Review
"... hands down one of the best garden writers I've had the pleasure of reading. I have a large library of gardening books, most with excellent content, but few rival the elegant and graceful prose of
Beautiful No-Mow Yards." - (
Garden Up! co-author Susan Morrison,
Blue Planet Garden Blog)
"... an abundance of beautiful and inspiring photos that clearly illustrate all of the author's suggestions. Readers who are intent on eliminating the traditional lawn will be delighted by the endless possibilities they will find in this timely publication." (Allan Becker,
BookPleasures)
"A well-written book, appealing and generous with information, and worth adding to the library." (Jill Billington,
Gardens Illustrated)
"
Beautiful No-Mow Yards showcases numerous eco-friendly alternatives to that voracious green turf... With drought and the likelihood of hosepipe bans forcing many of us to reconsider our gardening strategies, this book is a useful addition to our library." (Sarah Milliken,
Garden Design Journal)
"Beautiful [and] superbly written.
Beautiful No-Mow Yards is just what American gardeners need." (Susan Harris
Garden Rant)
“With refreshing zeal, the author urges us to rethink our yards, helping us to see that a lawnless or a less-lawn landscape can fascinate us with its beauty, complexity, and variability.” (
Publishers Weekly)
"Novice and expert gardeners will find this well-written and engaging work, enhanced with color photos and other illustrations, useful for all sizes of projects." (
Library Journal)
“Precise instructions on preparation, construction, and maintenance, along with dozens of plant recommendations for every site, make this an invaluable guide to the lawnless lifestyle.” (
Booklist)
“Deeply inspirational to anyone looking to make their yards more interesting, more beautiful, and more wildlife-friendly.” (
Garden Rant)
"... the ultimate resource for anyone looking to transform a typical, turf-dominated yard into a more livable and lively landscape." (
greatgardenspeakers.com)
“It 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.” (Billy Goodnick
Fine Gardening Online)
"Hadden demonstrates how creatively rewarding it can be to forgo the fescue." (Carol Haggas
Booklist)
From the Author
Hi. I'm Evelyn Hadden, and I wrote
Beautiful No-Mow Yards to show you that you have a lot of alternatives to that boring, lifeless lawn.
Part 1 offers
design inspiration, with a chapter devoted to each of the following: shade gardens, living carpets, prairie and meadow gardens, patios, rain gardens, play areas, ponds, xeric gardens, stroll gardens, edible gardens, and smarter lawns. In these chapters you'll meet gardeners from coast to coast and learn from their successes.
For instance, Marte planted a different groundcover under each of her trees. Tom and Karen dine outdoors all summer with a lively prairie garden as the floor show. Jay fills his woodland garden with nonstop color, and showy natives bloom under Michelle's mature maple trees. Lisa replaced her whole back lawn with a pond. Julie's family built a patio for pennies. Roy and Rosadelia grow food in their elegant front yard. Ann and Roger's low-care lawn uses half the water of standard turfgrass, while Peggy only mows hers once a year.
You may mow to give your kids a place to run, but for healthy brains and bodies, they also need to climb, to make their own dens, and to interact with plants and animals. Learn from the experts how to find and make creativity-boosting play areas for your kids.
Now that you're inspired, Part 2 shows you
how to get there, helping you convert your lawn to topsoil, add life to your design, and make sure that mother nature does more of the work than you do. It even gives tips for making your lawn more self-sustaining. Part 3 introduces 100
choice ground-layer plants, with clues to their behavior to help you site and combine them successfully.
Not all the plants, designs, or strategies presented throughout the book will work for every site or region, but you'll find enough information to make more educated choices about what might work best for your particular site and your style of gardening.
The message of this book, in a nutshell, is that no-mow yards support more life -- not only wildlife, but your family's life outdoors. That's my wish for all of us.
