Reviving or Rescuing a Landscape
In her chapter on "Refining Design" she points out that what worked once may not now for many reasons including changes in the circumstances of your life, changes in the way you use your landscape, dislike of the landscape you inherited, but did not plan or just changes in your needs, opinions and the scale of your gardening.
In "Border Disputes and Perennial Questions", she sympathizes with border burnout and shares that she believes perennials have been oversold as the answer to everything. They are not minimum maintenance in the way a concrete patio is. They are living things and subject to the needs of anything that lives and grows. Some are better, some are worse. A continuous succession of bloom is a myth and perennials are not necessarily easier than annuals. She even believes that borders are not the best way to use perennials.
Her chapter on environmental concerns is a well-reasoned and even-handed look at chemicals and fertilizers, the glut of plastic pots, doodads and supplies that accumulate and other matters of recycling and re-using. She underscores the relationship of native plants to minimizing maintenance in a useful and not fanatical fashion and includes a discussion of the ethics of wild harvested wildflowers and invasive exotics.
Another very good chapter is "The Good and Not So Good Earth" on soil and composting. What can you do about the soil in a middle-aged perennial border? The answer will surprise you. Her discussion of compost is one of the best I have read. She knows there is more than one way to go as I have always said. It isn't brain surgery, but it is very important to do it. Best of all here is the observation that where gardeners want to grow plants having soil type requirements unlike those in their yard or demanding soil many pH points removed from theirs, they should consider building a raised bed that can have the appropriate soil rather than the Herculean task of trying to keep a patch of soil in a state far different from its surroundings. I know loads of people who should read this and take heed. They'd like gardening a whole lot better if they did.
Her chapter on hardiness shows a grasp of the subject far broader than just her zone 4 experiences would give her. You will learn a lot about microclimate and the ways different weather patterns affect our plants.
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