Gardening With Prairie Plants: How To Create Beautiful Native Landscapes

by Sally Wasowski, Andy Wasowski (Photographer)

Practical, comprehensive, and packed with information—the indispensable guide and resource for prairie gardening


Why have home gardeners, professional horticulturists, and landscape preservationists increasingly been attracted to prairie plants? The beauty and hardiness of these flowers, grasses, trees, and shrubs, along with their easy maintenance and environmental friendliness, have spurred a surge of interest in prairie gardens. Whether you are considering adding these plants to a more conventional landscape or intending to "go native" all the way, Gardening with Prairie Plants is the most comprehensive resource and guide available.   Award-winning gardening author and landscape designer Sally Wasowski provides accessible, practical information on every aspect of prairie   Getting how to plan and install small and large landscapes   Working with your how to adapt prairie landscapes to suburban neighborhoods or modest city lots   Planning your how to find the right plants for your yard, with comprehensive listings for more than three hundred species, charts addressing soil and light conditions, range maps, and color photographs   Choosing how to select recommended flowers, listed by season, to ensure continuous bloom and to attract a variety of birds and butterflies   Lavishly illustrated with stunning photographs by Andy Wasowski, Gardening with Prairie Plants includes thorough descriptions of plants native to most of North America—from New York to Colorado, and from Texas north to Minnesota and the western provinces of Canada. If you want to create a landscape of maximum beauty with minimum upkeep, Gardening with Prairie Plants tells you everything you need to know to begin and to develop a beautiful, earth-friendly prairie garden.    

Genres: Gardening, Plants

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 2001

Reviews

[Grady J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to prairie gardening from pocket prairies to larger restorations. I found the chapters on prairie anatomy helpful and the plant profile section is a fantastic resource for anyone new to the prairie species that might be in their area. However, much of the writing just wasn't that engaging. The plethora of examples are great to look at (the photographs are wonderful and inspiring) but pedantic in writing. A worthwhile read for getting started with a few gems (examples, plant profiles) but deficits that are better addressed in other related books.

[David Bellangue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine general introduction to the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Even better when combined with additional sources like the Tallgrass Restoration Handbook. And the color photographs are hard to beat.

[Dayna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the idea of landscaping with plants native to my area, and this book is very helpful in identifying those plants. But the examples given are mostly for if you have a couple to several acres, and are basically planning on planting a remnant of prairie. If I had that much land and didn't have to deal with neighborhood covenants, I would totally do that! But I don't and do. I was looking more for advice on putting together pretty, native plants in small beds. This book provides inspiration and good info, but I wanted specific tips and ideas for planting a "prairie" in a small flowerbed.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My feeling as I read this book was that there were too many examples of large, wild-looking expanses of prairie gardens, and not enough examples of more confined prairie gardens that would appeal to the typical suburban homeowner. I also wish the Wasowskis had been able to include a photo for most of the species they mention, rather than for less than 50% of them. (I love the range maps, though, and wouldn't want to sacrifice them.)

Those 2 gripes aside, this is an excellent book and I strongly recommend it, especially for anyone gardening in an area that was originally prairie.

[Jeremy H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good native plant book.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Especially for sunny areas - prairie plants! lots of good info and easy to access.