Landscaping with Native Plants of Wisconsin - by Lynn M Steiner (Paperback)

About the Book

For beginning and experienced gardeners, a guide to finding, using, and maintaining Wisconsin's unique native plants in home landscapes.

Book Synopsis

Aimed at beginners and veteran gardeners alike, this book is designed to help Wisconsin gardeners find, plant, and maintain the best native species for their specific sites, however modest or lavish.

Gardening with native plants is an ever-more popular practice--and for good reason. Naturally suited to a region's climate and soil, native plants tend to thrive, and to reflect a true "fit" with the environment.

The Native Plant Profiles section offers comprehensive descriptions of some 600 species of flowers and groundcovers, trees, shrubs, vines, evergreens, grasses, and ferns native to Wisconsin, as well as information on planting, maintenance, and landscape uses for each plant.

With advice on the process of designing a natural garden that fits each lifestyle and family, the book will guide readers to the level of native plant landscaping that is just right for them.

From the Back Cover

Here is your essential guide to successful native-plant gardening in Wisconsin. Gardeners use native plants for many reasons. Native plants often require less maintenance, and they are better able to survive and grow in our state's difficult soil and weather conditions. But equally appealing is the joy of connecting with our state's natural heritage--and the satisfaction of creating a true sense of place rather than just another cookie-cutter landscape. "Landscaping with Native Plants of Wisconsin" is the first book designed to help you identify and effectively use our state's native plants and native-plant communities in a typical home landscape. You'll find the basic gardening information you need to successfully grow native plants. You'll learn what level of native-plant landscaping is right for you and get expert advice on the process of designing a natural garden that fits your property, your lifestyle, and your family's needs. The book includes many plant lists. Some deal with common landscape problems and difficult sites, including deer-resistant plants, shade gardens, and water-wise gardens. Other lists tell you what native plants will work well in different garden styles, including water and rock gardens as well as plants to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. The Native Plant Profiles section is an encyclopedia with comprehensive descriptions of 500 Wisconsin native-plant species, varieties, and cultivars of flowers, trees, shrubs, vines, evergreens, grasses, ferns, and groundcovers--including information on planting, maintenance, and landscape uses for each plant. Lynn M. Steiner is a native of Wisconsin and one of the Midwest's best-known garden writers. Her enthusiasm for native plants and gardening stems from a childhood curiosity about all things natural, as well as over 20 years of tending her own extensive home gardens. For 15 years, she was the editor of "Northern Gardener" magazine, which earned numerous awards for "Overall Excellence" under her direction.

Review Quotes

"Beautifully illustrated ... an essential instructional guide to successful native-plant gardening in WisconsinThe Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Lynn Steiner is one of the Upper Midwest's best-known garden writers and a frequent speaker at gardening and environmental events. She is the author and photographer of several books that advocate for the effective use of native plants in the typical home landscape. Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota, the first book designed to identify Minnesota's native plants and plant communities and to demonstrate how to use them effectively in a typical home landscape, was a finalist in the 2006 Minnesota Book Awards in the Science and Nature category.

Lynn is the author and photographer of several other books, including Rain Gardens: Sustainable Landscaping for a Beautiful Yard and a Healthy World, published in February 2012. Other titles include Landscaping with Native Plants of Wisconsin, published spring 2007, and Landscaping with Native Plants of Michigan, published in 2006 and named a Michigan Notable Book for 2007. She also helped develop, wrote, and provided photographs for The Complete Guide to Gardening series, ten regional gardening books published in 2012 by Cool Springs Press.

For fifteen years, Lynn was the editor of Northern Gardener magazine, the official publication of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. Under her direction, Northern Gardener received several Overall Excellence awards from the Minnesota Magazine & Publication Association, and several individual contributors received Garden Writers Association Media awards. She now writes a column for the magazine titled "Northern Natives."

Lynn lives with her husband and two cats on a 115-year-old farmstead in northern Washington County, Minnesota, where she enjoys tending her gardens and watching the progress of her restored prairie, savannah, and oak woodland.