May 23, 2020 Maria Firkaly
The holiday weekend feeling like all work and no fun? Give yourself a break. Put down that shovel and pick up a good book. We have a few to suggest. If someone asks what you are doing? Research.
The Lawn by Virginia Jenkins – available in e-book
Lawns now blanket thirty million acres of the United States, but until the late nineteenth century few Americans had any desire for a front lawn, much less access to seeds for growing one. In her comprehensive history of this uniquely American obsession, Virginia Scott Jenkins traces the origin of the front lawn aesthetic, the development of the lawn-care industry, its environmental impact, and modern as well as historic alternatives to lawn mania.
The Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison – available as e-book or audio book
Lawn Boy is an important, entertaining, and completely winning novel about social class distinctions, about overcoming cultural discrimination, and about standing up for oneself.
Lawn Gone! by Pam Penick – available as e-book
A colorful guide covering the basics of replacing a traditional lawn with a wide variety of easy-care, no-mow, drought-tolerant, money-saving options that will appeal to today’s busy, eco-conscious homeowner.
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell – available in e-book or audio book
You live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses.
You’ve known your neighbours for years and you trust them. Implicitly.
You think your children are safe.
But are they really?
Gardening by Miranda Smith – available in e-book
Gardening: The Complete Guide will satisfy those readers who enjoy the process of gardening as much as the finished product. It contains equal parts of inspirational photographs and hands-on instructional pictures. The book presents the latest gardening techniques for the 21st century gardener with an emphasis on time-saving, efficient practices. There is considerable space devoted to growing herbs, flowers, vegetables, and fruit. This book is perfect for the gardener who wants to know how things grow and why certain practices are more effective.
Green Thoughts by Eleanor Perenyi – available in e-book
A classic in the literature of the garden, Green Thoughts is a beautifully written and highly original collection of seventy-two essays, alphabetically arranged, on topics ranging from “Annuals” and “Artichokes” to “Weeds” and “Wildflowers.” An amateur gardener for over thirty years, Eleanor Perényi draws upon her wide-ranging knowledge of gardening lore to create a delightful, witty blend of how-to advice, informed opinion, historical insight, and philosophical musing. There are entries in praise of earthworms and in protest of rock gardens, a treatise on the sexual politics of tending plants, and a paean to the salubrious effect of gardening (see “Longevity”). Twenty years after its initial publication, Green Thoughts remains as much a joy to read as ever.