Beyond the Lawn: Unique Outdoor Spaces for Modern Living [Paperback]

Keith Davitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

"Grass is pass¬," says veteran landscape designer Keith Davitt. He goes beyond the traditional lawn in this book, now in paperback, in which he offers a number of fresh, new ideas for transforming front and backyards into sanctuaries that pack plenty of curb appeal and offer a hideaway for you and your family and friends.

This refreshing book offers myriad ideas for nontraditional outdoor spaces that are as beautiful as they are low maintenance. YouÆll discover how to banish cutting, watering, and weed worries forever by creating lovely outdoor spaces that replace the traditional grass lawn with rock walls, sculptures, native grasses, mosses, wildflowers, and more.

Davitt guides you through making design choices that suit your unique needs, such as determining which plants thrive in particular climates and soil conditions. He shows how to beautify your landscape with numerous materials and techniques, ultimately proving that it is possible to create a truly stunning garden without grass.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Homeowners reluctant to "make the investment of time and resources that lawns require" should consider gardens sans grass, insists garden designer Davitt-but while his ideas for rock gardens, ground covers and terraces are on the whole appealing, most look like they'd take more maintenance (and money) than a traditional lawn. In chapters that highlight pebbled gardens, bricked gardens, gardens with water and other themes, Davitt picks admirable specimens and then analyzes them according to "the look," "what works and why," "variations on a theme" (in which he makes suggestions for changes) and "where this style can be used"-a tactic that some readers might find helpfully consistent and others repetitively intrusive. One garden, with its pattern of contrasting stones, evokes a creek bed; another features a deck devoted to succulents. There are many different plans here, and plenty of illustrations, though the design of the pages themselves is blocky and not particularly attractive. Arial shots and layout drawings reveal the gardens' shapes clearly, while side notes with titles like "Nothing in a garden exists alone" and "What is a garden?" seek to add a kind of semi-philosophical gravitas. A book that belongs in a workroom rather than on the coffee table, this volume should offer disenchanted grass-growers plenty of new ideas. Color illustrations throughout.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"An array of miraculous garden makeovers makes Beyond the Lawn a fascinating read for anyone seeking inspiration to create a lawnless garden." Home magazine"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592530974
• ISBN-13: 978-1592530977
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,835,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Keith Davitt is an award winning landscape designer who has been designing and landscapes nationwide and abroad for over twenty years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many unusual beautiful gardens & good design analysis, August 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond the Lawn: Unique Outdoor Spaces for Modern Living (Hardcover)

This book is full of pictures of unusual and beautiful gardens all very different from one another. I especially enjoyed seeing the variety of what is possible. The text focuses mainly on design with discussion on style and analysis of what works and why. Although I think Keith Davitt's first book "Small Spaces Beautiful Gardens" was a superior book with more information on how each garden was created and before & after pictures, I still highly recommend this book for its many examples and design tips.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, November 24, 2004

By 

Greg Speichert "garden guy" (Cedar Lake, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Lawn: Unique Outdoor Spaces for Modern Living (Hardcover)

This is a great book for the gardener with little space. All of the gardens featured are pretty small by suburban standards. But none the less, the gardens and designs Keith Davitt covers are spectacular.
You will discover how to get rid of that same old boring lawn that everyone else has on the block. Davitt takes you through creating your very own unique garden with stone, brick, gravel, water and lots more. He covers why it works for the owner and the space given. It gives valuable insights for the gardener planning a new space.

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended, April 18, 2008

By 

David R. Rehm (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beyond the Lawn: Unique Outdoor Spaces for Modern Living (Hardcover)

Great book for those of us who want to dump the wasted space of a water hogging lawn and be creative. From simple to complex, a very nice collection of ideas and photos.