Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass [Paperback]

Liz Primeau (Author), Andrew Layerle (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2003

Although upkeep is labor intensive and often requires an arsenal of dangerous chemicals to keep it free of weeds and pests, the appeal of a manicured lawn is almost irresistible. But more people are discovering a very attractive alternative.

Packed with practical tips and beautiful photographs, Front Yard Gardens:

• Explores the history of the lawn and our attachment to it
• Contains examples of front yard gardens from more than seventy gardens across North America
• Provides step-by-step instructions to start and grow your own front yard garden

Liz Primeau transformed her lawn in a quiet suburb to a mixed garden with a profusion of flowering plants, shrubs, and cacti. She now enjoys an eye-catching front garden that requires no chemicals and less watering than her lawn.

This book includes overall planning and design, and outlines the steps for removing the grass, enriching the soil, and planting. The book is divided into several types of front yard gardens, including cottage, minimalist, secret, neighborhood, downtown, and natural. She discusses the key elements of each style, gives tips on how to create and maintain the garden, and provides a list of complementary plants.

With more than two hundred beautiful photographs taken expressly for this book by Andrew Leyerle, Front Yard Gardens is a sensual treasure-trove of ideas.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Primeau, founding editor of Canadian Gardening magazine, posits that a perfect lawn may not always be a good thing, arguing that well-manicured lawns are high-maintenance, chemical-dependent water guzzlers; she would be happy to see them all replaced by the flower gardens so often relegated to the back yards of urban and suburban houses. Starting with the luxuriant display of flowers, foliage plants, and shrubs in her own front yard in Toronto, she discusses more than 70 front yard gardens, most of them in Canada but some in Texas, Arizona, California and Wisconsin. She divides these front yard gardens into eight types-cottage, small city, opulent, minimalist, fusion (some grass allowed), natural, neighborhood and secret-and shows in text and photographs how they were designed, how they reflect the personalities of their owners, and what plants were used. There can be obstacles to such gardens in cities and suburbs-neighbors' objections, local regulations, overhead and underground wires, bad drainage, and hard surfaces-and she describes how many people have overcome these problems. Unfortunately, Primeau doesn't include among the many splendid photographs in the book any that show how one of these colorful gardens would stand out in the context of a block where all the other houses are fronted with carpets of grass. But this is a small matter. The book is handsome, informative and amusingly written, and it should serve as an inspiration to those who are tired of old-fashioned lawns. 240 color photographs. Garden Book Club and Country Home & Garden Book Club selection.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Alternatives to the traditional lawn effectively cut down on water usage and may also play host to beneficial insects and birds. Once the desire to do away with grass takes root, readers can turn to Primeau for help in rejuvenating a front yard so that flowers, foliage textures, and hardscaping come together in inviting swaths to both beautify and benefit the environment. Options presented range from cottage style to a minimalist approach stressing restrained designs. Even fusion plans are included, showing landscapes where small areas of grass combine with beds, borders, or expansive plantings. Primeau's Canadian point of view proposes plant lists spanning the mild realm of Vancouver, cold-winter regions of Winnipeg and Toronto, along with a smattering of gardens from Texas, Arizona, and Wisconsin. Useful as a source book, this volume presents photographs and text that suggest potential ideas to increase curb appeal through the transformation of front yards and parkways. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books (March 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552977102
• ISBN-13: 978-1552977101
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.9 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #906,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars real yards, real houses, real people April 10, 2004

By Lisa Jadwin

Format:Paperback

So many gardening books focus on the high-end gardens of a few wealthy people. This book is practical, whimsical, and full of photographs and stories about real front-yard gardens. The owners have to contend with problems like streetlights, copycat neighbors, variances, etc., and many of them are redesigning and planting on a budget. This focus makes the book truly inspiring as well as useful. A great investment in getting rid of your boring lawn!

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not a YARD - it's a GARDEN! May 20, 2003

By Jessica Ferguson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Detailing more than two dozen gardens, Front Yard Gardens is instant motivation for anyone tired or mowing, weeding, watering and fertilizing lawns. With the author's short history of lawns and their demand on us and the environment it is clear to see why many may be happier if lawns went away. But Primeau certainly does not demonize the practice and fully admits that the problem is certainly not the plants - it is the way most of us choose to care for our lawns that impacts the land. Primeau's own garden was a decade long labor of love proving that eliminating a lawn can be arduous - but more arduous than lawn maintenance? Probably not. While the garden vignettes focus more on the individual space's history than providing how-to information, it is clear to see that diverse multi-species gardens can be immensely more entertaining than a single species mono-culture like turf grass. Several of the front yard gardens detailed in the book do maintain a small lawn space but most seem to have completely eliminated their lawns opting for lush garden plantings combined with hardscaping practicalities like paths, steps, fences and driveways, and, in one instance, even artificial turf, as well as fun garden features like ponds, bird houses, and sitting areas. Full color photos by Andrew Leyerle provide multiple views of the gardens, in some cases even highlighting their seasonal changes. A book for every garden style, level, and interest, Front Yard Gardens should not be missed.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No More Lawns! December 30, 2003

By Valerie Adolph

Format:Paperback

Have you ever wondered why front yards in North America consist mainly of lawn? Is there a law that demands this? The writer starts by briefly reviewing the history of our love/hate affair with the front lawn and pointing out how costly they are in labour, water and poisonous chemicals.

The writer then explains how she changed her ordinary, lawn-filled front yard into a garden, working around the objections of her husband. From there she explains the groundwork that must be undertaken when a plain front yard is changed into a garden. Most of the remaining chapters discuss different types of gardens - cottage gardens, minimalist gardens, small city gardens and so on. The writer presents each topic and then introduces gardeners who have developed variations on this theme. The final chapter "Overcoming Obstacles" shows how gardeners have coped with dry soil, steep gardens, a garden that must incorporate a fire hydrant or a power pole and so on. There is a reasonable resource list at the end.

This is a really useful book for people who are tired of the front lawn but don't know quite what else to do with the space. The approach is relaxed and personal and has examples of gardens from Ontario to Texas. The advice is practical, the illustrations are relevant and show the gardens at different seasons. The writer knows her topic thoroughly and has given us a very readable and attractive garden book.