I rolled a shopping cart into The Great Outdoors on South Congress Avenue the other day and saw my own face looking back at me. Check it out—I’m on an upcoming-speakers sign (along with my friend and fellow new author Jenny Peterson—yay, Jenny!).

Yep, I’ll be speaking and signing copies of my book, Lawn Gone!, on Saturday, April 20th, at 10 am at The Great Outdoors, so please mark your calendar and come see me! I’ll share some design ideas for turning your lawn into an outdoor retreat with a mix of ground-covering plants and hardscape, and I’ll also show you some of my favorite plants from the nursery.

Look for me under the big tent at the back of the nursery, under the giant oak tree.

While you’re there, check out The Great Outdoors’ newly remodeled and expanded gift shop at the back of the nursery. It’s bright and airy now, full of cool garden gifts, decor, T-shirts, and—oh, look—garden books like Lawn Gone! The staff has placed it front and center on a display table along with a tear-out of the article about it in Vegetarian Times. Thanks, Brandi and company!

Making the nursery rounds that same day, I also stopped in at Barton Springs Nursery for a few things and, while paying, spotted my book in their gift shop too. Thanks for carrying it, BSN! Fun fact: Manager Bernardine Bering’s daughter, Moira Bering, a student of landscape architecture at university, did the beautiful color renderings of my three landscape design drawings in Lawn Gone!

If you live in Austin and like to buy locally, you can also find Lawn Gone! at The Natural Gardener…

…and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center…

…and Barnes & Noble, which has placed Lawn Gone! on their nonfiction new arrivals table, as well as in the gardening section.

This week I’m on KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener talking about—you guessed it—Lawn Gone! and how to transition your yard from thirsty grass to a more sustainable garden retreat. Huge thanks to producer extraordinaire Linda Lehmusvirta and host Tom Spencer for having me on the show.

But the most important, and still most amazing, place that I’ve been thrilled to see my book is in the hands of readers. Some of you have even shared pictures of Lawn Gone! in your garden or home, and I’d like to show off a few of them here. This is San Antonio gardener Shirley Fox’s copy, which hilariously poses, like a traveling gnome, throughout her beautiful garden in a review she wrote on her blog Rock-Oak-Deer.

My sister and sister-in-law sent me this picture of Lawn Gone! in their Houston courtyard garden, two images of which appear on pages 55 and 66. Meta-photo!

David Cristiani, Albuquerque landscape architect, blogger at The Desert Edge, and Lawn Gone!‘s regional plant expert for the Southwest, sent me this image of the book in his courtyard garden at breakfast time, with a breakfast taco and coffee rounding out the cozy vignette.

South Carolina gardener Ginny Sass sent me this color-coordinated image. Look at that cute face in the corner!

Wimberley, Texas, gardener and blogger Linda of Patchwork Garden posted this image of Lawn Gone! in her shopping wagon, along with some pretty ground-covering plants from The Natural Gardener.

And fellow garden writer Katie Elzer-Peters took this adorable picture of Laura Livengood and her reading selections from the recent San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. Wow, how cool to see my book on the shelves at big gardening events like these! Not to mention my gardening friends taking the time to share such photos with me.

Thanks so much, y’all!

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Is the Great Recession finally over? I see encouraging signs in the number of people hiring garden designers/landscapers these days and in the opening of brand-new neighborhood nurseries like Jardineros.

Owned by Austin designer Mark Word and partner Billy Spencer (who did the landscaping at Hotel San Jose and El Monumento), Jardineros is located along East Cesar Chavez, just down the street from the now-closed Big Red Sun boutique nursery. Unlike the boutique model, which sells as many pots and garden-decor items as plants, Jardineros is a plant place, offering an intriguing mix of large, hard-to-find trees and shrubs, priced for well-to-do collectors; 1-gallon succulents for the homeowner on a budget; and small, 4-inch-size tomatoes and herbs for walk-in customers from the gentrifying but still gritty east Austin neighborhood.

From the Jardineros website, a romantic explanation of the nursery’s name:

What is a Jardinero?

The word is a translation of “Gardener”, but is also slang in Cuba to describe the outfielders in baseball. Youth players subjected the to [sic] outfield often find themselves wandering the grassy area picking weeds and day-dreaming.

We chose the name both because of its affiliation in baseball but also in recognition of all that is possible to imagined [sic] while spending time out in the garden. We hope to work with you to make your garden day-dreams come true, be it a xeriscaped lawn, a grass knoll, an array of succulents or a grove of oaks.

There is certainly plenty to explore and daydream over, from flowering vines and edibles…

…to rows of spiny dyckia…

…and cabbagey heads of Echeveria ‘Afterglow’.

You want classic boxwood? They’ve got it.

Want to try a long-leaf pine that resembles Cousin Itt? They’ve got that too.

They carry a great selection of xeric and desert plants. But I noticed they also have azaleas and other typically southeastern plants. Billy Spencer happened to be there during my visit, and I asked him about the azaleas, wondering whether customers here in Austin wouldn’t be tempted to try them and find they are more thirsty and acid-loving than local conditions offer. He said that they sell the same plants they use in their designs, and that the azaleas they offer are better adapted to our region than some. He pointed out that many of their clients love the lush, green look of the Deep South, and that Austin straddles the line separating the Deep South from the West.

Well, considering my water bill, I’ll leave those to others, but there’s something here for everyone, no matter your taste.

I like the party-lights atmosphere and can easily imagine a garden-lovers’ happy hour in this space.

I’m certain I’ll be popping in again soon.

Located at 2320 East Cesar Chavez Street. Open Tuesday through Sunday; closed Monday

Upcoming: Lawn Gone! talk and book-signing, this Saturday
Hey, Texas Hill Country peeps! Please join me this Saturday at 10 am at Backbone Valley Nursery in Marble Falls for my talk, “Lawn Alternatives for Central Texas” and a Lawn Gone! book-signing. I don’t know about you, but since it’s bluebonnet season, I’m going to take a little wildflower-peeping drive while I’m out there.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Have you been waiting for the book-release party to start here at Digging? Well, today’s the day! To celebrate the release of my new book, Lawn Gone! Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard, you’re all invited to my Lawn Gone Book Party – with some very cool party favors! Six garden blogging friends and I are hosting 7 great giveaways this week, all related to the theme of—wait for it—lawn alternatives.

Lawn Gone! is, of course, about alternatives to the traditional lawn: all kinds of ground-covering plants, functional and appropriately scaled hardscape, and fun features to draw you outside. I wrote it to inspire people to think differently about their yards, and to help readers make the transition, step-by-step, from lawn to reduced lawn or no lawn. Most of all, I hope to show what you gain in the process: a beautiful, eco-friendly, inviting, living landscape or garden.

Check out my book page for more information. You can find links there to purchase Lawn Gone! online. You can also find it in bookstores and at nurseries and garden centers with especially good taste in books. :-)

But now it’s time for the book party giveaways! So blow the party horns and toss the confetti, and just look at these cool, alt-lawn themed prizes! OK, I’ll admit, some prizes are more closely on theme than others, but they’re all catnip for garden lovers, and you can enter all 7 giveaways for a chance to win. Just follow the links below, leave a comment on each blog’s giveaway post to enter, and check back next Monday to see if you won.

GIVEAWAY: MOSS ROCK

As a nod to cultivating a moss “lawn” in lieu of grass, Meems at Hoe & Shovel is giving away an adorable Moss Rock in a medium/Cobble size and Toadstool color (valued at $30). Moss Rocks are living sculptures and zen moss gardens all rolled into one. Donated by Moss and Stone Gardens, a design firm in Raleigh, N.C., specializing in moss landscapes.

GIVEAWAY: PLANT DELIGHTS GIFT CARD

Loree Bohl of Danger Garden is giving away a $50 gift card from Plant Delights, a mail-order nursery that’s a plant lover’s dream. Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. They have an enticing selection of groundcovers, ornamental grasses, and small perennials, all of which make excellent substitutes for lawn grass.

Photo courtesy of Plant Delights. A new 2013 offering is Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’.

GIVEAWAY: ECO-LAWN SEED

For those in temperate-summer climates, you’ll want to try the 5-lb. bag of Eco-Lawn seed (valued at $55) that Rebecca Sweet is giving away at Gossip in the Garden. Eco-Lawn, donated by Wildflower Farm in Ontario, Canada, is a beautiful, sustainable turf alternative that consists of fine fescues and rarely needs mowing. This giveaway is available to readers in Canada as well as the U.S.!

Wildflower Farm’s Eco-Lawn

GIVEAWAY: COBRAHEAD TOOLS

To dig out grass or to weed your new garden, you’ll want a nice set of tools, and Dee Nash at Red Dirt Ramblings is giving away a fantastic tool package from CobraHead: a CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator, a CobraHead Long Handle Weeder and Cultivator, and a set of 15 BioMarker weatherproof plant markers (valued at $115). CobraHead is a family-run business that produces and sells “The Best Tools In Earth.”

GIVEAWAY: ANNIE’S ANNUALS GIFT CERTIFICATE

Genevieve Schmidt at North Coast Gardening is giving away a $50 gift certificate to the charming and tempting online nursery Annie’s Annuals. Annie’s specializes in rare and unusual annual and perennial plants, including cottage garden heirlooms and native wildflowers. They also have a wonderful selection of grasses and succulents, which make great substitutes for lawn.

GIVEAWAY: NO MOW LAWN SEED

Prairie Nursery’s No Mow Lawn
Ready to seed a No Mow lawn? Benjamin Vogt at The Deep Middle is giving away a 5-lb. bag of No Mow Lawn seed mix from Prairie Nursery (valued at $35). Prairie Nursery’s specially designed blend of fine fescue grasses is an ecological alternative to a traditional, high-energy-input lawn. No Mow grows in sun and shade and also performs well as a footpath or border with moderate traffic. With deep roots, it’s drought tolerant and well suited to regions with temperate to average summers.

GIVEAWAY: “GRASS” PILLOW

Here at Digging, I’m giving away the only patch of lawn you may ever need—a tongue-in-cheek, 13×13-inch “grass” pillow (valued at $60) from Potted, a stylish Los Angeles garden shop and online store. Made from a high-quality synthetic grass, with Sunbrella fabric on the back, these pillows stand up to life out-of-doors beautifully. And doesn’t it look comfortable? Plus you’ll never have to mow this bit of lawn.

Leave a comment right here on this post to enter my giveaway of the grass pillow. The giveaway runs through Sunday at 11:59 pm. The winner will be announced on Monday the 11th. Please note that, because of shipping costs, this giveaway is restricted to residents of the continental U.S.

To enter the other giveaways, follow these links:
Hoe & Shovel: Moss Rock, provided by Moss and Stone Gardens
Danger Garden: $50 gift card provided by Plant Delights
Gossip in the Garden: 5-lb. bag of Eco-Lawn seed, provided by Wildflower Farm
Red Dirt Ramblings: Tool package provided by CobraHead
North Coast Gardening: $50 gift certificate provided by Annie’s Annuals
The Deep Middle: 5-lb. bag of No Mow Lawn seed mix, provided by Prairie Nursery
Digging: 13×13-inch “grass” pillow, provided by Potted

Update 3/11/13: Click for the winner announcement for the “grass” pillow.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.