Yard Full of Sun: The Story of a Gardener's Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand - Softcover

Calhoun, Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 188789666X ISBN 13: 9781887896665

Publisher: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2005

Synopsis

In spite of living in the Sonoran Desert, renowned gardening expert Scott Calhoun has created a lush and vibrant paradise in his own back yard.

Yard Full of Sun: The Story of a Gardener's Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand is the perfect guide to extreme gardening and shows that a little dedication can go a long way. If you have ever lived in the desert, or are planning to relocate, Yard Full of Sun will explain:

     · The ins and outs of building your own bungalow
     · Water conservation and collecting rain water in a homemade cistern
     · Soil conditions and how to treat your dirt
     · The importance of landscaping plans and how to make them
     · Plants that thrive in an arid landscape
     · Colors and flowers
     · Cactus: love it? hate it?
     · Creative gardening techniques

And most importantly:

     · There is no shame in scavenging along the side of the road for the perfect seeds.

Yard Full of Sun is a full-bodied gardening adventure meant to inspire you to think beyond the turf and queen palm landscape. This humorous and easy-to-read book chronicles the struggles and triumphs of one family as they design and construct a home and garden in the desert. Exploring gardens from southern Sonora, Mexico to Utah's Great Basin, Southern California to Texas, this is the book to have before creating your own retreat. 60 photographs and illustrations

About this title

About the Author:

Scott Calhoun is the author of The Hot Garden, Yard Full of Sun (which was a 2006 American Horticultural Society Book of the Year), and Chasing Wildflowers, which was a winner of the Garden Writers Association 2008 Silver Award of Achievement. A full time freelancer maintaining a rigorous schedule, Calhoun works as a writer, teacher, and garden designer. His company, Zona Gardens, is located is Tucson, Arizona.

From Publishers Weekly:

Memoir and how-to work side by side to excellent effect in this chronicle of a family's horticultural odyssey. Calhoun—an accomplished gardener, manager of a Tucson nursery and fourth-generation Arizonian—was determined to create a garden using native plants, a space that would serve as a "response to a powerful sun moving across a big sky." Beautiful, bright photos complement the author's loving descriptions of the plants' attributes and origins. He shares the methods he and his wife used to brainstorm their garden's layout, feel and contents, and offers detailed supply lists as well. Calhoun's sometimes unorthodox methods of acquiring flora and fauna make for good copy; the prairie zinnia escapade (in which he decides to appropriate wildflowers growing across the street from a police department) is one winning example. Though detail is plentiful, from rainfall statistics to prickly pear varieties, the text maintains a balance between practical and personal. Calhoun's apparent affinity for similes adds personality; for example, "Mesquite trees are as promiscuous as a single mother of six kids with different fathers making an appearance on Jerry Springer." Though most useful for readers living in the Southwest, the book's humor and autobiographical aspects broaden its appeal. (Feb.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Rio Nuevo Publishers
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 188789666X
• ISBN 13: 9781887896665
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160