Low-Maintenance Eco-Gardens Book
Explore Low-Maintenance Ecological Gardening
Learn how this book weaves design, ecology, and self-care into practical steps for resilient gardens.
Low-Maintenance Eco Gardens helps you design and tend beautiful, resilient spaces that care for you while caring for Earth. It offers step-by-step guidance for creating eco-friendly gardens that stay joyful and realistic over time.
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Written by staff members Fred Meyer and Jen Kardos. It will be available March 2026.
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Signed copies of the book will be available at a discount when you purchase our coaching services, and can be included when organizations host classes with us.
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You can also pre-order the book through Bookshop.org, where a portion of the proceeds supports our nonprofit work.
Who This Book Is For
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New or Busy Gardeners: People who want a garden that feels manageable, not overwhelming.
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Households and Families: Anyone hoping to grow food, pollinator habitat, or play spaces that still look good when life gets busy.
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Community: Neighborhoods or teams designing shared courtyards, teaching gardens, or small public spaces.
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Healthcare Professionals: Helpers who want to weave nature-based practices into client work or self-care.
What You’ll Learn
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Read Your Space: How to understand sun, shade, water, and soil so plants thrive.
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Design with Nature: Simple steps for laying out beds, paths, and outdoor rooms that work together.
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Reduce Chores: Ways to cut mowing, weeding, and watering while keeping what you enjoy.
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Grow Food and Habitat: Ideas for herbs, veggies, fruit, and native plants that support people and wildlife.
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Build Resilient Systems: Low-effort irrigation, composting, and plant combinations that care for themselves.
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Support Well-Being: Practices for using your garden as a place to rest, reflect, and reconnect with nature.
Peek Inside the Book
Low-Maintenance Eco Gardens is different from most garden books. It weaves practical design with well-being and covers a wide range of projects, all through a low-maintenance lens.
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Container Gardens: Create flexible, beautiful plantings for patios, balconies, and tight spaces.
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Raised Beds: Establish beds that are easy to tend and gentle on your body.
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In-Ground Gardens: Design nutrient-dense, low-care beds that reduce maintenance and support healthy soil life.
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Mini-Orchards: Plan small fruit guilds and edible edges that fit into everyday yards.
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Wild Edible Foraging: Safely recognize and enjoy common wild foods that may already be growing in your yard or nearby park.
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Sensory Gardens: Grow spaces that invite touch, scent, sound, and visual calm.
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Composting Systems: Set up simple systems that recycle kitchen and yard waste with minimal fuss.
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Curious how it all fits together? Browse a few sample pages to see the layouts, illustrations, and step-by-step guidance from the introduction.
