than likely I will regret not purchasing the hard-cover copy, so I can enjoy the printed photos. Looking forward to more books by Evelyn. Beautiful photos!
I admire a well-executed lawn in the way I admire a beautiful tattoo - a thing of beauty that comes from significant effort and pain, but something I would never want for my own. From my early years on the prairies, and further shaped by endless childhood summers along the shores of Lake Superior (back in the day when you'd run out out of the cottage at first light, and only return when grandma rang the cowbell, signifying dinner), my love affair for moss, lichen, and natural ground covers has only amplified as I migrated to the Pacific Northwest. As a homeowner for the last 7 years, I tried to fit in; sodding and seeding, and de-mossifying with the best of them. Well, I've thrown in the trowel and am supporting my pollinators! Shrubs, grasses, European ginger, and flowering ground cover await planting; a pile of natural stepping stones will be installed to form a walkway through what I hope will become a beautiful, thoughtful and more natural space. Bravo to Evelyn for embracing this, questioning the logic in a non-judgemental fashion, and giving us a stunningly illustrated literary window into the no-mow world of beauty.
After purchasing and remodeling our new home we are ready to landscape!!! We have a large expanse of dirt/weeds awaiting transformation at the front of our home. our plan is to make it another outdoor entertainment area with a firepit tree swings and possible bocci ball. And just last month, we enlarged the useable poolside yard and hope to plant a low maintainence drought tolerant landsacpe, I would love to find a walkable ground cover that would be volleyball/ badminton friendly for part of the area. Looking forward to exploring the visions and inspirations in Beautiful No-Mow Yards. Connie ♥︎
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