There is increasing enthusiasm for using native plants in gardens throughout New Zealand. This book is aimed at helping gardeners and landscaping professionals to select and care for native ground cover plants in order to create low-maintenance, good-looking and sustainable gardens. As with other forms of gardening, ground cover planting is most successful and satisfying when thoughtfully planned, with plants chosen to fit the design objectives and scale of the area to be planted. Hasty, ill-informed choices aimed solely at easy care can result in gardens that need to be removed a few years later because the area has become overgrown or the plants are unsuitable for the site. The authors show how a carefully considered use of New Zealand native plants as ground cover can reduce maintenance in gardens of all sizes while creating an aesthetically pleasing environment. They suggest suitable ground cover plants, based not only on the species but also on the continuing development of the range of hybrids and cultivars that are now available to gardeners. Accompanied by more than 100 colour photographs, these suggestions will help with your plant selection.

A practical growing handbook for the gardener who loves native plants, describing New Zealand native alpines, ground covers, climbers, ferns and flowers for the border, all well-suited for growing in the home garden.

This reference brings together over 1000 species, hybrids and cultivars. It includes colour photographs, arranged according to the plant's attributes and use in the garden, and also includes examples of landscaping possibilities as well as numerous plant portraits.

There are hundreds of species of native plants of all shapes and sizes suitable for the garden, but which are the best? Which will be the easiest to grow and the most likely to 100 Best New Zealand Native Plants offers a selection of readily available, hardy, versatile and attractive trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, ferns, vines and groundcovers. From the interlacing divaricates to the bold-leaved puka, from the flowing grasses to the structural lancewoods, this book suggests ways of combining different textures and forms to enhance your garden throughout the seasons.Including advice on care and maintenance, pests and problems, likes and dislikes and extensive landscaping suggestions, 100 Best New Zealand Native Plants is an indispensable handbook for novice gardeners through to landscaping professionals.

No category of plants works harder than ground covers to help a gardener create a beautiful yet low-maintenance landscape. In this book readers will discover the best plants * to stabilize banks and control erosion * to substitute for turf where grass won’t grow or is hard to mow * to line curbs and driveways, where salt will damage ordinary plants * to enhance a landscape with broad, dramatic sweeps.

New Zealand has a unique and attractive native plant life that is of interest to everyone from gardeners and trampers to students of botany and ecology. In Know Your New Zealand Native Plants Lawrie Metcalf introduces a selection of the most interesting, iconic and important New Zealand plants, spanning latitudes from subtropical to temperate, and altitudes from sea level to alpine mountaintop, describing their natural history and distinguishing features. This title joins New Holland's hugely successful 'Know Your ...' series, of which the first two titles - Birds and Trees - both reprinted twice within two years of their release. Written for a family readership and with the novice in mind, the text of 'Know Your...' titles is light and easy in tone, with simple language, and is accompanied by full-page, full-colour portrait photographs.