Grass isn't greener The everyday conservationist 's guide to bringing nature to your yard

While books on native-plant gardening in the U.S. often focus (justifiably) on specific geographic regions and the plants unique to those regions, macro photographer and conservation educator Wolfe brings a non-place-specific overview to the topic, first laying out the serious global threats to biodiversity and the particular ways a native-plant garden can help mitigate those threats. From there, she describes how to survey one's landscape, explaining the USDA's hardiness zones as well as the country's ecoregions, which more accurately show where groups of native plants best thrive. She explains the benefits of converting lawns to native gardens, helpfully clarifies the nomenclature used to categorize various types of plants (nativars, exotic plants, noxious weeds), extolls the virtues of mulching, explains how native plants support local wildlife much better than non-natives, urges saving water and the powering down of garden tools, explains how to save both "wet" and "dry" seeds, and discusses the mechanics of composting. The material is profusely illustrated, well captioned, and clearly conveyed. A serviceable primer on creating a native garden right at home.