Transform your yard into a green sanctuary with "The Suburban Homeowner's Handbook to Lawn Care." This comprehensive guide is your ultimate resource for nurturing a thriving, sustainable, and stunning lawn right in your own backyard. Dive into a world where biology meets beauty, beginning with a deep understanding of your lawn's ecosystem. Learn the importance of biodiversity, and uncover the hidden magic of soil health and the microorganisms that live within it. From the roots to the blades, this book provides insights on choosing the right grass for your environment, whether you’re interested in native varieties, climate compatibility, or drought-resistant options that save water while staying lush. Mowing is an art form here, where eco-friendly practices reign supreme. Discover the best mowing techniques, equipment choices, and the unexpected benefits of grasscycling. Speaking of water, the book introduces innovative watering solutions like smart irrigation systems and rainwater harvesting that keep your lawn vibrant and conserve precious resources. Sustainable fertilizing practices await, offering a balanced approach between organic solutions and DIY composting. Timing is key to ensuring maximum lawn fertility while maintaining an eco-friendly stance. Tackle pest management with natural methods that encourage beneficial insects and keep your lawn safe for family and wildlife. Uncover the secrets of lawn aeration, weed control, and seasonal routines to keep your lawn in peak condition year-round. Engage with wildlife-friendly features that attract pollinators and provide safe spaces for local fauna, enriching your outdoor experience. Finally, look towards the future of lawn care with tips on collaborating with your community and adopting new technologies that promote sustainability. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, this handbook offers the tools and knowledge needed to cultivate a beautiful, resilient lawn that stands the test of time.

“Big ideas for your small garden.” —Garden Design When it comes to gardens, bigger isn’t always better, and The Less Is More Garden shows you how to take advantage of every square foot of space. Designer Susan Morrison offers savvy tips to match your landscape to your lifestyle, draws on years of experience to recommend smart plants with seasonal interest, and suggests hardscape materials to personalize your space. Inspiring photographs highlight a variety of inspiring small-space designs from around the country. With The Less Is More Garden, you’ll see how limited space can mean unlimited opportunities for gorgeous garden design.

Go from manicured lawn to eco-conscious garden with this step-by-step guide from HGTV star John Gidding. Increased awareness of the environment and an ever-present interest in curb appeal means that homeowners are eager for more sustainable, natural landscaping. And why shouldn’t they be? In addition to supporting local flora and fauna, ditching grass for lush, native plants helps lower water bills and results in self-sustaining gardens long-term. In John Gidding’s At Home with Nature, American homeowners will find thorough blueprints to reap these benefits and bring their dream garden to life. Complete with specific information for every U.S. bioregion, a glossary of native plants, illustrated yard renderings and photos, and detailed explanations of suburban codes, this book has examples and techniques to build responsible natural spaces. And as an HGTV star with over a decade of design experience, Gidding is the landscaping expert readers need to get the job done. At Home with Nature is the ultimate resource for creating beautiful and beneficial home gardens.

A colorful guide covering the basics of replacing a traditional lawn with a wide variety of easy-care, no-mow, drought-tolerant, money-saving options that will appeal to today's busy, eco-conscious homeowner. Americans pour 300 million gallons of gas and 1 billion hours every year into mowing their lawns, not to mention 70 million pounds of pesticides and $40 billion for lawn upkeep. No Wonder the anti-lawn movement is thriving, as today's eco-conscious consumers realize that their traditional lawns are water-hogging, chemical-ridden, maintenance-intensive burdens. Lawn Gone!, from award-winning gardening blogger Pam Penick, is the first basic introduction to low-water, easy-care lawn alternatives for beginning gardeners, written in a friendly style with an approachable package. It covers all the available time-saving options: alternative grasses, ground cover plants, artificial turf, hardscaping, mulch, and more. In addition, it includes step-by-step lawn-removal methods, strategies for dealing with neighbors and homeowner associations, and how to minimize your lawn if you're not ready to go all the way.

Peter Hunn. It's common for homeowners to have 2- or 4-cycle small engines in their lawn and garden equipment, utility vehicles, recreational vehicles, generators and other machines. With this easy-to-follow, richly illustrated handbook, homeowners will be able to understanding small engines, troubleshooting them and working on them. The book has a brief history of significant and popular small engines and a guide to setting up a home workshop in which to work on them. It also includes case studies on the disassembly, maintenance, repair and/or rebuilding of: a 2-stroke lawnmower engine, a 4-stroke utility motor, a 2-stroke chainsaw engine, and a curbside junker. The writing is lively and entertaining and the color photos clearly show how to work on these useful engines.

“Fear deer no more! The best source I’ve seen on the topic!” —Tracy DiSabato-Aust, award-winning garden designer and best-selling author Deer are one of the most common problems a gardener can face. These cute but pesky animals can quickly devour hundreds of dollars’ worth of plants. And common solutions include the use of unattractive fencing and chemicals. In Deer-Resistant Design, Karen Chapman offers another option—intentional design choices that result in beautiful gardens that coexist with wildlife. Deer-Resistant Design showcases real home gardens across North America—from a country garden in New Jersey to a hilltop hacienda in Texas—that have successfully managed the presence of deer. Each homeowner also shares their top ten deer-resistant plants, all welcome additions to a deer-challenged gardeners shopping list. A chapter on deer-resistant container gardens provides suggestions for making colorful, captivating, and imaginative containers. Lushly illustrated and filled with practical advice and inspiring design ideas, Deer-Resistant Design is packed with everything you need to confidently tackle this challenging problem.

The Delaware Naturalist Handbook is the primary public face of a major university-led public educational outreach and community engagement initiative. This statewide master naturalist certification program is designed to train hundreds of citizen scientists, K–12 environmental educators, ecological restoration volunteers, and habitat managers each year. The initiative is conducted in collaboration with multiple disciplines at the University of Delaware, the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN), the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (DNREC), the state Division of Parks, the state Forest Service, the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, and local nonprofit educational institutions, including the Mount Cuba Center, the Delaware Nature Society and Ashland Nature Center, Delaware Wildlands, Northeast Climate Hub, Center for Inland Bays, and White Clay Creek State Park.