Landscaping With Native Plants Of Texas 2nd Edition

In this comprehensive, richly illustrated guide, author George Oxford Miller provides the "how-to," "when-to," and "what-to" for gardeners, landscapers, and homeowners throughout Texas. Have you ever planted a beautiful—and expensive—shrub in your yard and watched it slowly die because it was in the wrong location? Insufficient sunlight, too much water, improper soil, or too hot an exposure can turn the nursery-perfect specimen into an eyesore. This all-in-one DIY guide helps you beautify your yard using low-maintenance native plants specifically adapted to your local growing conditions. Whether as foundation hedges, mass plantings, or accent shrubs, Texas’ vast offering of native species can bring year-round beauty to any lawn space. Covering wildflowers, shrubs, trees, vines, cacti, and groundcovers, this book selects the species that combine ornamental qualities, growth habit, adaptability, and year-round beauty for the highest landscape value. Chapters include photos, maps, charts, and design samples to provide guidelines for species selection and planting, ongoing maintenance, landscape design, and water and energy conservation. Plant descriptions provide detailed habitat requirements for hundreds of native plants, and photos illustrate how each plant looks in the landscape. In Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas, new and experienced gardeners alike will find the facts and advice needed to choose the plants best adapted for their particular landscape. The ornamental beauty of Texas’ native species and the economic advantages of using plants adapted to the local climate demonstrate that the best for our landscapes often comes from our own backyards. And perhaps most importantly, using native plants encourages the repair and preservation of natural plant communities and the wildlife they shelter.

Library Journal noted, "Readers will probably start mapping their yards even before putting it down."

Offers the most comprehensive guide to landscaping with native plants available.

In today’s South, where fine gardening is a tradition, many homeowners and professional gardeners are discovering a vast “new” palette of plant materials—native plants. They are realizing that these native wildflowers, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines, and grasses are far better suited, and therefore easier to grow and maintain, than most of the imported plants that populate traditional landscapes. In this book, the authors offer an exciting vision of the many possibilities and advantages of “going native.” Lavishly illustrated with more than 250 gorgeous color photographs, this book is both an introduction to more than 200 of the most familiar and easiest-to-find native plants of the South and a basic primer on how to use them effectively.

As the world heats up and we become more and more conscious of our place in the natural scheme, the appeal of the native plants of the Southwest becomes ever more compelling for gardeners. In addition to providing year-round beauty with relatively little maintenance, landscaping with native plants contributes to the repair of the natural ecosystem and brings us closer to our environment—and the array of native plant material available to the Southwestern gardener is diverse and spectacular, providing seemingly endless opportunities for creative and attractive landscapes. In Landscaping with Native Plants of the Southwest, George Oxford Miller provides the definitive guide to choosing the best of the best among the native plants of Arizona and New Mexico. Covering wildflowers, shrubs, trees, vines, groundcovers, and cacti, this comprehensive, richly illustrated book selects the species whose ornamental qualities, growth habit, adaptability, maintenance needs, and beauty add up to the highest landscape value. The illustrations, maps, and charts provide guidelines for species selection and planting, ongoing maintenance, landscape design, and water and energy conservation. In-depth plant profiles describe the habitat requirements for more than 350 native plant species, subspecies, and varieties, with lush photographs illustrating how each plant looks and responds to landscape conditions. As the interest in native-plant landscaping and xeriscaping continues to grow, this book will find a place on the shelf of every gardener and landscaper in the region—or of anybody interested in recreating the beauty of the Southwest in a hot, dry corner of the yard.

Since its first publication in 1986, How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest has set the standard for both home and professional gardeners. Written when the native plant movement was just getting started, it helped convert a generation of gardeners to the practical and aesthetic values of using drought-tolerant plants in southwestern landscapes. In this new edition, Jill Nokes has extensively rewritten every section to include the latest information on the production, cultivation, and landscape use of native plants. She has added over 75 new species and updated the propagation and care information for the original 350 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines. In addition to the individual plant descriptions, she also devotes whole chapters to gathering and storing seeds, seed germination, planting, vegetative propagation, and transplanting. With this wealth of clearly presented, easy-to-reference information, How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest will remain the last word on this subject.

#4 on Publishers Weekly's Bestselling Gardening Books list! This new, completely revised edition has over 500 new photographs, 400 new illustrations, 400 new plants and trees, the latest pest control recommendations, fruit and vegetable recommendations, new tips and plants specifically for Southern Texas, plus everything in the first edition.

Have you ever planted a beautiful, and expensive, shrub in your yard and watched it slowly die because it was in the wrong location? Not enough light, too much water, improper soil, or too hot an exposure can turn the nursery-perfect specimen into an eyesore. This all-in-one guide helps you beautify your yard, not with high-maintenance imports, but with native plants adapted to your local growing conditions. Whether as a foundation hedge, mass planting, or accent shrub, native species can provide year-round beauty to your yard. While the interest in native-plant landscaping and xeriscaping (sp?) has mushroomed, the necessary "how-to," "when-to," and "what-to" has been slow in coming. In this comprehensive, richly illustrated guide, George Oxford Miller describes the best of the best. Covering wildflowers, shrubs, trees, vines, cacti, and groundcovers, the book selects the species that combine ornamental qualities, growth habit, adaptability, and year-round beauty for the highest landscape value. Chapters with photos, maps, charts, and design samples provide guidelines for species selection and planting, ongoing maintenance, landscape design, and water and energy conservation. Plant descriptions and photographs provide detailed habitat requirements for each and illustrate how each plant looks and responds to landscape conditions. New and experienced gardeners alike will find the facts and advice needed to choose the plants best adapted for their particular landscape design. The unique botanical heritage of Texas provides a treasure chest of choices for home and commercial landscaping. The ornamental beauty of our native species and the economic advantages of using plants adapted to the local climate have demonstrated that the best for our yards sometimes comes from our own backyards, often literally as urban sprawl creeps across the prairies, hills, and forests of our state. But perhaps most importantly, using native plants encourages the repair and preservation of natural plant communities and the wildlife they shelter.

First published thirty years ago, the long-awaited second edition of Growing California Native Plants is the ideal hands-on native plant guide for both experienced and novice gardeners. In addition to the voluminous knowledge contributed by Marjorie G. Schmidt, now deceased, Katherine L. Greenberg has taken note of the vibrant state of today’s horticultural scene, adding plants and ideas that were little known when the book first appeared. Lavishly illustrated with 200 new color photographs, drawings, maps, and charts, this concise and easy-to-use reference covers trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, bulbs, grasses, and vines, and includes a plant selection guide for quick reference. The authors, whose combined experience spans six decades, take California’s summer-dry climate and restricted water supplies into account and provide helpful notes on companion plants and gardening with wildlife. Practical and informative, Growing California Native Plants is a valuable reference for gardeners everywhere in California and an enjoyable book simply to explore.

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.