You look and say 'I want this,' realizing that your desire has everything to do with the sanctuary garden that Easton is calling you back to. Low maintenance is just the part of the equation that gives you the time to enjoy the sanctuary you create. -- Jim McCausland Fresh Dirt blog 20091107 Will be embraced by gardeners facing the limitations of an aging body or the time constraints of a busy career; by gardeners who want an inviting place to enjoy being outdoors; and, not least, by designers who are asked by nearly every client for a low-maintenance garden. -- Pam Penick Digging 20091112 The book is not a how-to manual, but through examples of real-life gardens, offers inspiration for turning gardens into beautiful, sustainable, easy-to-care-for outdoor spaces. -- Susan Condon Love Cleveland Plain Dealer 20091105 This book is an invaluable addition to the garden library - destined to be a classic for many years to come. -- Jane Berger Garden Design Online 20091118 The interesting tidbits in the book leave me smitten with The New Low-Maintenance Garden. This book will be in my mind as we embrace the beauty that is the edit. Garden Punks blog 20090926 As we gardeners of a certain age look for ways to simplify our lives but still keep our fingers in the dirt, I can see Easton's book being referred to again and again. -- Fran Durner Anchorage Daily News 20091122 Shows authentic beauty achievable by regular folks like you and me, as opposed to gardening super-heroes who spend every waking moment plucking dead blades out of their chive plants. -- Fern Richardson Life on the Balcony blog 20091125 A handy guide to a garden you can raise without a corresponding increase in your blood pressure. ... Handsome and informative. Metropolitan Home 20091201 A well-informed and useful guide that ... will appeal to gardeners all over the country. Recommended. -- Jenny Contakos Library Journal 20091201 Easton shows us how to garden reasonably without feeling overwhelmed. ... A long overdue cry for gardening sanity, with guidelines for restoring balance to our lives. -- Barbara Blossom Ashmun Portland Tribune 20091231 Over the years, countless books have espoused a low-maintenance approach to gardening. None have been as engaging, practical, or inspiring as this latest of Easton's contributions to the gardener's bookshelf. -- Barclay and Sharon Simpson Pacific Horticulture 20100101

Valerie Easton is a weekly garden columnist for Pacific Northwest Magazine of The Seattle Times. She has contributed articles on gardens, homes, and the people who make them to a variety of magazines, including Metropolitan Home, Fine Gardening, and Gardens Illustrated. Valerie trained as a Master Gardener and was for eighteen years the horticultural librarian at the University of Washington in Seattle. She gardens, teaches yoga, and blogs (www.valeaston.com) in the village of Langley, on Whidbey Island, Washington, and her own garden has been published in The New York Times, This Old House, and Horticulture. Her Timber Press books include The New Low-Maintenance Garden and A Pattern Garden.