Dryland Gardening: Plants that Survive and Thrive in Tough Conditions

This is actually a very timely book since so much of the United States is undergoing drought each summer due to the effects of global warming. The book is not about desert cactus gardens. It is about those gardens in Dallas, Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, and other cities across the country that become more parched and water starved each year. Bennett has introductory chapters that deal with the issues around water conservation and all gardeners will appreciate her documentation of how much fresh water is wasted each year in the United States. She also spends time discussing water conservation at home, including use of soaker hoses instead of sprinklers and collection of rain water for watering gardens.The chapters are divided into herbs, grasses and ground covers, bulbs, perennials and vines, annuals, and shrubs. Within each chapter are full descriptions of her recommendations for plants that can withstand dry drought conditions. There are many choices of plants so the dry heat parched garden does not need to be totally bare of color and texture.Global warming's effects on gardens is becoming more evident and more citizens are waking up to the dangers of drought and global warming on the plants and gardens around us. This book has helpful realistic suggestions for water conservation and wise use as well as recommendations of plants that can withstand the dry heat that drought is brining to our nation. It is highly recommended.

I selected Jennifer Bennett's "Dryland Gardening" for a basic primer on xeriscaping in southern New England for a RI Master Gardener Advanced Education workshop. Rhode Island receives between 39-54" of precipitation annually but water is not always available where and when it is needed - especially in the summer when gardeners are growing, and especially in many of our groundwater dependent areas. This primer has excellent pictures, zoned plant descriptions, and treats water conservation as a central concept. I highly rate this book.

We've been in a drought for several years. Rather than have an ugly yard full of dead grass that presents a fire hazard from people throwing out cigarettes, we decided to dig up the grass and plant flowering plants that survive droughts. We now have the prettiest yard in the neighborhood and we're not wasting water on grass.

Based on its title, I bought this book, thinking it would be useful in the brutally hot, bone-dry and windy desert southwest, where we average 5" of rain per year. Turns out that "Dryland" and "thrive in tough conditions" means "dryish with cold winters", as this book's focus is on zones 4-7, and it rather pointedly avoids most plants which actually do thrive with little moisture in our hot low desert. I don't mean to come down hard on the author; the book is very nice and well laid out and has great photos, but if you are looking for low desert problem solving, don't let this book's title mislead you as it did me.

Great book, great advice.

Very helpful.

Great condition, as described.

A great reference book to have in my gardening library.