What do you think?
Rate this book
Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change
“Shows us that guiding natural processes rather than fighting them is the key to creating healthier landscapes and happier gardeners.” —Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home Larry Weaner is an icon in the world of ecological landscape design, and now his revolutionary approach is available to home gardeners. Garden Revolution shows how an ecological approach to planting can lead to beautiful gardens that buck much of conventional gardening’s counter-productive, time-consuming practices. Instead of picking the wrong plant and then weeding, irrigating, and fertilizing, Weaner advocates for choosing plants that are adapted to the soil and climate of a specific site and letting them naturally evolve over time. This lushly-photographed reference is for anyone looking for a better, smarter way to garden.
603 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 25, 2016
108 people are currently reading
691 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
February 1, 2022
I've read many of the popular and helpful books about ecological/naturalistic gardening (Tallamy, Rainer, Oudolf, etc) but I've found them either too simple or too theoretical. This was the first that helped me understand how to approach figuring out exactly how to make it work in my own garden. Weaner frequently works on a much larger scale than the average home gardener but the principles still apply. This book might be a bit overwhelming for a new gardener but if you're looking for something more specific than plant natives/plant an oak, I highly recommend.
December 12, 2016
This book is about large scale ornamental gardens and meadows, if you have a patio or a kitchen gardener it will be a fun read but not that useful. If you serious amounts of land though, this is the intelligent and lazy way of landscaping using natives and non-invasive imports. Some highlights:
* Don't dig up or enrich your soil unless it has man-made problems.
* Cut but don't uproot invasive weeds, they thrive in disturbed soil, they will die off once the natives are established.
* Plant natives when the generate seeds, not always in early spring.
* For radical recovery, do it like nature, plant the early pioneer plants and their successors.
A too short synopsis, but a good book if you are upgrading a large area like a condo complex. It's more of an overview though, for more specifics you would need info for your area and if you are a desert dweller this book doesn't help much!
* Don't dig up or enrich your soil unless it has man-made problems.
* Cut but don't uproot invasive weeds, they thrive in disturbed soil, they will die off once the natives are established.
* Plant natives when the generate seeds, not always in early spring.
* For radical recovery, do it like nature, plant the early pioneer plants and their successors.
A too short synopsis, but a good book if you are upgrading a large area like a condo complex. It's more of an overview though, for more specifics you would need info for your area and if you are a desert dweller this book doesn't help much!
February 1, 2021
I found this book to be one of the most helpful books about landscape restoration that I have read. It is more about designing gardens with native plants but he talks a lot about his experiences in really "reading" what wants to grow in a particular place and starting from there. Highly recommend.
April 10, 2016
Thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for the arc of Garden Revolution by Larry Weaner! The Evolving Landscape: Creating Beautiful Gardens in Harmony with Nature focuses on natural landscapes in large areas, such as meadows. The book contains beautiful photographs, and tips for naturalization, weeding, soil, maintenance and the evolution of plant spaces. I do not have huge areas for gardening as in this book, but the tips are very helpful for any gardener.
June 21, 2019
This is the first gardening book I've read that has introduced the concept of time to garden planning. It's obvious that nature is constantly changing, but when we plan gardens we assume that they are static. The author proposes that we should welcome the changes/evolution of our gardens when they happen and that we can even encourage specific kinds of changes.
This is not the first book I'd recommend if you want to learn about native plant gardening (that's Tallamy's Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens), but it's the one I'd recommend if you're committed to a native garden and are trying to figure out how to implement a native garden plan.
He gives specific advice for how to create meadows, shrublands, and woodlands. The advice he gives is very useful and made clear to me why the statement "creating those pretty meadows in magazines takes years" is true and why many commercial wildflower seed mixes fail. One of the most interesting sections was a formula for creating your own wildflower seed mix appropriate to your site.
I would love if he had added a section of the book devoted to plants that included the information that he thinks is relevant when choosing plants. He mentioned Black Eyed Susans are short lived plants to be used in the first few years a few times. What other plants work? This would be a really great add-on series based on various eco-regions.
If you're not located in the Eastern US, the plants he discusses aren't going to be ones you can use. However, the concepts of time, ecoregions, and how to create the different habitats are still applicable.
This is not the first book I'd recommend if you want to learn about native plant gardening (that's Tallamy's Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens), but it's the one I'd recommend if you're committed to a native garden and are trying to figure out how to implement a native garden plan.
He gives specific advice for how to create meadows, shrublands, and woodlands. The advice he gives is very useful and made clear to me why the statement "creating those pretty meadows in magazines takes years" is true and why many commercial wildflower seed mixes fail. One of the most interesting sections was a formula for creating your own wildflower seed mix appropriate to your site.
I would love if he had added a section of the book devoted to plants that included the information that he thinks is relevant when choosing plants. He mentioned Black Eyed Susans are short lived plants to be used in the first few years a few times. What other plants work? This would be a really great add-on series based on various eco-regions.
If you're not located in the Eastern US, the plants he discusses aren't going to be ones you can use. However, the concepts of time, ecoregions, and how to create the different habitats are still applicable.
September 18, 2017
This is my new favorite gardening book. I liked it so much, I read it twice. The book emphasizes the natural succession of area and ways to assist or reverse that succession.
The two key takeaways I took from the book are.
1. "If I do nothing, what will happen". Which, to me means, if the gardener makes no attempts to alter the landscape, what will naturally grow there? Also, aiding the gardener in developing an eye to survey the plants that are already successfully growing in an area and keeping the landscape in a state that continues their success.
2. An emphasis on "The plant that wants to be here". The importance of selecting plants that do well in their natural range and habitat. Plants that will thrive in a area, and not just survive. Where thrive means to allow the plant to reproduce successfully on their own without amending the soil or additional watering.
There is a whole lot more to the book, with excellent photographs of the author's designs. Many of the photos are shown side by side and taken years apart so that the progress over time can be easily seen. It is my hope that this is the future of gardening. I know I will return to this book again and again.
The two key takeaways I took from the book are.
1. "If I do nothing, what will happen". Which, to me means, if the gardener makes no attempts to alter the landscape, what will naturally grow there? Also, aiding the gardener in developing an eye to survey the plants that are already successfully growing in an area and keeping the landscape in a state that continues their success.
2. An emphasis on "The plant that wants to be here". The importance of selecting plants that do well in their natural range and habitat. Plants that will thrive in a area, and not just survive. Where thrive means to allow the plant to reproduce successfully on their own without amending the soil or additional watering.
There is a whole lot more to the book, with excellent photographs of the author's designs. Many of the photos are shown side by side and taken years apart so that the progress over time can be easily seen. It is my hope that this is the future of gardening. I know I will return to this book again and again.
April 9, 2023
First half was five stars but got a little repetitive after that. Still some great tips especially if you're in the northeast. I wish I had a good resource for the nuances of plants in my region like he has for the northeast. I will definitely try out his strategies for starting a meadow if I can come up with a good plant list
January 3, 2020
This book was an absolute revelation. It's full of practical advice for returning landscapes to native plantings, while still retaining maximum aesthetic value and usability. I can't wait to get started applying some of the techniques in my own garden.
July 20, 2019
This is an important book. The subtitle, “How our landscapes can be a source of environmental change,” is the key to understanding the value of what’s written here – how we garden to change the environment using principles of sustainable landscaping. The author’s nod their heads to Rachel Carson as they espouse what they call ‘ecological gardening.’ They refer to this as using age-old laws of nature to inform a new way to garden.
An ecologically driven garden is one that has minimal intervention and uses indigenous vegetation as its main ingredient. The landscape is transformed from one that consumes and pollutes the environment into a more flexible and sustainable one, facilitating biodiversity, cleaning stormwater, and giving homes to native wildlife. Give up micromanaging your yard and let nature dictate the inherent processes. I found this to be enlightening and offering a sense of freedom from garden “musts.” Check out pages 16-18 and be astonished.
The authors parse their work into three sections: the learning process, design, and in the field. The pages are accompanied by brilliant photographs of landscapes that are examples of the beauty of working with and not against the environment. The book’s end matter includes resources for garden ecologists (with a bow to Doug Tallamy), sources and suggested readings, and a comprehensive index.
I especially liked the detailed instructions for creating new, native landscapes. First, trace the history of your property, examining its ecology, thinking about what and how to preserve natural elements. Think through criteria for plant selection. Take advantage of native ecology, facilitating the inherent synergy among plants. Know your soil. Include ideas for transition zones and aesthetics of the whole. Use grasses, shrubs, herbaceous plants native to the landscape, trees, wildflowers, sedges. Practice natural recruitment of plants first, before resorting to purchase of the same.
And learn to practice patience. Ask yourself what might happen if you do nothing? Observe over time the progress of your landscape. This book will be an often turned-to staple in my master garden bookcase.
An ecologically driven garden is one that has minimal intervention and uses indigenous vegetation as its main ingredient. The landscape is transformed from one that consumes and pollutes the environment into a more flexible and sustainable one, facilitating biodiversity, cleaning stormwater, and giving homes to native wildlife. Give up micromanaging your yard and let nature dictate the inherent processes. I found this to be enlightening and offering a sense of freedom from garden “musts.” Check out pages 16-18 and be astonished.
The authors parse their work into three sections: the learning process, design, and in the field. The pages are accompanied by brilliant photographs of landscapes that are examples of the beauty of working with and not against the environment. The book’s end matter includes resources for garden ecologists (with a bow to Doug Tallamy), sources and suggested readings, and a comprehensive index.
I especially liked the detailed instructions for creating new, native landscapes. First, trace the history of your property, examining its ecology, thinking about what and how to preserve natural elements. Think through criteria for plant selection. Take advantage of native ecology, facilitating the inherent synergy among plants. Know your soil. Include ideas for transition zones and aesthetics of the whole. Use grasses, shrubs, herbaceous plants native to the landscape, trees, wildflowers, sedges. Practice natural recruitment of plants first, before resorting to purchase of the same.
And learn to practice patience. Ask yourself what might happen if you do nothing? Observe over time the progress of your landscape. This book will be an often turned-to staple in my master garden bookcase.
November 15, 2020
Turn your lawn or field into native prairie or woods--you decide. And Larry Weaner will tell you how to get there, no matter the current state of your land. And the end result will benefit the critters among us, and ultimately save our own world.
NOTE: if you plan to get there on your own, plan to spend a lot of time outside for a few years, but after that, instead of fighting nature you will nurture Nature and Nature will nurture you as well.
NOTE: if you plan to get there on your own, plan to spend a lot of time outside for a few years, but after that, instead of fighting nature you will nurture Nature and Nature will nurture you as well.
May 31, 2021
Game-changing. I’ve been reading a lot in this genre lately and this has been by far the best book I’ve read so far. Not just theory but real, practical advice, and interesting anecdotes sprinkled throughout. His method is fascinating, and though it’s compatible with so many related books which basically urge us to plant more natives, it goes way beyond that. Right after finishing I pretty much wanted to start reading it all over again! A lot to digest...
March 11, 2019
As we are planning our landscape for our new house currently being built, I decided to educate myself about how to create a more natural landscape that will be more environmentally friendly than the typical lawn and ornamental plantings that do nothing to sustain the "critters" that are the bottom of the food chain of the wildlife that is rapidly disappearing. A natural landscape is also easier to maintain. This book discussed a lot of considerations that I would not have known about, a lot that will not help with my situation.
July 1, 2021
Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change by Larry Weaner is a truly excellent book for helping you create native meadows, shrub lands and forest.
January 13, 2022
I love the philosophy throughout this book. Many gorgeous pictures helped illustrate the points. It’s not a plant database, and there really wasn’t much discussed about ecological interactions with insects, but for aesthetic landscape planning, it really hit the spot. Read this cover to cover, it’s not just a picture book.
January 15, 2021
The author provides extensive details and examples of how to partner with nature to nurture our landscapes. Interpreting your landscape as a song rather than a painting provides a more constructive model for ecologically-friendly gardening.
March 29, 2022
The main focus of this book isn't something I'll be able to implement anytime soon (basically the design and planting of large, open meadows) but I found the overall ecological philosophy and science really inspiring and helpful to small-scale gardening.
Read
November 15, 2022This book had some good concepts, but all of the plants were pretty specific to the American northeast.
Teaches to use the soil and habitat that you have, how to let the land show you what plants will work there before you terraform.
Teaches to use the soil and habitat that you have, how to let the land show you what plants will work there before you terraform.
April 8, 2025
Some of the information is general and useful, but like so many of these books, most of the advice is mainly relevant to landscapes east of the Mississippi (and people with huge estates instead of suburban yards).
November 29, 2017
An inspiring book suggesting a more natural way to garden in larger spaces.
December 27, 2018
A great reference for those wanting a garden without all the remediation that other garden books want you to do. Weaners premise is simple - work with what you have and be smart.
August 11, 2019
Phenomenal. Explanations about native garden design beyond a list of plants, really gets to the hows/whys/using natural functionality instead of labor. Fantastic book!
Read
October 9, 2019Weeds will give up after three years if you just keep pulling them up. You dont have to get every piece of root. Hmmmm
March 20, 2020
A must read for any gardener.
Read
April 13, 2020Larry is a very knowledgeable guy in this field. Always something to learn from him
October 3, 2021
Excellent resource - inspiring!
July 15, 2022
Only downside is I ran out of time to finish it.
January 30, 2023
Might have to buy this one for home! It is an incredible resource for native gardeners.
June 23, 2023
Excellent inspiration, beautiful visuals, and concrete action plans for engaging in rewilding and restoration.
May 27, 2024
Good how-to guide, not just full of ideology. But more focused on larger landscapes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews