Describes how to remove high-maintenance, resource-hogging lawns and replace them with alternative grasses, ground cover plants, and hardscaping that are more eco-conscious and easier to sustain.

Any backyard has the potential to refresh and inspire if you know what to do. Jan Johnsen's new book, Gardentopia: Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces, will delight all garden lovers with over 130 lushly illustrated landscape design and planting suggestions. Ms. Johnsen is an admired designer and popular speaker whose hands-on approach to "co-creating with nature" will have you saying, "I can do that!'This info-packed, sumptuous book...

"McCullough is on a mission to debunk thinking that American gardens are simply picket-lined lawns or copy-cats of esteemed European and Japanese cousins. After road tripping from sea to shining sea, he has carefully curated a list that undoubtedly proves the point. American garden designers are creating distinctive gardens with an All-American flair. They embrace the industrial grit of the Midwest, the hospitable grace of the South, the indigenous...