Garden Rescue by Richard Bisgrove

“Don’t cut the lawn, don’t cut the lawn!
You will cut my little nestlings who have just been born.”

~The lark, to Mr. Pomeroy and Snapping Jack, the lawn mower,
in Margaret Mahey’s wonderful story, Don’t Cut the Lawn

Ah, lawn care. I’ve never paid too much attention to it. But after reading Richard Bisgrove’s little book, Garden Rescue, I just might pay a bit more. Of course, Bisgrove is a British author and garden expert writing about British lawns and gardens, and so his remedies for improving the quality of your lawn may not work with the grasses here in North America. (Lawn care experts, please comment!) However, in his experience, much can be done just by adjusting the height of the mower.

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I was drawn to Succession Planting for Year-Round Pleasure by Christopher Lloyd the minute I clapped eyes on the title. The photographs showing one of Lloyd’s borders in every month during The Green Season propelled me to the cash register with it in my arms. From those photos, you can see how his garden changes over spring, summer and fall. In each, you can see how Lloyd has staged his perennials and annuals so that there is always plenty either in bloom or showing off colorful foliage. And that was an inspiration to me.

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