Taylors Guide To Ground Covers

No category of plants works harder than ground covers to help a gardener create a beautiful yet low-maintenance landscape. In this book readers will discover the best plants * to stabilize banks and control erosion * to substitute for turf where grass won’t grow or is hard to mow * to line curbs and driveways, where salt will damage ordinary plants * to enhance a landscape with broad, dramatic sweeps.

The colorful, low-maintenance plants in this book are particularly useful for gardeners who have difficult, steep, rocky, dry, or infertile spots where more finicky plants won't grow.

Includes index.

Describes over three hundred species and varieties of ground covers, vines, and grasses with tips on selecting the right plant for the right place and advice for both amateurs and professionals.

Reveals the vital components of landscape design, offering advice on choosing a site, selecting plants, creating garden accessories, and maintaining a landscape.

Resource added for the Landscape Horticulture Technician program 100014.

A guide to gardening in the Southwest and Southern California includes advice on garden design and lawn care and presents information on appropriate plants for the region

Offers advice on selecting, growing, and caring for shrubs and ornamental plants, and provides an identification guide to various species.

Ground covers are widely thought of as utilitarian—we turn to them when we have a problem that needs a solution. How fast will it fill an area? Can we put it into the tight spaces between pavers? How much foot traffic can it withstand? Yet these plants also offer a diverse range of beautiful and intriguing options with a variety of colors, textures, and forms. They can unify a landscape, knit together plantings and hardscape, and add extra layers of beauty, dynamism, and surprise. As a replacement for lawns, they can reduce our use of water, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, carbon-based fuels, and transform a yard into a diverse landscape of habitat and food for native insects, birds, and other wildlife. In this meticulously researched reference, nurseryman Gary Lewis profiles more than 4000 ground covers that can perform these roles with aplomb. No matter what kinds of conditions you’re facing—shade, dry soil, heavy clay, excess moisture—there’s a ground cover that will thrive and beautify your garden. Comprehensive, practical, and copiously illustrated, this indispensable volume belongs on the shelf of every designer, landscape architect, and serious gardener.