In today’s South, where fine gardening is a tradition, many homeowners and professional gardeners are discovering a vast “new” palette of plant materials—native plants. They are realizing that these native wildflowers, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines, and grasses are far better suited, and therefore easier to grow and maintain, than most of the imported plants that populate traditional landscapes. In this book, the authors offer an exciting vision of the many possibilities and advantages of “going native.” Lavishly illustrated with more than 250 gorgeous color photographs, this book is both an introduction to more than 200 of the most familiar and easiest-to-find native plants of the South and a basic primer on how to use them effectively.

Every year, many thousands of acres of woodlands, deserts, meadowlands, and coastal scrub are turned into home or commercial sites. Ironically, by the time these structures are complete, bulldozers have scraped the land clean of its natural vegetation and character, the very features that attracted buyers in the first place. In Building within Nature, Andy and Sally Wasowski introduce new and exciting techniques for preserving the natural land on which we build new homes, offices, or even shopping centers. Building within Nature stresses that the unnatural landscapes so common in America literally exist on artificial life support. A natural landscape, on the other hand, is filled with native flora and can exist on rainfall alone. A structure built within nature looks as if it has been gently set down into a mature and established landscape-the easiest kind of landscape to maintain. The Wasowskis illustrate this new concept in construction through profiles of sites in California, Arizona, South Carolina, Minnesota, and other locations in North America. They also highlight useful techniques for revegetation, discuss the importance of soils, and argue for the preservation and maintenance of natural habitats. Building within Nature offers a practical blueprint for creating communities where both wildlife and human life thrive in a harmonious relationship. "For offering workable alternatives in nontechnical terms to ecologically minded home owners, contractors, and architects, the Wasowskis' book is highly recommended." -Library Journal Andy and Sally Wasowski are the authors of nine books about gardening and landscaping with native plants, including Gardening with Prairie Plants: How to Create Beautiful Native Landscapes (Minnesota, 2002). Their work has appeared in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens handbooks, Country America, National Gardening, Sierra, Audubon, American Gardener, and Fine Gardening. Darrel G. Morrison, FASLA, is one of the nation's most respected native plant landscape architects.