Commonweeder, the Conway School sounds like a great resource! I am glad to know about it.

Thanks for the overview! Love the pressed flower art, and I'm all for more gabion too... pillars, pots, rock walls, whatever. Nice for a DIY person because you can carry a small load of rocks at a time but end up with a large, sturdy rock feature.

One of my local garden centers stocks a decent supply of books in a cozy little reading nook that I browse whenever I shop there. I enjoy supporting them by buying both books and plants from them. When traveling, I like to visit garden centers and if they have an enticing region-specific gardening book (or 2!), I will often buy it as a special treat for myself. It's great to run across a garden center (or public garden, for that matter) with a local flavor, stocking regionally adapted plants and books as well as local art, music, even food. I'm rooting for more.

Susan, so many different looks and styles in your photos! You really reinforce the book's point that there are a lot of options for those who don't want a traditional turfgrass-dominated yard. Cheryl, if it fits your climate zone, what about a low mint like pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium) for a scented path? Or if that's too much of a spreader for you, Mazus reptans is flat with fresh green foliage. I think both would do well in moist part shade and handle some foot (and cart) traffic.

For Sally and others who may have tried to order through Amazon: their glitch is now fixed, pre-ordering works. Hope you will enjoy the book!

Just a quick update that the Amazon glitch is now gone... pre-ordering the book is allowed once again. And Marte, your garden is lovely and I'm proud to share your great idea of mini-monocultures in the book!

Has anyone here tried a chicken moat? Similar to Michelle's idea, only there are two fences making a wide, arbor-covered chicken run around the vegie garden. I first read of it and saw a cool diagram in some permaculture book, and after a frantic search I cannot find out which book, but here's a link to an article about them (with a diagram) in Mother Earth News: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1988-05-01/Garden-Pest-Control.aspx

Sally, thanks for asking! The book is going to publish in a couple of weeks, but you can pre-order it now from any online bookseller or from your local bookstore. (The Amazon page currently has a glitch, but I've notified them and it should be fixed in a couple days at most.) You can also support Timber Press by ordering it directly from them at this page: http://www.timberpress.com/books/beautiful_no_mow_yards/hadden/9781604692389

Hi, everyone, and thank you for your enthusiastic response to Beautiful No-Mow Yards! To answer a few of your questions about what it covers : There’s a chapter on design inspiration for each of the following: shade gardens, living carpets, prairie and meadow gardens, patios, rain gardens, play areas, ponds, xeric gardens, stroll gardens, edible gardens, and smarter lawns. Part two of the book discusses how to get there: how to convert your lawn to a garden, elements of an eco-friendly garden, maintenance, and even making your lawn more eco-friendly. Part three presents 100 choice ground-layer plants, categorized by their general behavior to help you site and combine them successfully. Not all the plants, designs, or strategies presented will work for everyone in the country, but I aimed to include enough information and discussion to help you make educated choices about what might work best for your site and your style of gardening. And yes, I’m all about making it fun and not scary!

Jennifer, like our city boulevards, those areas with easements do require something low-cost and easily replenishable (is that a word?) after "they" do their maintenance. An extra design challenge, to be sure. Daricia, I want to see those "unintentional ditch gardens" -- now that's exciting! Mamaholt, thanks for sharing those photos of your garden's transformation. I'm thinking you all get very little rain (especially this year...) and that's why you have no problems with erosion of the mulch? Also does it smell as yummy as I am imagining it does? (Though I confess I see it as a perfect blank slate and wouldn't be able to keep myself from adding large patches of low groundcovers, just to bring in more color and life.) Thanks for the comments, folks.

Thank you all for the compliments and for participating in this fascinating online discussion of different lawn alternatives. So many gardeners with great ideas out there!