The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn

About this book

If theres one lesson every homeowner must learn its this: The traditional lawn is a huge time consuming synthetic-chemical sucking mistake. The time has come to look for new ways to create friendly livable spaces around our homes. In The American Meadow Garden ornamental grass expert John Greenlee creates a new model for homeowners and gardeners. For Greenlee a meadow isnt a random assortment of messy anonymous grasses. Rather it is a shimmering mini-ecosystem in which regionally appropriate grasses combine with colorful perennials to form a rich tapestry that is friendly to all life with minimal input of water time and other scarce resources. Kids and pets can play in complete safety and birds and butterflies flock there. A prairie style planting is a place you want to be. With decades of experience as a nurseryman and designer John Greenlee is the perfect guide. He details all the practicalities of site preparation plant selection and maintenance; particularly valuable are his explanations of how ornamental grasses perform in different climates and areas. Gorgeous photography by Saxon Holt visually illustrates the message with stunning examples of meadow gardens from across the country. Weve reached a stage where we can no longer follow past practices unthinkingly particularly when those practices are wasteful and harmful to the environment. Its time to get rid of the old-fashioned lawn and embrace a sane and healthy future: the American meadow garden.