Here’s a dirty secret: landscape design for real people who don’t have a trained staff of estate gardeners can be HARD. Not only do we need to create planting designs that look great for as many months as possible, we need to limit our plant palette to plants that will thrive in our climate and not a) attempt to take over the world or b) die like it’s their job. I love groundcovers. I would rather look at foliage than mulch. But I knew I was in a rut, using the same 3-4 over and over because I knew they worked. This morning I was tidying the shop and spotted my pristine, barely opened copy of Kathy Jentz’s “Groundcover Revolution.” Had I forgotten about a useful resource all this time?
Note: this is not a promotional review. I bought this book.
Groundcover Revolution: using it as a professional
It only took Kathy a few pages to make me happy by starting a section with the heading “there is no such thing as no maintenance.” I give those words of caution to all my clients, especially the ones who think they can replace their lawns with other plants and never work a day in the garden again. Similarly, she cautions that establishing groundcovers takes time and occasionally filling in gaps.
You can tell the texts I use the most. Bookmarks and post-it note tabs stick out from the edges, the spine is creased, and odds are there’s a coffee stain and/or chew marks from the cat somewhere in the pages. Groundcover Revolution contains every designer’s favorite multi-page spread: a table!
I usually have anywhere between five and twenty designs in the queue depending on the time of year so I love a good table. Kathy has a clear, color-coded table that identifies groundcovers based on characteristics like drought tolerance, evergreen or not, sun exposure, flowering, and more. Now that I remembered I bought this book (seriously, I’m embarrassed) I can see where the first bookmarks are going.
In terms of the plants themselves, there’s a section where each groundcover gets its own page or pages. We learn more about what each plant does and doesn’t like, how they grow, and what you can expect to see as time goes by. The text is supported throughout the book with beautiful, high quality photographs.
If you’re a homeowner who loves plants or someone starting out in the landscape profession, I think Groundcover Revolution is a game changer. It’s not just a solid idea book but gives a realistic view of what using groundcovers entails. For someone like myself, who has been moving plants around on sites and on paper for over three decades? I think it’s a great addition to the design library. Having that plant table is a fabulous way to get “unstuck” when I can’t come up with the perfect plant for a tricky space. The book itself is a reminder of plants that of course I know well but they just aren’t top of mind. And unlike a lot of landscaping and gardening books, Groundcover Revolution paints a realistic picture of what to expect with various plants. I occasionally have clients who want more input in the planting plan than just “make it pretty” and I wouldn’t hesitate to put this book in their hands.
If you want to pick up a copy for yourself you can click here to buy a copy (affiliate link, I get a few coins if you buy using this link). As always if you want to turn the planting design decisions over to us, fill out the form below to get started!