As a member of the Official Group of People Who Like Succulents, I was as pleased and inspired as anyone when Debra Lee Baldwin’s new book, Succulent Container Gardens, came out. (I had the added perk of seeing the book far in advance of the actual publication date, too. Ah, the advantages of working in publishing.)

Part of my job in the marketing department at Timber calls for me and my fellow marketers to come up with ideas for how to spread the word about a new book. After all, if no one knows about a book, no one buys a book — a fact that never even occurred to me previous to this job. (People find out about books via osmosis, right?)

For this particular book, we decided that a “how-to” video would be a fun project. We thought that if Debra could give a quick demonstration on how to put together a succulent container garden, people would see how easy (and gorgeous) it can be, and be inspired to plant their own containers. And we would start a SUCCULENT REVOLUTION!!  (You have to think big.)

So that’s what we did, and we are very pleased with the way the video came out.

¡Viva la succulent revolución!

I love the title of this book. It lends itself to all sorts of vocal inflections, from “arch” to “zoned out”. And it’s tough to abbreviate, meaning that when it is spoken of around the office it often comes out really fast, as in: “SoYouWannaBeAGardenDesigner.” That, or every word is pronounced carefully, distinctly, with perfect enunciation.

But the title is purely a bonus. I’ve never personally felt the urge to be a garden designer, but I was thoroughly impressed by this book. Love Albrecht Howard’s writing is so clear, friendly, and informative — I felt that I could apply her excellent advice to any creative or business venture and  have a better chance of success. Ms. Howard manages that difficult combination of being encouraging, tactful, and practical. She does not pretend that it will be easy, but she makes you believe that even the hard stuff is important, and that you can make it through the hard stuff, and do it well.

Here’s the table of contents. She even has chapters on leaving the business, and how to deal with self-doubt. I don’t think I have any friends who aspire to be garden designers, but the minute I discover that ambition, I already know exactly what to get them.

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This guest post was written by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, authors of What’s Wrong with My Plant?, and originally appeared on their blog.

David and I are wandering the Northwest Flower and Garden Show this week. The display gardens are beautiful, as always. Some are even spectacular.  But only two garden installations serve to truly inspire an urban gardener in these times. Since David and I are particularly interested in sustainable, organic food production for urban dwellers we found that these two gardens had the most to offer: “A Family’s Little Farm in the City” and “The Truck Farm.” (More on that in my next blog). “A Family’s Little Farm in the City” certainly lives up to its promise: to “demonstrate how a family can live sustainably in the city.” A small dwelling – actually a barn, but it could be modified – with solar panels, a quiet patio serving as a front porch, vegetable beds, an edible forest, compost bins, rain barrels, and bee hives. All thrive on this tiny plot of land.

I love this chicken tractor. The hen industriously scratches and pecks, tilling the soil for you. She can retire to her little shed to lay her eggs. Talk about a valuable partner!!  This is probably my favorite item in the display.

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Growing up, we were considered to be the country mice of the extended family as we lived on a one acre plot about 45 minutes from the “big city.” All of my cousins, aunts, and uncles lived on medium sized suburban city lots, and it was just understood that we lived in the wild, though my family religiously mowed the lawn at least once a week spring through fall.

Our huge expanse of a front yard was mostly lawn, as was our back yard, and even though we had fir, cedar, and fruit trees placed sporadically about, our street was about as suburban as you can get in the middle of the country.

It wasn’t until I moved to a small suburban apartment complex with an almost perfectly manicured lawn and grounds that I began to realize the similarities between the two places and started wondering what truly is wild.

In comes William Robinson — with Rick Darke — and The Wild Garden. William Robinson pioneered the naturalistic gardening style in Britain (home of the perfectly manicured lawn and sculpted boxwoods), and his style continues to influence gardeners across the globe today.

Timber author Rick Darke updated Robinson’s classic with gorgeous new photography, and some introductory chapters, and he has recently written an article for The American Gardener magazine that describes exactly “What is Wild?” (Link goes to a PDF.)

William Robinson and Rick Darke have shown me that you don’t have to live in the country to have a naturalistic, “wild” space.

Fern over at Life on the Balcony wrote a post in December about her gardening resolutions for 2010. Seemed like a good idea to me, so I’m going to follow suit. Yes, I am a bit late, but what’s wrong with a few late resolutions? I can’t really get much planting done for another month anyway. Now’s the time to set impossibly high standards for myself.

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This guest post was written by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, authors of What’s Wrong with My Plant?, and originally appeared on their blog.

Our fingers are stiff with cold. It is winter here in the Northwest. David picks up his end of the measuring tape, and a hundred feet away, I pick up mine. We walk ten feet downslope and lay the tape on the ground again. Steamy clouds of our breath hang in the air. Dry leaves and twigs crunch underfoot. David turns on his recorder and walks across the slope toward me. He records the name and size of every plant the tape touches.

“How’s it look?” the landowner asks. She stands beside me and is concerned. A year ago, the bluff on which her home sits started sliding toward the beach. Saturated by heavy winter rains the glacial till became unstable and slumped. Afraid her house might fall into Hood Canal she called on us to help her manage runoff, re-establish appropriate native vegetation and stabilize the slope. Today, we conduct line-intercept transects along permanent monitoring points to see if any movement has occurred in the last year. If the land is moving, then the plants will have shifted position.

“So far, so good,” David responds. “Nothing has moved.”

The woman smiles in relief.

David slowly rewinds the meter tape onto the yellow spool. “The beach strawberry is doing a great job of stabilizing the slope. The mix of other perennials and shrubs we selected are providing good cover.” He bends over to examine the small plants at his feet. “And I see a dozen new starts of your alumroot. Looks like volunteer seedlings.”

The small-flowered alumroot, Heuchera micrantha, is native to the Olympic Peninsula. It is an evergreen, low maintenance perennial that is a valuable parent of numerous superstar hybrids.

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I’ve bought a house. A small bungalow built in 1926 that is the perfect size for me, my husband, and our future English Bulldog, Rondo (who does not yet exist, but is to be named after the point guard of the Celtics). And now that I am an official homeowner, I no longer have any reason not to garden. Especially considering the yard I’ve inherited.

One or both of the prior owners clearly enjoyed a little digging in soil. The front yard is a great mix of a tiny patch of grass, a few tufts of native ornamental grasses, several colorful perennials (roses, bleeding hearts, dahlias, and stuff I don’t know the name of), succulents, and herbs. I think I’m going to maintain much of what is already there, through I’d like to pull up a few of the grasses to make room for more succulents and I’d like to replace one side of the grass with a raised bed.

The backyard is where I plan to change the most. Though it is beautiful, I think it’s a little overplanted. I’d like to remove several things to make room for a new raised bed. I’m also planning on taking out the water feature—I am never relaxed or peaceful enough to appreciate a calming flow of water. And, I think the rain in Portland is more than enough. There is already a wonderful area full of peppers, tomatoes, beans, corn, and more veggies that I am going to leave alone (and hopefully not kill). We also have a cold box that is currently occupied by weeds. I don’t know what we’ll put in it yet, but I was thinking lettuces or maybe a few herbs.

I’m going to do my best to document the trials of my first garden. I promise to share the good and the bad and everything that happens in between. Lucky for me, I have access to the full Timber Press library to gather information from along the way…

P.S. These pictures were obviously not taken this month. If they were taken this month they would much more barren, much less green, and — thanks to a little Holiday weekend yard work — much more cut back.

As I was walking across the Burnside bridge yesterday, I happened to glance down at the traffic on I-5, and noticed the traffic median.

I’m guessing that traffic medians are tough to dress up. It’s a harsh environment – hot air, gas fumes, wind from passing cars. Trash gathers there. Roadkill gathers there. Regardless, I happen to think that this particular median could use some serious help. The line of shrubs pruned in box shapes is really not doing it for me.

What could be planted there instead? Succulents? Down near Santa Cruz the medians were planted with swaths of ice plant, invasive but gorgeous.  Grasses? The meadow and grass plantings in a few of our books are stunning, and I’d love to look down on waving grasses as I cross the bridge.

Should we expect traffic medians to be attractive, or should we just be grateful when there is anything at planted in that space?

I usually check Garden Rant when I get back into the office after a weekend. (You have to keep tabs on what those ranting folks are up to – if you don’t you might miss the latest gardening dust-up.)

Scrolling down the page a bit, I saw the post on sculpture in the North Carolina Botanical Garden. I’ve been thinking about art in the garden a lot lately, partly as a result of trying to niceify my own back yard. I currently have very little to show in the “garden art” department. There’s my ceramic fish plaque, which hangs over my composting bins and which makes an excellent Patron Saint of Stuff Rotting.

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The Wall Street Journal ran an enlightening story recently about “turf wars” over water guzzling landscapes and what the EPA hopes to do about it.

The article outlines various municipal programs (incentive-based as well as voluntary) currently in place (primarily in the west) to encourage homeowners to “tear up” their turf lawns in favor of a more sustainable landscape, requiring much less water, fertilizer, and fewer pesticides. They are offering up to $1.50 per square foot of turf grass if you replace that same area with regionally-appropriate, drought-tolerant plants. It’s a neat idea, this “cash for grass.” Makes sense. People will be financially rewarded for ripping up their water-guzzling, synthetic-chemical-sucking lawns and planting better choices for their neighborhood and region.

But, what kinds of plants — besides the obvious cacti and succulents — don’t require much watering or fertilizer, you might ask? Lots of them, actually.

Enter the “new” American landscape: the meadow garden.

A meadow garden, or prairie-style planting, is a shimmering mini eco-system, in which regionally-appropriate grasses combine with colorful perennials to form a rich tapestry that is friendly to wildlife. This type of garden is not only good for the natural environment, virtually maintenance free, and needs far less watering than a turf lawn, but best of all—it requires no mowing, ever! Wow, can you even imagine?

As you can see, we’re not talking not boring, monotonous-looking, either. These are visually stunning, colorful,vibrant, bold, textured, flowering plants, with four-season interest. Bonus — they attract wildlife and are a huge benefit to the natural ecosystem.

It’s fortuitous timing that Timber Press’s new book, The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn by John Greenlee with photos by Saxon Holt, has just been released this month. It can help homeowners who are choosing to tear up their lawn this fall find the right mix of perennials and regionally appropriate grasses and grass-like plants to suit their local landscapes.

Author John Greenlee has been designing meadow gardens for decades. Dubbed “The Grassman” by The New Yorker, Greenlee (who also happens to be sought-after garden designer to a number of well-known Hollywood celebrities) is just the authority to help navigate and inspire folks to install a meadow garden at home.

And, if you’re interested in more information, check out the new Lawn Reform Coalition website, a newly-formed group of activists and plant nuts who, like John Greenlee, want to help educate others about “killing the lawn.” They’ve banded together in the hopes of creating a national revolution on the topic.

It’s time to get rid of the old-fashioned lawn and embrace a sane and healthy future: the designed meadow.