This large book is dense with information about ground cover plants and acts as an encyclopedia of listings in alphabetical order. It's a wonderful resource, and the most helpful part to me was the beginning with guidance on planning and designing. I also learned from the introduction which explained the various types of ground cover and what makes them different from each other. I was completely overwhelmed by the vast amount of plants to learn about, but there are 17 sidebars with lists of plants suggested for various conditions and categories, such as edible, trailing, tight spaces, lawn replacement, deer-resistant, fragrant, and the various soil and light conditions. I found it to be a good place to start, and was able to look up the plants by name rather than try to read through the plant listings beginning to end.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

If you are looking to add the next level to your landscaping, check out The Complete Book of Ground Covers! This book is beyond comprehensive. Structured alphabetically with growth, planting, and maintenance information, you can find answers to all of your questions. A brilliant book to add to any library collection!

My husband read and reviewed this.

He is a new gardener and learned lots of new tricks and tools from this book, he's also recommended it to a few friends in the garden world.

I enjoyed reading about the different plants and what makes them a great ground covering plant. I had no idea there were so many suitable plants! The pages describing the different types of ground covers was very interesting and gives the reader a better understanding of the type of ground covers that might suit their space. I think this would be a great book for gardeners, I learnt quite a lot from this book and will be recommending that we stock this book in store.

An incredibly comprehensive guide to ground covers. Lewis is to be commended for taking an environmentally friendly approach, encouraging the use of ground covers as alternatives to lawns and choosing species that are native to the country. This guide is incredibly comprehensive, with a detailed introduction identifying ground covers appropriate for various problematic growing conditions, recommendations for preparing your soil before planting and post-planting maintenance, describing the three different types of ground covers, and providing encyclopedic descriptions of each plant genus and species. A must-have for anyone with a plot of land to call their own.

As someone who has a lot of acreage to weed, I'm a big fan of ground covers! But I also agree with the author that they should be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. I'm always looking for new options in this department, so was thrilled to get the chance to review this comprehensive book on the topic.

The initial portion of the book describes various forms of ground cover and provides recommendations for various situations, including the most challenging. I appreciated the use of tables/lists to suggest plants that would be good for certain settings, such as tight spaces, rain gardens, or as lawn alternatives. I was thrilled to see an entire page listing deer/rabbit resistant ground covers. And I was surprised by some of the plants suggested as ground covers--I may have to try Clematis on the ground!

The majority of the book profiles ground covers from A-Z. There are usually several options suggested for a given species, which is helpful given the goal of making the book useful for different climate areas and different applications. The profiles are certainly comprehensive--nearly 400 pages! While the photos in the first section included several that were vividly portrayed, this section seems a bit mundane in the photo department. This might improve in final printing, however. It would also be helpful if symbols (e.g., for full/part sun or shade, for habit, etc.) were included alongside each species for quick reference. Though there are lists in the previous section for certain things (e.g., dry shade), there are none for each of the light requirements (shade, part sun, full sun). Thus, one must dig within the text for each plant to find light/watering requirements.
I also think a bit more emphasis (maybe a symbol) could be placed on those that are invasive species. For example, it is mentioned with English Ivy, but not all that obvious if one is just scanning the entries.

Overall, this book would be a good resource for someone who is looking for ground cover ideas, but with the reservations mentioned above.

Thank you NetGalley and Timber Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Extremely informative book about ground covers for landscaping. I’ve been curious about getting rid of our lawn in the front yard and back yard, and this book gave me an alphabetized glossary of every land cover plant possible. I feel more informed going forward with decisions about what kinds of plants will work in my zone. I would say the only thing I missed was a how-to portion about removing your current lawn to replace it with ground cover!

In “The Complete Book of Ground Covers”, by Gary Lewis, I hoped to identify ground covers in my garden I didn’t know about and find new ones to add to it in addition to learning interesting information about the category of plants in general – I achieved all three! It is a wonderful guide, well written with great photos. Easy to follow and reference, I especially enjoyed the “designing with ground cover” section. I highly recommend it, it’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale.

The photographs in this book are exceptional and inspiring. The author provides photographs with descriptions of the ground cover along with growing needs. There are lists of ground covers for every type of growing site such as a slope, heavy shade or bright sunlight. After reading this book, you’ll appreciate ground covers and their use and have the confidence of incorporating them in your garden.

THE COMPLETE BOOK OF GROUND COVERS by Gary Lewis is a must-own for gardeners longing for the straight talk, beautiful photographs, and information beginning and expert gardeners crave. Lewis provides expert guidance in a reference book that feels conversational, as if I'd spent classes mastering the art of ground covers for my current landscape and the ones to come. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

The Complete Book of Ground Covers is a big title with a lot to live up to. Complete book of Ground Covers? Yup, Gary Lewis achieved it! This book is needed and comprehensive it is!

It begins with an introduction of the types and then it takes off to the many unimaginable available that most people didn't know or dream about. This is a gem of a book! A labor of love that is so obvious because a lot of work went into this book, it shows from the absolute crisp beautiful photos to the valuable information and it could be almost called The Ground Cover Bible. This will be a reference book for me and my appreciation for the endeavor it took to create is immense gratitude. Every applicable imaginable is thought of that is a difficult feat. The alphabetical listing with a photo accompanying every plant and comprehensive info on each plant is gold.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher Timber Press for the opportunity to read The Complete Book of Ground Covers by Gary Lewis.

I think this is a thorough book covering ground cover plants (pun intended) for gardeners in all planting zones. The plants are arranged from A to Z with color photographs and suggestions for arrangements. Overall, this is an excellent resource for gardeners.

I am a complete novice when it comes to gardening and landscaping but I've been thinking about creating a garden in my backyard. This book does a great job of not only explaining the purpose of ground covers but also all the different varieties and what is right for different soils and conditions. It's a little overwhelming with all the different varieties, but once you know exactly what type of ground cover you want it's a great resource for you. Even if I end up using a landscaper, I will feel better able to offer my own opinions and be active in designing what the garden will ultimately be. I also shared this with my parents so they could better understand why their landscaper artist selected the ground cover he did for their yard. I would recommend this to both adults and young people looking to become landscape architects or who just really love working in a garden.

Thorough reference book. Detailed information for hundreds of ground covers. Extensive lists of plants for different conditions such as dry shade, deer resistant, sunny slopes, etc.

I found this an interesting read. Full of ideas for garden ground cover which I intend to put into practice.

This is a very comprehensive book on ground covers and their uses in the garden. The book is divided on two main sections. The first covers an introduction, planting and design - Whilst the second part is an alphabetic dictionary of the many ground covers available including all information on growing, uses in design and care.
I really like this book as it covers a lot of ground -so to speak -and the photographs and information is easy to understand and use.

This is a helpful, well illustrated book. It covers all the information you need and has many lists plus an A to Z guide of many ground covers with many photos and a lot of varieties suggested for each. The lists weren't very helpful for me as they were just long lists by Latin name with no photos. The A to Z guide was nice but I wish it had a photo for each plant (there are still lots of photos). I would have liked a photo section of the best for various things like the ten best for shade, the ten best for cold climates, the ten best for rocky areas, etc. and more about flowering, but it covers so many plants that I guess that couldn't be done (I just read the ultimate guide to flowers that had lists like these). I also wouldn't really consider a lot of these plants ground covers, which to me are sort of like grass alternatives. Many of these are pretty tall plants and are just things to technically cover the ground with in terms of now it's not just ground, and not necessarily low growing. For instance, there are lots of ferns in here and I never thought of them as groundcovers. They're just plants to me. But I'm sure that's my fault and not a fault of the book. It's a well illustrated, in depth book with lots of photos and information.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.