Rain Gardening in the South is a book by Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford. Here you will find the information to allow you to decide whether this is the book you need as you plan your rain garden.
Rain Gardening in the South is published by Eno Publishers, a small, non-profit book publishing company which focuses on producing books important to the culture of the Carolinas and the South.
Eno Publishers generously invited me to review this book and provided me with a copy.
Things to Know About Rain Gardening in the South
This is a surprisingly compact book at 142 pages long, considering it seems to contain everything you’d need to know for designing and building a rain garden in the following states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.
Is it Just for the South?
Although this book is titled “…for the south” it’s usefulness extends beyond the listed states. I am in Kansas and I recognize many of the listed planting suggestions as being suitable for my area.
I’m certainly learning a lot from this book which I can put to use as I plan a rain garden for my Midwest back yard.
What is in Rain Gardening in the South
This is both a thorough and readable book with wonderful diagrams, charts and photographs which explain about how rain gardens work, where to site them, and what to plant.
Chapters are as follows:
- Introduction – water in the landscape and why to use rain gardens.
- Rain Gardens - what rain gardens do, dry gardens, wet gardens, the anatomy of a rain garden, rain gardens at home and abroad (examples).
- Designing a Rain Garden – property factors, water flow, location, style, design and maintenance.
- Laying the Groundwork – water movement in soil, size matters, rain barrel vs rain garden, filter beds, soil basics, a rain garden in action. Includes a table with numbers for calculating needed garden size.
- Plantings – natives and non-natives, grouping plants by water needs (hyrdozones), composition with plants, shade plants, sun plants, part-shade plants. Tables detail plants by light needs with vines, shrubs, groundcover, perennials, and tree choices. How to choose, plant and maintain healthy plants is also explained.
- Troubleshooting – slow drainage, fast drainage, dying plants, erosion, fungi problems.
- Other Water-wise Gardening Options – rain barrels, rain chains, drip irrigation, porous hardscapes.
- Appendix – soil types and suitable amendments.
The One Thing I’d Like Changed
The plant choice tables contain a wealth of information. I’d like to have seen an indication of which plants are native within the tables.
Who Should Buy Rain Gardening in the South?
I recommend this book for all gardeners who want to do their part for the ecosystem by building a rain garden. While it is most suitable for gardeners in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia there is much valuable information for those gardening in other southern states as well as in the east and midwest.
Shop for Rain Gardening in the South at Amazon.com (list price is $19.95, Amazon.com is selling it, at the time of this article, for $14.96), or online from your local independent bookstore.
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