Enjoy it. These final two words of the sub-title to Valerie Easton’s new book, “The NEW Low-Maintenance Garden” are the key to her message. Other low maintenance manuals treat the garden as a bothersome necessity to having a house; here the emphasis in on the joy of the garden, without it taking over your life.
Organized by broad themes, including “Design with Maintenance in Mind” and “Nature’s Rhythms”, Easton augments her points with interviews of an impressive list of designers, gardeners, and home owners who have created a successful outdoor space. She completes each chapter with a list of books and other resources (once a librarian…) and throughout there are oodles of tips for simplification. Best of all, she gives the type A gardener permission to relax, and to find the pleasure of it all again.
Excerpted from the Fall 2010 Arboretum Bulletin.