From Publishers Weekly
Offering proof that xeriscaping has escaped its Southwestern confines, this focused gardening guide is specially aimed at northern zones 4 and 5 in Canada and the U.S., where crippling winter cold conspires with dry, windy summers to vanquish visions of English borders and Savannah edens. Dry-land gardens sport an altogether different look: they're brighter and more open, with a predominance of ground covers and ornamental grasses. Bennett (The New Northern Gardener), who gardens on limestone in Ontario, has assembled master lists of perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees and ground covers (including lawn grasses) that will thrive on minimal water. Most compelling, though, are the author's personal reflections and practical advice on watering, i.e., the virtues of rainwater over treated water (it's soft and free); the devil in cold water (for plants, it's harmful, not refreshing); how to read a plant's need for water (wilted by morning, gardeners take warning). Although the title has all the spunk of an agricultural extension monograph, the content's amiably simplicity and immediate usefulness will spur readers to begin disciplining their water-dependent gardens into self-reliance. The rewards are seductive: water conservation for the environment; time and energy conservation for the gardener. Color photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


April 2000
Named as one of ten great gardening books in the 10th Anniversary edition of Canadian Gardening


Nanci Corrigan, The Kingston Whig-Standard, May 20, 2000
Features exquisite photography and contains practical information for any level of gardener ... a valuable reference.


David Hobson, Kitchener-Waterloo Record 11/16/2002
The book provides a ton of information on creating a xeriscape garden .. there's a whole chapter on being water-wise.


Book Description
Garden writer Jennifer Bennett's home is atop an exposed limestone hill, where the soil dries quickly after a rain and rains seldom come. Gardening where the summers are hot and prone to periods of drought, where the winters are snowy one week and freezing rain the next, has led Bennett to xeriscaping -- a gardening approach that favors not only water conservation but also the conservation of time, energy and other resources. Xeriscaping enthusiasts exist everywhere throughout North America, from the California desert to the Canadian prairies. Thus Dry-Land Gardening is not about Bennett's eastern Ontario garden only but about dry-land gardening strategies: coping with limited access to water, invasive plants and trees under stress; nurturing groundcovers and grasses; starting bulbs, perennials and vines; and growing vegetables, herbs and annual flowers successfully. Bright and open, with gray foliage and the waxy leaves of succulents, the dry garden depends more on groundcovers and mulches than on stately flowering perennials. In her latest book, Bennett celebrates "a garden with a different sort of beauty, one that leaves your time and your conscience free and easy."


From the Author
I wrote this book because I needed the information in it. That was a few years ago, so I now know many other people needed the information too. I've been invited to speak throughout the country, and everywhere I go gardeners want to know more about dryland gardening. Sometimes people have read the book and bring their own copy for me to sign. They say it's easy to read and helps them plan their own easy care, drought-resistant garden.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Named as one of ten great gardening books in the 10th Anniversary edition of Canadian Gardening (April 2000).

FROM THE CRITICS

David Hobson - Kitchener-Waterloo Record