Covering Ground

I really love the ideas in this book. It has beautiful pictures. I'm allergic to grass, and grass is so very water hungry. I live in a high desert area and because of that I feel an alternative ground cover is better, not only for my allergies, but for my water bill!

Great information and color photos. The author also helps the readers conceptualize what can be thought of as ground cover or covering.I've landscaped for many years. This book is a great resource to add to your library.In Southern California you might want to pick up other books as well that will contain more offerings for alkaline soil and drought tolerant plants. But please don't mistake this for criticism. The author is obviously a veteran gardener or landscaper herself. And there are categories with a wealth of good information including alkaline soils, sun and shade, drought tolerant and invasive plants that are commonly sold as a good cover but turn into a nightmare trying to control it.She also is aware that fabrics used to control weeds don't in the long run work and she says so. Only a veteran would know that.And for the price I have to say this book is a must.So definitely pick this one up while it's available. And read her insightful comments don't just look at the nice photos. Her thoughts will impart wisdom from experience that will help you in your project.What !?! You're still reading my review? Buy the book !Hope this helps:-)

This book is excellent. I have a ginormous hill to cover so my husband doesn't roll the garden tractor on himself trying to mow it. This book has helped a TON. Lots of pictures and they're all gorgeous.Best of all are the MANY suggestions for what's appropriate for your yard based on the type of exposure, planting zone, wet/dry, area of the country, etc. Everything I've planted so far, following the guidance of this book, is thriving and it's prettier everyday.Thank you!!

Review: “covering Ground” by Barbara W. EllisThe book is an excellent book on ground covers of all types. It is divided into sections by 1) Site considerations, 2) perfect plants for every site and the actual planting, and 3) growing and propagating of the many plants featured. Barbara gives us an excellent view of problem areas in yards and gardens and some solutions for these areas. The she takes the problem areas (sun lovers, ground huggers for paths, perennials for sun, vines for covering ground, shrubby shade plants, woodland natives, wet soil and acid soil). She even includes a section on what she considers “problem plants” which she lists out for being overly vigorous in spreading, or escaping into the wild.As these are plant choices for covering large areas, many of her selections are much taller than normally considered “ground covers.” She lists many plants for drifts or swails which may reach 4 feet or more. Most of the plants Barbara lists are hardy, and in many areas of the country vigorous growers and spreaders. Thus this is an excellent book for people with large areas. But even those with smaller areas can greatly benefit from exploring the plant selections in this book.As Barbara wrote this book for nation wide use, each gardener will have to evaluate the plants that may or may not grow in his/her area, zone, climate, soil, and micro-ecology.The book is well written, a good read with lots of beautiful pictures of hundreds of plants. This is not a beginner's garden book, but an excellent book for advanced gardeners faced with areas of ground that need covering.

I am a papermaker that has been focusing on planting and growing the plants I use in my paper artwork (handmade papers made from native plants transfered onto art canvas's.) After 11 years of this kind of gardening, I have begun to explore ground covers in my garden.Ground covers are traditionally planted in a single species in a large drift. The author of Covering Ground, has opened me to the idea that there are other options to how we plant ground covers. Barbara Ellis likes to plant her ground covers in small drifts - of three or five plants of a single species or intermingling two different species of plants in drifts of three to five in one bed. Very creative and extremely beautiful! I will be trying this technique.This book had many, many color photographs and is very well organized giving specific plant suggestions for each soil type and both sun and shade situations with a nice section on native ground cover - one of my primary areas of interest.I rated this a four star book and recommend it for any gardener.

I borrowed this book from the library, renewed it as many times as they would let me, and then bought a copy of my own. This is a wonderful reference book if you are interested in doing something different than grass and a flower bed. In fact, you may even find it useful for your flower bed. Some of the information I'm finding helpful is how to choose plants, what NOT to plant, how to propagate plants on your own (I was especially happy for the information on how to grow moss!), and how to get rid of weeds.

As I've probably been ripping out groundcovering plants for years, reading this book made me hang my head in shame! Barbara Ellis is a groundcover zealot and writes with great passion and enthusiasm. I bought the book for some ideas and I definitely got plenty. The book was published in the US so not all the plants will be available here - the latin names are shown, which is helpful as these will be more familiar to British readers. A good book for your gardening library.

I've enjoyed researching in this book, I learned a great deal -- I would have been benefitted with more beginner's info like how do I find put if my soil is acidic?

This book has got photography that worth a mint! This is ever so much more than informative, although it is definitely that. This is like a Saturday afternoon treat. A cup of tea and a cozy chair are all that is missing.

I saw this book at a plant market before I ordered it on Amazon (the one I saw was in French and therefore a lot more expensive). We have a very big garden with loads of grass and were looking into ground covers to diminish the maintenance of the garden, something our gardener doesn't agree with and won't help us with either! This book gave us invaluable information, although it is an American book and therefore not really related to our situation here in France. But well, shade, sun, fertile or infertile soils are a bit the same all over the world. Armed with this book we will be able to show our next gardener exactly what we mean and maybe do it ourselves in smaller bits of the garden. For the big part we need professional help although I am sure this book will be very helpful.The only thing that I didn't like was the repetitions. This book could have been written in a lot less pages but well, the information is good though!

This is a good book, but lacks some visual presentation. Other books list the item and match a picture so you get an idea of how to integrate into you yard. It was helpful with some great pointers and good information on the plants themselves. It you are looking for a decent ground cover book it is not a bad pick.

very good info