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The Gravel Garden: Visionary, Drought-Defying, Naturalistic Designs
Gravel gardening is a drought-defying, low-maintenance gardening technique in which deep-rooted, drought tolerant perennials are planted in a 6-inch layer of gravel that suppresses weeds and conserves water. In The Gravel Garden, longtime horticulturalist Jeff Epping explores the art of gravel gardening as a naturalistic approach with huge promise for the future of ecological landscaping. Alongside 20 gorgeously photographed gardens in both the US and Europe, including Epping's own home gravel garden in Wisconsin, the book offers insights from leading naturalistic designers such as Roy Diblik and Cassian Schmidt, as well as practical techniques for various scales and applications, from intimate home settings to expansive public and commercial spaces. Gardeners at any scale will be inspired to create their own beautiful garden with the resilience necessary to stand up to our changing climate.
- GenresNonfiction
320 pages, Hardcover
Published June 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 8, 2026
True 5⭐️ This is exactly what I was hoping for! If you’re even remotely curious about creating your own gravel garden this is the perfect book!
Epping and Woodard take you through the basics of creating a gravel garden & then focus on showing different layouts & exactly what plants were used. There are lots of beautiful pictures of gravel gardens in a variety of spaces. I love that we start with the authors own garden layout & then on to other home gardens. We are taken on a tour of public gravel gardens in the US & UK, as well as examples in city & work spaces.
Grateful for the digital arc through Netgalley but this is one where I’ll be buying the hard copy. I liked it that much!
Epping and Woodard take you through the basics of creating a gravel garden & then focus on showing different layouts & exactly what plants were used. There are lots of beautiful pictures of gravel gardens in a variety of spaces. I love that we start with the authors own garden layout & then on to other home gardens. We are taken on a tour of public gravel gardens in the US & UK, as well as examples in city & work spaces.
Grateful for the digital arc through Netgalley but this is one where I’ll be buying the hard copy. I liked it that much!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Book Review: The Gravel Garden: Visionary, Drought-Defying, Naturalistic Designs by Jeff Epping and Teresa Woodard
Rating: 5 Stars
I just finished reading The Gravel Garden by Jeff Epping and Teresa Woodard, and it’s a gem for anyone interested in gardening, especially if you’re looking for environmentally friendly and low-maintenance options. This book introduces the concept of gravel gardening, a smart and sustainable technique where drought-tolerant perennials with deep roots thrive in a thick bed of gravel. This approach not only helps conserve water but also naturally keeps weeds at bay.
What makes the book stand out is its showcase of 20 stunning gravel gardens from across the US and Europe, including Jeff Epping’s own garden in Wisconsin. These gardens range from elegant old English estates to revitalized urban lots and charming neighborhood spaces, showing how adaptable and beautiful gravel gardens can be. The photography is absolutely gorgeous—each spread is like a mini escape into a thriving, resilient landscape.
Beyond the visuals, the book is packed with practical advice and insights from top naturalistic designers like Roy Diblik and Cassian Schmidt. Whether you have a small backyard or a large public space, the guidance feels accessible and inspiring. I especially appreciated how the authors highlight the ecological benefits of gravel gardens, making it clear that these designs are not just pretty but also smart solutions for today’s climate challenges.
On a personal note, this book’s cover caught my eye immediately—it’s so inviting! Inside, it lives up to that promise with a wealth of useful information and inspiring stories behind each garden. Every featured garden includes a little biography, plant profiles, and tips on style that made me want to start planning my own gravel garden right away. It’s a wonderful blend of education and inspiration, perfect for seasoned gardeners and beginners alike.
If you know someone who loves gardening or is passionate about sustainable landscaping, this would make an excellent gift. Plus, it doubles as a beautiful coffee table book that sparks conversation. Overall, The Gravel Garden is a fresh, hopeful look at gardening that embraces nature’s resilience with elegance and ease. Five stars from me!
⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️
Rating: 5 Stars
I just finished reading The Gravel Garden by Jeff Epping and Teresa Woodard, and it’s a gem for anyone interested in gardening, especially if you’re looking for environmentally friendly and low-maintenance options. This book introduces the concept of gravel gardening, a smart and sustainable technique where drought-tolerant perennials with deep roots thrive in a thick bed of gravel. This approach not only helps conserve water but also naturally keeps weeds at bay.
What makes the book stand out is its showcase of 20 stunning gravel gardens from across the US and Europe, including Jeff Epping’s own garden in Wisconsin. These gardens range from elegant old English estates to revitalized urban lots and charming neighborhood spaces, showing how adaptable and beautiful gravel gardens can be. The photography is absolutely gorgeous—each spread is like a mini escape into a thriving, resilient landscape.
Beyond the visuals, the book is packed with practical advice and insights from top naturalistic designers like Roy Diblik and Cassian Schmidt. Whether you have a small backyard or a large public space, the guidance feels accessible and inspiring. I especially appreciated how the authors highlight the ecological benefits of gravel gardens, making it clear that these designs are not just pretty but also smart solutions for today’s climate challenges.
On a personal note, this book’s cover caught my eye immediately—it’s so inviting! Inside, it lives up to that promise with a wealth of useful information and inspiring stories behind each garden. Every featured garden includes a little biography, plant profiles, and tips on style that made me want to start planning my own gravel garden right away. It’s a wonderful blend of education and inspiration, perfect for seasoned gardeners and beginners alike.
If you know someone who loves gardening or is passionate about sustainable landscaping, this would make an excellent gift. Plus, it doubles as a beautiful coffee table book that sparks conversation. Overall, The Gravel Garden is a fresh, hopeful look at gardening that embraces nature’s resilience with elegance and ease. Five stars from me!
⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
More and more gardeners are looking for environmentally sustainable, drought-tolerant, low-maintenance gardens, and “The Gravel Garden” by landscape designer Jeff Epping and garden writer Theresa Woodard provides inspiration and instruction for creating one. The book opens with the story of Epping’s own gravel garden and outlines the basic principles and the easy to follow process. Nineteen other private and public gardens across the Midwest and Northeast of the US, Germany, and England showcase professional gardeners’ research and innovations using this method. Each case study includes multiple photos and describes both the practical side and the human interest, particularly why people made the choice to have a gravel garden and how they did so. From a non-gardening widow who wanted to honor his deceased wife with a low-maintenance garden to Chicago’s inner city transformation of vacant lots, from a 3500-acre English estate to the roof of an underground parking lot “The Gravel Garden” demonstrates the many places a gravel garden makes sense.
The book, interestingly, focuses on the relationships between landscape architects, horticulturists, plantspeople, nursery owners, and plant designers and their clients. They often begin with the idea of wanting to reduce maintenance and conserve water and by the end are believers in the power of nature and the beauty of sustainability.
Most chapters end with specific explanations about an aspect of gravel gardening. Some of the end of chapter instructions are repetitive, but this is not a book to be read cover to cover so the repetition is helpful for readers who skip around. After reading “The Gravel Garden” I feel ready to add a gravel bed or two to my own garden.
Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
#thegravelgarden #netgalley
The book, interestingly, focuses on the relationships between landscape architects, horticulturists, plantspeople, nursery owners, and plant designers and their clients. They often begin with the idea of wanting to reduce maintenance and conserve water and by the end are believers in the power of nature and the beauty of sustainability.
Most chapters end with specific explanations about an aspect of gravel gardening. Some of the end of chapter instructions are repetitive, but this is not a book to be read cover to cover so the repetition is helpful for readers who skip around. After reading “The Gravel Garden” I feel ready to add a gravel bed or two to my own garden.
Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
#thegravelgarden #netgalley
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a really beautiful and helpful book. It is brimming with good information, gorgeous photos, and inspiration from all kinds of gravel gardens around the world, both public and private. The author does a great job of showing how environmentally friendly gravel gardens are and how much easier they are to maintain. The deep layers keep the roots cooler, make them need far less watering, and keep out weed seeds. They are tidy looking while incorporating native plants that help nature, and the gardens featured are so beautiful. There’s a wide variety, from old English estates to abandoned lots that have been adopted and planted to gorgeous gardens in neighborhoods with HOAs. Each garden features a biography and story, lots of photos, advice about its style, and profiles of plants used.
Highly recommended.
I read a temporary digital loan of this book via netgalley.
Highly recommended.
I read a temporary digital loan of this book via netgalley.
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April 5, 2026Jeff Epping, Teresa Woodard
Author, Horticulturalist Jeff Eppling shares his expertise on creating a gravel garden. This book is filled with beautiful photographs and information that will inspire the reader to create their own Gravel Garden. Author Jeff Epping suggests plants and offers tips for gravel gardening.
A Gravel Garden is much easier to maintain because the roots are deep and they stay cooler, needing less water, there will be few weeds. The gardens look neat and well maintained. Currently it is early spring, I have gardening on my mind. I can see countless pictures that intrigue me and make me want to create a Gravel Garden.
There are over 300 pages in this book showing 20 gardens. This is a must have book if you enjoy gardening. This book will be published June 2, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Author, Horticulturalist Jeff Eppling shares his expertise on creating a gravel garden. This book is filled with beautiful photographs and information that will inspire the reader to create their own Gravel Garden. Author Jeff Epping suggests plants and offers tips for gravel gardening.
A Gravel Garden is much easier to maintain because the roots are deep and they stay cooler, needing less water, there will be few weeds. The gardens look neat and well maintained. Currently it is early spring, I have gardening on my mind. I can see countless pictures that intrigue me and make me want to create a Gravel Garden.
There are over 300 pages in this book showing 20 gardens. This is a must have book if you enjoy gardening. This book will be published June 2, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Five stars and honestly this came at the perfect time because my yard needs a serious overhaul and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with a couple of problem spots. Gravel garden might be the answer I didn’t know I was looking for.
This book is beautiful. Like genuinely stop and stare at the photos beautiful. But it’s also actually useful which is not always a given with garden books. It covers everything from grand English estates to regular neighborhood yards with HOAs which made it feel way more achievable than I expected. And the environmental stuff was a bonus. Less watering, cooler roots, better for pollinators. It just makes sense.
If you’re thinking about reshaping any part of your outdoor space, this one is worth picking up.
This book is beautiful. Like genuinely stop and stare at the photos beautiful. But it’s also actually useful which is not always a given with garden books. It covers everything from grand English estates to regular neighborhood yards with HOAs which made it feel way more achievable than I expected. And the environmental stuff was a bonus. Less watering, cooler roots, better for pollinators. It just makes sense.
If you’re thinking about reshaping any part of your outdoor space, this one is worth picking up.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a great book for planning a Gravel Garden.
They walk you through planning out the whole thing, with pictures every step of the way. They even show pictures with descriptions.
I thought it was cool that not only did they show you how to do your yard, deal with your HOA but also how they can be done in public places.
So many great ideas. I wish I'd had this book when I first put in my vegetable gardens because I would have gone the gravel route before putting in my raised boxes.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.
They walk you through planning out the whole thing, with pictures every step of the way. They even show pictures with descriptions.
I thought it was cool that not only did they show you how to do your yard, deal with your HOA but also how they can be done in public places.
So many great ideas. I wish I'd had this book when I first put in my vegetable gardens because I would have gone the gravel route before putting in my raised boxes.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I have been planning to create a gravel garden for a couple of years. This informative book has given me the knowledge and motivation to proceed with my project. The numerous suggestion for plants and plans are helpful and some of the ideas in this book are very creative. I recommend this book as a must read for gardeners everywhere.
March 18, 2026
I absolutely loved everything about this book. From the information to the pictures it inspired me to start my own gravel garden. Loved the abundance of the beautiful photographs showing gardens all over the world. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy and for the chance to read this book before it came out to the general public.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Wow! What a beautiful book! Photography is amazing and these gardens are inspirational. Even includes tips for creating your own. Comprehensive...when I saw 20 gardens, I was surprised at 300+ pages.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review. I snagged this one because every now and then I think about doing something with our flower garden or our yard...this wasn't the best book for THOSE ideas but I thought it was a really good book and it had so much information packed inside it. The pictures were amazing, they had all sorts of drawings and layouts and testimonies...not to mention parts that told you exactly what they planted. For someone thinking about a gravel garden, I would 100% recommend this book...heck, even if you are just looking for ideas like me.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
When I hear "gravel garden" I usually picture a weed-infested hellscape that's heating up the yard via reflective sun. After reading this book, I have a different picture. Sure, there are some "rock gardens" out there that meet my original assumptions, but if done well, it sounds like this could actually be a really good option for an earth-friendly, low-maintenance style of landscaping.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews