Product Description

An essential reference to gardening in hot and cold dry climates.

Gardening where summers are hot and prone to periods of drought, or where winters are snowy one week and freezing rain the next, is best managed by xeriscaping -- dryland gardening techniques that favor not only water conservation but also the conservation of time, energy and other resources.

Xeriscaping enthusiasts exist throughout North America wherever the climate calls for dryland gardening, from the Great Plains prairies to the California desert.

Dryland Gardening explains time-tested strategies: - Coping with limited access to water - Dealing with invasive plants - Dealing with trees under stress - Nurturing groundcovers and grasses - Starting bulbs, perennials and vines - Growing vegetables, herbs and annuals.

This book includes both practical advice for dry-climate gardeners as well as an extensive planting list for grasses and groundcovers, bulbs, perennials and vines, vegetables and annuals, herbs, roses and shrubs.

Each plant entry provides: - Common and botanical names - Detailed descriptions - Planting instructions, care and maintenance.

Dryland Gardening celebrates a resilient garden with a beauty that requires fewer resources and less time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #115142 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781554070312
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
One need not live in the Southwest to welcome information on gardening in dry climates; nearly every region of the country experiences drought conditions from time to time. As seasonal temperatures increase, making weather patterns less predictable and jeopardizing existing freshwater supplies, gardeners everywhere can benefit from discovering the practices and determining the plants that can withstand such harsh conditions. Bennett provides thoughtful instructions on various water-conservation topics, including methods for adapting standard cultural procedures to maximize water retention. Augmented by brilliant color photographs and helpful lists of mail-order and Internet resources, Bennett's encyclopedic listing of annuals, bulbs, grasses, ground covers, herbs, perennials, and shrubs describes how these plants handle dry conditions, and comes with her personal recommendations for preferred cultivars. Global warming is, unfortunately, upon us; Bennett's guide to water-restricted gardening is a timely addition to the garden-resource bookshelf. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
A timely tome for these challenging times. -- Canadian Gardening 01/2006

Packages up a lot of comforting advice for dusty gardeners... choosing the right plant for the right place. -- Kathy Renwald, Toronto Star 03/24/2005

Water saving tips throughout the text and then groups suitable plants... a nice format with text arranged in easy-to-read columns. -- PamWaterman, San Gabriel Valley Tribune 10/15/2005

Review
This book is an excellent source of information on water conservation, low-maintenance and easy-care plants. (Irene Morton Fifty-Five Plus 20070601)

Bennett suggests many weatherproof plants that are a good choice for standing up to increasingly erratic weather. (Jan Riggenbach Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 200507)

Inspiring images to encourage landscape architects and lay gardeners to adopt plant palettes that minimize [water use]. (Landscape Architecture 20050518)

This book is exceptionally well presented with both content and glorious photographs. (Irene Morton Fifty-Five Plus 20050521)

It's easy to trust Jennifer Bennett's advice. She has experience gardening under difficult circumstances and gladly shares the secrets. (Jodi Torpey Horticulture, Gardening At Its Best 20050324)

Just in time comes this plant-centered book that focuses on creating beautiful, lush gardens in less-than-ideal conditions. (Valerie Easton Seattle Times 200509)

For gardeners in need of industrial-strength help, thanks either to their arid plots or irrational climate. (Mike Gillespie Ottawa Citizen 200504)

Packages up a lot of comforting advice for dusty gardeners... choosing the right plant for the right place. (Kathy Renwald Toronto Star 200507)

Whether you garden in a dry region or just have a periodically dry corner... [this book] has plenty to offer. (Viveka Neveln American Gardener 200507)

A wealth of information gleaned by the author as she coped with challenging conditions... friendly, lucid and authoriative. (Sheila Robertson Acreage Life 20050519)

[Jennifer Bennett] has first hand experience with the many challenges of gardening with tough winds, droughts and temperature conditions. (Joanne S. Carpender National Garden Clubs New Book Reviews 20050528)

Lovely pictures illustrate the text... Easy to read, informative and timely this book is recommended for public and horticultural libraries. (Sue O'Brien Library Journal 20050520)

Provides thoughtful instruction on various water-conservation topics... augmented by brilliant color photographs... a timely addition to the garden-resource bookshelf. (Carol Haggas Booklist 20050611)

How to make the moist of moisture, including mulching, planting strategic windbreaks and use hydrogels in the soil. (George Weigel Harrisburg Patriot-News 20050801)

Hot, dry summers don't necessarily rule out having a lush, beautiful garden. (Science News 20051015)

Practical advice and colorful portraits of hundreds of plants... a wonderful guide to bring along when shopping. (Denver Post 200601)

Hundreds of 'tough' plants that can remain attractive even when water supplies are low. (HortIdeas 20050703)

Lovely guide... if the dry weather here keeps up, hers is a guide to read. (Becky Homan St Louis Post-Dispatch 200712)

An excellent book for advice. (Stuart Robertson Montreal Gazette 20080430)

Excellent advice on how to choose and plant drought-tolerant plants, from herbs and perennials to shrubs and grasses. (Liz Grogan Good Times )

Water saving tips throughout the text and then groups suitable plants... a nice format with text arranged in easy-to-read columns. (Pam Waterman San Gabriel Valley Tribune )

A timely tome for these challenging times. (Canadian Gardening )

Create beautiful landscapes by following simple tips, techniques and choosing the proper plants. (Linda Turk Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal )

A useful and à propos guide for gardeners facing up to climate change. (Harrowsmith's Truly Canadian Almanac 2008 )

A must have. Although it's 10 years since it was published [it's] still relevant today in our increasingly droughty summers. (Rhea Hamilton-Seeger The Rural Voice (Blyth ON) )

Customer Reviews

Slightly misleading title for some
Based on its title, I bought this book, thinking it would be useful in the brutally hot, bone-dry and windy desert southwest, where we average 5" of rain per year. Turns out that "Dryland" and "thrive in tough conditions" means "dryish with cold winters", as this book's focus is on zones 4-7, and it rather pointedly avoids most plants which actually do thrive with little moisture in our hot low desert. I don't mean to come down hard on the author; the book is very nice and well laid out and has great photos, but if you are looking for low desert problem solving, don't let this book's title mislead you as it did me.

An overview of low-water gardening. You'll need another manual if you want to overhaul your own landscaping.
Jennifer Bennett's DRYLAND GARDENING is a well-structured and well-researched guide to plants that survive and thrive in tough conditions. The author describes herbs, ground covers, bulbs, vines, flowers, and shrubs that will withstand the inevitable drought she (and many scientists) believe our world will be facing in a matter of years.

DRYLAND GARDENING is best read as an overview of alternative garden theories. The reader will be introduced to dozens of species and techniques, complete with illustrations. For a major garden overhaul, however, a more detailed climate-specific manual should be purchased. If you read DRYLAND GARDENING and are inspired to modify your landscaping, I recommend picking up Ortho's All About Dry Climate Gardening or a title from the Sunset series.

A real problem-solver for any seeking to produce a beautiful garden under today's drier conditions
As the planetary weather patterns and overall environment warms, so garden plants which typically did well in prior decades are now suffering from hotter summers, requiring even the most experienced gardener to try new plants which have a greater range of tolerance to warmer conditions. Gardening writer Jennifer Bennett has already produced several award-winning titles, but Dryland Gardening: Plants That Survive And Thrive In Tough Conditions is broader-based than most, and provides alternative plant choices for all kinds of dry conditions. Organized by type of plant: bulbs, grasses, groundcovers and vines, and even herbs, Dryland Gardening is a real problem-solver for any seeking to produce a beautiful garden under today's drier conditions.