Beautiful No-Mow Yards

December 19, 2011
In many American towns and cities, the steady hum of lawn mowers and gasoline-powered weed whackers constitutes a summer symphony. Neighbors often vie with one another to grow the greenest and lushest lawn, free of dandelions or crabgrass, and often shun those neighbors who choose an alternative to the orderly, closely cut patches of grass or sod. Experts now recognize lawns as the largest irrigated crop in the United States, and the chemical pesticides and fertilizers we use on our lawns have polluted our surface water and contaminated our groundwater. Drawing examples from expert gardeners from around the world, garden design expert Hadden (Shrink Your Lawn) suggests a number of ways that lawns can be replaced by meadow and prairie gardens, rain gardens, or edible gardens, among others. She then takes us step-by-step through the process of converting a lawn to a garden and maintaining it, offering very thorough recommendations for a significant variety of plants that thrive in various types of gardens. With refreshing zeal, the author urges us to rethink our yards, helping us to see that a lawnless or a less-lawn landscape can fascinate us with its beauty, complexity, and variability.

February 1, 2012

Maintaining a traditional lawn is time consuming, expensive, and a poor environmental choice, but few can imagine other options. Hadden (founder, LessLawn.org; Apprentice to a Garden) has designed this book to encourage us to rethink our yards. Her introduction explains the benefits of smaller lawns or even no lawn at all, while the heart of the book is meant to serve as inspiration by detailing 11 gardens from around the states. Hadden goes on, in Part 2, to examine the process of removing a lawn and designing, planting, and maintaining a new garden; in Part 3, she provides a small sampling of ground-layer plants. For those frightened to remove an entire lawn, she suggests developing a smaller "habitat hedge," creating a visual focal point and a welcoming place for butterflies and songbirds. VERDICT Novice and expert gardeners will find this well-written and engaging work, enhanced with color photos and other illustrations, useful for all sizes of projects. Because it will appeal to a range of gardening enthusiasts, it will fit nicely into public library gardening collections.--Lisa A. Ennis, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Lib.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
Mow No Mo'! may be the rallying cry of those who spend more than they like of their leisure time steering a lawn mower yet to whom the idea of a grassless lawn seems a horticultural oxymoron. Granted, there are landscapes for which a lush carpet of green is the appropriate choice. But there are an equal number in which an alternative would be just as alluring, especially given the negative environmental impact the upkeep of lawns entails. Not that Hadden is advocating the sort of unkempt snakepit of weeds that will outrage neighbors. Instead she offers 50 replacement lawns designed to keep everyone happy. Ranging over the options, from swaying sedges to creeping ground covers, Hadden demonstrates how creatively rewarding it can be to forgo the fescue. Precise instructions on preparation, construction, and maintenance, along with dozens of plant recommendations for every site, make this an invaluable guide to the lawnless lifestyle.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

Starred review from December 1, 2016

Hadden (Hellstrip Gardening) speaks to a wide audience while zealously showcasing 11 American gardens. (LJ 2/1/12)

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.