Requiem for a Lawnmower

Library Journal

Wasowski, author of Landscaping with Native Texas Plants (Gulf, 1988), considers herself a ``botanical missionary'' on the subject of native plants and hopes that these essays will convince more people to use them in naturalistic and low-maintenance landscapes. She offers brief discussions of topics such as xeriscaping, preserving a wooded lot during construction, and using native plants for various garden styles and purposes. However, many of these plants are more appropriate to the Southwest than to the national audience Wasowski hopes to address. She also seems inconsistent in her philosophy of natural design, arguing on the one hand that native plant gardening does not preclude the use of introduced species and on the other that ``a natural landscape should be composed of only those plants that would have naturally occurred on that site.'' This remains an excellent choice for libraries in the Southwest but optional elsewhere.-- Beth Clewis, Prince William P.L., Va.

George Cohen

The authors advocate growing native plants for easy gardening and a minimum of upkeep; they advise readers to turn their gardens into an ecologically sound landscape, offer tips on watering, and have a few good words for organic gardening. An essay on turning the lawn into a woodland flower garden provides the book's title--since the lawnmower would no longer be needed. If it's grass you want, they recommend buffalograss for less maintenance. Leave the leaves on the ground, they advise; it's good for mulch. Also, there's a list of herbs to plant and advice on attracting birds. The finished book will have 16 watercolors.