Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

Why I’ve decided to sell these three gardening eBooks:

Update:  Now buy all three books in one for a reduced price.  A Compendium for the Dry Garden is available on Amazon.com only.  

I receive hundreds of blog hits every day on my Decomposed Granite patio entry written over six years ago. In addition, I’ve personally answered hundreds of questions from readers on plants, installation, amendments, you name it.

With California’s water crisis now in its third, and most severe, year, these three eBooks are most essential for a new gardening future.  First, decomposed granite (DG) patios and walkways are inexpensive yet attractive.  And properly designed, they can substitute for areas that were once watered.

Secondly, my eBook on Dry California, is based on over 30 years of gardening experience.  As a native Southern Californian, I was well aware throughout my landscape career that California has always been part of the arid West and folks need to garden with that in mind.  Therefore, I’ve always strived to conserve water in my designs, using low water natives and Mediterraneans, zoning properly, as well as hunting for lawn substitutes that are not thirsty.  This eBook, Gardening for a Dry California Future, sums up the basics of what I’ve learned and can guide you to a beautiful, low-water landscape into the future.

Finally, my design eBook is a necessary component of the other two books if you plan to do your own yard.  Although I advise hiring a garden designer, many folks just can’t afford that step.  And even if you can, this book will help any homeowner understand their needs and desires.

Finally, as a bonus for people, I am offering free email advice for those customers who will reciprocate by commenting on my ebook on the Amazon site. You can contact me through my Ecoscapes website ‘contact’ page. Send me the link to your Amazon review in your email, plus include your questions for me, and I will reply to you directly.

Below is a summation of each book with a link to the Amazon fulfillment site.

Decomposed Granite Patios and Other Materials –  NOW AVAILABLE… An updated edition that includes new info on stabilizers.  I’ve included the full text on applying TerraKoat, a new improved stabilizer, as well as added some Q&A and a short section with new info on stabilizers on the current market.

In this eBook I go into much further depth than the blog entry.  I tell you exactly how to do a patio or walkway yourself.  We go over drainage, compaction, types of DG and hardeners, costs, use of landscape weed fabric, how to obtain different colors than what’s generally available, what to look for in a contractor if you hire one and 26 full color photos that show the process.  I answer some of the real-life questions that readers have asked me when they’ve run into problems during their installation, or with their installer.

I also talk about gravel pathways.  Gravel is a different medium and so is installed differently.  I go over using DG in-between pavers, how to choose appropriate pavers, when to use DG, sand, steppable plants, or concrete for your paver patio.  I also discuss concrete or stone options.  This approximately 46 page eBook will give the homeowner a basic, good understanding of all your mediums, as well as a full discussion of how to install decomposed granite on your own if you so choose.

Designing Your Garden: How to Navigate a Design and Installation for Your Yard –

In this short ebook, I distill all the design principles I learned from, first books, then practical experience, that every designer needs to know. Garden design begins with a blank slate as well as a blank piece of paper and this can be intimidating.  But there are step-by-step principles that every designer follows to begin the creative process.  There are plenty of books on the market that will give you plant ideas for your area, or plant combinations.  This book is not that.  This ebook will give you the tools and practical steps to achieve your dream yard, including finding a designer or a contractor.

We look at specifics such as microclimates and how to identify them, wind patterns, finding a reliable contractor, when to use a horticultural crew or design/build company, how to properly measure your property and find the property lines.  I take you through the steps from design to installation–from working the soil to irrigation and planting to mulch.  I include a checklist that I give to all my clients.  This will enable you to hone in on your needs.  Before hiring a designer, the more specific you are, then your designer (or you!) can design the perfect yard for your family.  26 color photos of various designs will aid your understanding.

Gardening for a Dry California Future – Why write this book?  California, and all of the West, is a dry climate, but many of us have not been gardening with water shortage in mind.  Yet, it’s happening and will only continue.  BUT we can still have wonderful gardens by being smart with water and following these principles.  In this eBook I discuss irrigation zoning and how to take full advantage of your microclimates for planting.  There is a full discussion about growing produce in terms of water savings.  This includes fruit trees, veggie gardens, and also specific edible landscape plants that can be incorporated into your design.  I explain a simple yet effective technique for planting trees, fruit or landscape, that forces their roots to go deep and reduces water needs.  Mulching materials and their efficacy are examined that will help with water evaporation. There is a full discussion of specific native plants that are appropriate for the average gardener and a list in the Appendix of native flowering times month by month for year round flowers.

A great added BONUS is that I talk, in depth, about growing low water lawns.  I describe how to grow Carex pansa lawns as well as native fescue meadows, step by step.  26 color photos help you along.