Landscaping in Canada

Landscaping in Canada
Don Williamson. Lawns for Canada. Lone Pine Publishing. 2005.

I cannot praise Lone Pine enough for the quality of their books. Since they tend to follow the same pattern in contents and quality, I’ve decided to list some unique things I found in these particular books. You can assume that are the same high quality as other books in their gardening series.

The book, Lawns for Canada, spends a chapter on turfgrass nutrition. The author carefully discusses why the “non-organic” method of lawn fertilization provides us with an UNHEALTHY lawn. I really appreciated his explanation of how the nutrition cycle works and how the soil food web cycle works. Perhaps this book will lead Canadians down the path of having healthy lawns. He emphasizes the importance of feeding the soil instead of the grass plant.

The books’ readers should read this chapter carefully and then follow The 12-step soil repair process outlined on pages 92-94. Then, follow up your new lawn fertilizing methods by learning how to apply Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to your landscape.

Outstanding is the only word I have for this book. If you reside anywhere in Canada, or for that matter, the United States, please take time to read this book and apply the things you learn. Our environment depends on us making changes. Slowly, we have poisoned much of our land, resulting in the killing off of wildlife. If people in North America would accept their role in our environmental disaster and take immediate steps to repair their lawns and develop ecologically sound landscapes, we could turn this problem around.


Alison Beck. Water Garden Plants for Canada. Lone Pine Publishing. 2005.

I crave a water garden but am forbidden to have one by townehouse management. This book certainly intensifies that craving and I am working on a “bog garden” to help satisfy my desire for a real water garden.

Reading Alison Beck’s book will make anyone want to add a water feature of some type to their home landscape. As I would expect, it gives good instructions on choosing sites, and constructing water gardens.

I took a close look at the plants suggested because of my interest in carnivorous plants. Most water garden books ignore this group. This author included the Pitcher Plants (one species is hardy in much of Canada). In a section on “Other Plants to Consider”, Butterwort was discussed. It is exciting for me to see these unique plants being suggested for pond/stream water gardens.
Pick up this book at Lone Pine Publishing.




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