"Knowing your plants means less work. A fresh and innovative approach to an easy-care garden. 62 plans., 74 plants, and garden-tested techniques"--Cover

Understanding your garden -- Understanding plants -- Site preparation and planting -- Care and maintenance -- Key plants for Know Maintenance gardens -- The garden plans -- Creating your own plant communities -- Been there, done that : portraits of outstanding gardeners

We've all seen gorgeous perennial gardens packed with color, texture, and multi-season interest. Designed by a professional and maintained by a crew, they are aspirational bits of beauty too difficult to attempt at home. Or are they? The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden makes a design-magazine-worthy garden achievable at home. The new, simplified approach is made up of hardy, beautiful plants grown on a 10x14 foot grid. Each of the 62 garden plans combines complementary plants that thrive together and grow as a community. They are designed to make maintenance a snap. In fact, the entire garden is mowed down at the end of the season! The garden plans can be followed explicitly or adjusted to meet individual needs; size can be altered by treating the grid-like design as a modular building block that can be halved, doubled, or tripled as needed. This complete garden system makes a gorgeous perennial garden available to everyone, no matter their skill or the size of their space

"Portions of this book are based on Roy Diblik's Small perennial gardens: the know maintenance approach, published in 2008 by American Nurseryman."--verso