Lawns, Groundcovers and Vines: A Step-By-Step Successful Gardening Series

Observing at the start of this addition to the Better Homes and Gardens Step-by-Step Successful Gardening series that lawns are ``inherently unnatural'' and expensive to maintain and can have a harmful effect on the environment, Sanchez begins by offering some fine alternatives. After putting lawns into perspective, she approaches lawn care with common sense, offering useful information in clear, concise descriptions bolstered with color photos. Chapters on maintaining vines and ground covers include useful information that is often neglected, e.g., the section on pruning vines will be appreciated even by seasoned gardeners. Readers are aided by small identifying color photos in the closing ``encyclopedia'' of plants, which lists vines, ground covers, ferns and grasses alphabetically by their Latin names and includes hardiness zones, light and moisture requirements, growth habits and proper spacing for plants used as ground covers rather than as garden specimens. This is a highly useful treatment of the subject. (Aug.)