The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn


John Greenlee - 2009
    The time has come to look for new ways to create friendly, livable spaces around our homes. In The American Meadow Garden, ornamental grass expert John Greenlee creates a new model for homeowners and gardeners. For Greenlee, a meadow isn't a random assortment of messy, anonymous grasses. Rather, it is a shimmering mini-ecosystem, in which regionally appropriate grasses combine with colorful perennials to form a rich tapestry that is friendly to all life — with minimal input of water, time, and other scarce resources. Kids and pets can play in complete safety, and birds and butterflies flock there. A prairie style planting is a place you want to be. With decades of experience as a nurseryman and designer, John Greenlee is the perfect guide. He details all the practicalities of site preparation, plant selection, and maintenance; particularly valuable are his explanations of how ornamental grasses perform in different climates and areas. Gorgeous photography by Saxon Holt visually illustrates the message with stunning examples of meadow gardens from across the country. We've reached a stage where we can no longer follow past practices unthinkingly, particularly when those practices are wasteful and harmful to the environment. It's time to get rid of the old-fashioned lawn and embrace a sane and healthy future: the American meadow garden.

Gardening Your Front Yard: Projects and Ideas for Big and Small Spaces


Tara Nolan - 2020
    With her unique combination of DIY/building savvy and gardening expertise, author Tara Nolan (Raised Bed Revolution) weaves you past the main pitfalls you may encounter when trying to fit a garden or gardens between your home and the street. This beautiful and comprehensive hardcover book shows how to accomplish several hardscape projects, such as building front patios, borders, edging, and walkways, as well as making your own raised beds, planting containers, trellises, rose arbors, privacy screens, and more—all custom-designed for the rigors of front-yard gardening.Gardening Your Front Yard is a garden book in every sense of the word, however. Choosing the right plants is even more important when you are dealing with a small, highly visible area with less than ideal growing conditions—all common traits of most front yards. You will find advice on training vines up brickwork and planting around foundation walls, planting boulevards/hell strips, and you’ll even take a trip into the side yard. Shade gardens, privacy screening, and security dos and don'ts are covered, plus how to intermingle edibles and landscape plants, cactus and succulent gardens, birdbaths, and much, much more. With the sage advice and step-by-step projects of this comprehensive guide, convert your front yard from a bland grasscape to a vital living space.

The Highland Heart Collection Box Set


Cali MacKay - 2013
    ***The Highlander's Hope***When Dr. Catriona Ross discovers clues to a long lost highland treasure, her only hope of finding the jewels is to obtain the help of Scotland's most eligible bachelor and playboy, Iain MacCraigh.​Iain can't believe his luck when he finds out the jewels are hidden away somewhere on his land-- and it doesn't hurt that the historian looking for them has curves to go with her smarts. With his brother betting the family fortune, this is the life line he desperately needs.​The odds are against them, and with word getting out about the jewels, they're not the only ones on the hunt. Time's running out, but can they learn to trust each other, or will they lose the jewels and true love in the process?A Highland Home***Rowan Campbell is desperate for answers. She’s lived her life without knowing a thing about her father, her mother refusing to speak of him, even on her deathbed. With her cheating fiancé gone and no one else in her life, Rowan moves to her mother’s hometown in Scotland, determined to find the father she’s never known.When Angus Macleod agrees to help a family friend move to Scotland from the States, the last thing he expects is to fall hard for the fiery redhead, who makes him rethink his bachelor ways. Looking for any excuse to spend time with Rowan, he’s more than happy to help her find her father, even if she’s skittish about committing to anything serious. But when Angus discovers Rowan’s mother left Scotland pregnant and terrified, he wonders how dangerous Rowan’s quest might be. Before long, Angus finds himself hindering rather than helping, despite knowing his actions could ruin any chance he has for happiness.With Rowan closing in on her father’s identity, will Angus be able to keep her from harm? And will she ever forgive him for standing in her way?A Highland Heist***Feisty and fiery security expert, Maggie Brennan, is thrilled when she lands the job to design the security system for the Highlander’s Hope. At the top of her field, she usually prefers to work alone, but when the owner of the priceless jewels insists she work with his computer security expert, Conall Stewart, she doesn’t mind it as much as she thought she would. Not when Conall is damn smart and smoking hot, despite his gruff and grumpy exterior. Maggie loves a challenge, and she’s sure Conall could be a whole lot of fun if he just loosened up a little.The last thing Conall wants is to deal with Maggie, especially when she pushes all his buttons with her perky and highly caffeinated demeanor. All he wants is to be left alone, but the woman is distractingly gorgeous, brilliant and funny. Before he even has a chance to shore up his defenses, she’s managed to weasel her way into his heart, despite him having sworn off any type of relationship.Yet outside forces are playing dirty, and there’s suddenly more on the line than the Highlander’s Hope and a love they never thought they’d find.