I feel strongly that God’s command to man to take care of the garden and the animals did not mean to abuse them. Using unnecessary chemicals in your garden or lawn is a form of abuse in my opinion. This book will show you how to be a better steward of what God provides.

Don Williamson. Lawns: Natural and Organic. Lone Pine Publishing. 2006.

Lawns opens with a thorough discussion of the lawn environment and the turf plants. You’ll learn about several good reasons for having a lawn. Some of these reasons include:

1. Reducing wind and water erosion.
2. Absorbing excess carbon dioxide and ozone and replacing it with oxygen.
3. Trapping dust from the air and reducing mud around buildings, filtering rainfall so that contaminants don’t wind up in our rivers.
4. Growing a food web that can degrade various chemicals into harmless substances.
5. Lower air conditioning costs of nearby homes or other buildings.

Williamson provides an in-depth discussion of the turf grass environment. This includes a discussion of light needs, water needs, air, soil, and traffic patterns (foot). Then he discusses both cool and warm season grasses. Once you understand this information, you’ll be ready for his chapter on installing your new lawn. This is followed by chapters on turfgrass maintenance and even the tools/equipment you will need. The turfgrass nutritional needs are also discussed in detail.

In my opinion, the real substance of the book is covered in his discussion of organic lawns versus those that are maintained only with heavy doses of chemicals for nutrition and weed or insect control. He provides an outstanding discussion of why this type lawn is better for you and the environment. Even if you don’t read any of the other chapters, please read the chapter on Integrated Pest Management. It will strongly encourage you to NOT visit your local garden center for all those bottles or boxes of pesticides.

Recommendation

This book just may change the way you view your lawn. I hope it will encourage you to maintain it organically which is better for the soil web and the environment.

Don Williamson’s book on Lawns is typical of the quality books offered by Lone Pine Publishing. You may view many others at my Obsessive Gardening website. May I encourage you to visit it soon for some outstanding books on gardening and landscape care?