annieb123
Written on Mar 1, 2020
Gardening Your Front Yard is a moderately comprehensive tutorial for turning unexploited yard areas into productive gardening spaces. Due out 10th March 2020 from Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 208 pages and will be available in hardcover format.
This is a well written and engaging tutorial which really deconstructs and creatively looks at the front lawn area of most suburban homes. This isn't about ripping up lawn and letting native plants ("weeds") run rampant, but rather about creatively re-imagining and utilizing the space for alternative purposes, whether entertaining or bio-friendly goals.
The first chapter's introduction focuses on seeing what the reader's constraints and possibilities are and brainstorming creatively. There are practical project tutorials in all of the chapters. The first (introductory) chapter includes a really good treatise on decreasing street noise and increasing security (no bushes or trees should block the sight line to the front door, for example).
The following chapters' projects are arranged roughly thematically: increasing green rooms at the front of the house for social/entertaining, flowers and foliage beds (including a great tutorial on making a cutting garden as well as attracting native pollinators), attractive vegetable gardening which work in the front yard (yes, it's possible!), xeriscaping (water saving), and permaculture and other features like sedum carpets.
There are a lot of good and usable takeaways in this collection. The photography is stellar and the writing is clear. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.