Customer Reviews

Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass

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3 star:		(2)
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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!

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.

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.

If you're thinking about putting in a front yard garden, buy this book! For years I considered getting rid of the grass in my front yard. This book inspired me to finally do it!

I wondered how my neighbors would respond given that almost everyone in my area has grass in the front yard. I needn't have worried -- all summer people stopped to admire the garden. I was amazed at how many said they too are considering replacing grass with a garden.

A side benefit is the time I've saved. I chose low maintenance plants and once the garden was planted, maintaining it took much less time than cutting the grass every week.

Even if you don't want a front yard garden, this book is a winner. It's filled with beautiful pictures and is a great read. I've given it to a number of friends and, without exception, they too have really enjoyed it.

Just received this book and "Tauntons Front Yard Idea Book." That one and this one are filled with my post-its to mark pages that sparked ideas for my yard.

This book in particular was interesting in that Liz Primeau describes the genesis of her thought process regarding her ordinary front yard. She reclaimed her property by developing her own vision of what it should be for her enjoyment, as opposed to what the tradition dictates what a suburban front yard should look like.

Great book for reading, as well as beautiful pictures. Wonderful ideas, very nicely written.

I love this book. Two years ago I was inspired by this book to rid my yard of lawn. I had a designer design a cottage style garden for my front and back yard. It took my kids 2 months to dig up all the grass and then we started working on the design. We were novice gardners, so along with this book and about 12 others we have completed our yard.
My neighbors who are lawn lovers, have been very interested in our progress.
We wave and smile at everyone who pass as we work in the yard, and this seemed to ease some of the neighbors anxiety about our odd doings.
The kids are now 18, 15, 13, 12, and 6, so seeing the whole family working together has been a big plus.
So far we are still the only family in our subdivision with no lawn, but We get nice comments,and see more people gardening.
I am asthmatic so no lawn mower fumes are great, and this is a great "green " project for the whole family, and the kids are so proud of themselves, and the positive feedback they get.
This is a very expensive investment in time and plants but worth it.

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 very 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.

Liz Primeau has written an inspiring guide that can help you transform that bland patch of lawn between street and house into a rich landscape. Front Yard Gardens tells the stories in words and beautiful photographs of dozens of front gardens in various styles. The gardeners behind these wonderful front yards have coped with budget and space constraints, although most have dedicated considerable time and energy to their projects. Almost all of the gardens are Canadian, a plus for those of us who live in colder zones: many books about front yards emphasize styles that can only be achieved in milder areas like Southern California, where gardens remain lush year-round. Ms. Primeau's book is refreshing because it deals with the strategic and emotional challenges of introducing a front garden into a neighborhood where front lawns are the norm. The book also discusses the evolution of these gardens over time, encouraging the reader to simply start somewhere and implicitly acknowledging that for an enthusiastic gardener, the garden is never "done." Liz Primeau has given us a terrific book, although she has omitted photos of front gardens in winter and as part of streetscapes.

If you want more than a plain grass lawn, but need ideas for what to do, this book is for you. Full of beautiful photography, this book will give you plenty of inspiration. Primeau discusses the advantages to replacing your grass lawn with garden. Chapters are arranged according to different garden styles. Each chapter gives some plant suggestions as well.

This book has a lot of good information and nice pictures. I was however expecting more actual plans and more of a variety. Most of the locations are in Canada or cold parts of the U.S. (with some exceptions in Texas) and the theme of the front yards were mostly a cottage garden look or something similar (again, with the Texas houses as the exception). I'll keep looking for another book that has more styles to pick from.