Reimagining the California Lawn:Water-conserving Plants, Practices, and Designs [Paperback]

Carol Bornstein (Author), David Fross (Author), Bart O'Brien (Author), John Evarts (Editor), Marjorie Popper (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2011

Reimagining the California Lawn features water-conserving plants from around the world and offers design ideas and practical solutions to help you create a vibrant garden that complements our mediterranean climate. From greenswards and meadows to succulent and kitchen gardens, this book presents alternatives to the traditional lawn that can reduce water use, beautify the landscape, and attract birds and butterflies. The authors of Reimagining the California Lawn, Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O Brien, are visionary horticulturists who wrote the award-winning book California Native Plants for the Garden. With this new publication, they share their passion for water-wise plants and landscapes to help Californians discover the many possibilities and pleasures that come with reimagining the lawn.

If you are thinking about removing or reducing your lawn, this inspiring book is the perfect companion to help you begin the process. Its detailed text provides information about how to plan, install, and maintain an attractive landscape that can replace your lawn and describes hundreds of water-thrifty plants from California and other mediterranean climates of the world. Reimagining the California Lawn is illustrated with more than 300 color photographs and offers a variety of plant palettes to choose from as you begin the process of creating a more sustainable landscape.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Reimagining the California Lawn is a long-needed tool to reduce carbon and water footprints while preserving beauty and utility. No other author or imprint can rival Bornstein, Fross, and O'Brien's careful selection of species, plant profiles, clear pictures and reliable notes about where each type of plant will thrive and what it will need. -- Emily Green, Los Angeles Times

The new book, a typically handsome Cachuma Press product, combines inspiration with practical advice to replace thirsty lawns with something more sustainable and interesting. -- Joe Eaton, Ron Sullivan, San Francisco Chronicle

The book California gardeners have been waiting for has arrived...There are plenty of illustrated ideas in Reimagining the California Lawn. One of them is bound to inspire you to make the leap. -- Sharon Cohoon, Sunset's "Fresh Dirt" garden blog

Boasting more than 300 glorious color photographs and a wide variety of plant palettes from which to choose, this timely book helps creative gardeners build a beautiful and sustainable landscape. -- K. Reka Badger, Santa Barbara News-Press

Reimagining the California Lawn is the book you've been looking for. It will answer many questions and provide guidance as well as practical solutions to common problems during the transition from lawn to a more sustainable landscape. -- Jeanne Santangelo, Marinscope Community Newspapers

Reimagining the California Lawn provides a comprehensive set of tools to reinterpret your garden. It's an excellent resource, whether you're planning to replace your lawn, or just make it more efficient. -- Joan S. Bolton, Santa Maria Times

If you are interested in reducing or replacing your lawn, Reimagining the California Lawn provides the information and inspiration for a successful transition. -- Tom Karwin, Monterey County Herald

The authors display an astounding level of expertise, and offer a level of detail well beyond the range of most gardening books. -- Susan Morrison, "Blue Planet Garden Blog"

Plenty of beautiful photographs, clear and concise writing, nice layout. --Virginia Hayes,Santa Barbara Independent

About the Author

Carol Bornstein is a horticulturist, instructor, and garden designer. For more than 30 years, she has been an advocate for sustainable, regionally appropriate landscaping. While Director of Horticulture at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, she managed the living collections, retail nursery, and plant introduction program and selected several new cultivars. She continues to seek out exceptional plants for California gardens and to share her knowledge of plants native to California and other mediterranean regions through her writing, teaching, and design work.

David Fross is the founder and president of Native Sons Wholesale Nursery, a grower specializing in plants from mediterranean-climate regions of the world. He teaches horticulture at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and is the co-author of Ceanothus.

Bart O Brien is the Director of Special Projects at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, an educational institution dedicated to research, conservation, and horticulture of California native plants. A fifth-generation Californian, he is an authority on the native flora of the state and of northern Baja California and is an accomplished collector, grower, lecturer, and author. He was named the Horticulturist of the Year in 2005 by the Southern California Horticultural Society and was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times in 2006.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Cachuma Press; First edition (April 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978997123
• ISBN-13: 978-0978997120
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > By Region > West
  • #36 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > Landscape
  • #43 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > Garden Design

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Xeri gardener must have May 11, 2011

By Leonard J. Loomis

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Since we live in Southern California where the price of water is rising faster than we can keep up with it we made a decision 18 months ago to exchange 40 percent of our thirsty lawn for plants that need much less water. This was an important and complex project since our neighborhood is larger older ranch-executive homes fronted by a lot of lawn and with very short or low walls delineating property lines. So colorless, thorny plants weren't an option. We hired an excellent contractor and gave him a color palette and an instruction that we wanted year around color and a water bill 40% lower than previously. Our contractor did most of the thinking for us and we really had no written reference at our finger tips. Now the garden is an absolute wonder and includes rabbits and quail. But it is ever changing as our moods suit us or a plant dies -- we've only lost 5 of the 148 original plantings. If you are planning a project like ours or looking for ideas to improve what you've got, this book is an absolute must and deserves to be handy on your coffee table (you will be asked a million questions about your project) both as a reference and because it is a beautiful, informative tome.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, inspiring May 13, 2011

By RSF reader

Format:Paperback

This is a fabulous book for those of us who plan to get rid of our lawns to conserve water. What is particularly helpful are the myriad high-quality pictures which give ideas and inspiration.

What I particularly like is the variety of ideas: meadows, succulent gardens, cacti, veggies, wildlife gardens. There is something for everybody.

I initially got this book from the library to see if it was a reference I needed to have. IT IS!!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable for native plant gardeners and those just wishing to replace that boring old lawn September 22, 2011

By Gen of North Coast Gardening TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This book takes on the monumental task of discussing and explaining the water-conserving plants and practices that can replace the wildlife-free zone known as the lawn. I was pleased to find the authors relying heavily on natives to create the lovely examples shown, and the non-natives are appropriately low-water and friendly to pollinators and birds.

What I love best about this book is they show how to design with natives in a way that is beautiful and fits into most people's ideas of what a lovely garden or landscape should look like. So many books about native plants show them in the wild, and while it's nice to be able to ID the plants - actually seeing them in use in the garden, draping over a wall or mingling with other plants, is massively helpful. The non-native plants are easy to find in nurseries and are good garden do-ers that will perform successfully and look attractive even in the worst conditions. Following the advice in the book, it'd be hard to create an ugly garden.

The book also has a set of plant lists in the back for quick reference, and they don't shy away from tackling the toughest design problems, either. Dry shade, "bulletproof", poor drainage - they cover a number of specific scenarios that are tough to find effective plants for.

If you dream of chipping away at your lawn and planting something more beautiful, friendly to wildlife, and that uses less water, then this book will be an invaluable guide along the way. Their coverage of succulents, native plants, and ideas for how to deal with edibles in the front yard make it an invaluable reference for generating ideas for a lawn-free garden.