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

If there's one lesson every homeowner must learn, it's 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 isn't 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.

We've reached a stage where we can no longer follow past practices unthinkingly, particularly when those practices are wasteful and harmful to the environment. It's time to get rid of the old-fashioned lawn and embrace a sane and healthy future: the American meadow garden.

• Planting: A New Perspective
• Grasses: Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design
• The Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses: How to Grow and Use Over 250 Beautiful and Versatile Plants
• Covering Ground
• Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change
• Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes
• Sowing Beauty: Designing Flowering Meadows from Seed
• Dream Plants for the Natural Garden
• Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives
• The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes