The first book directed at the consumer/home gardener market on this important new gardening movement, Rain Gardening in the South is a colorful, readable how-to guide on creating beautiful gardens that capture and use water that runs off roofs, driveways, and other hard surfaces in our landscape.

Written by horticulturists Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford, Rain Gardening in the South helps gardeners use our most precious resource wisely. Rain gardens maximize rainwater, enhance the landscape, and promote environmental stewardship.

Runoff from out yards, roofs, and driveways contributes more than a third of the pollution that ends upin our nation's waterways. Rain gardens, which function as miniature water reservoirs and filtrations systems, offer effective and visually pleasing solutions that dramatically reduce toxic runoff, resulting in cleaner rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Ironically, rain gardens are more drought tolerant than most conventional gardens. Because of plant selection and their ability to store water, rain gardens flourish during dry spells as well as rainy seasons, making them particularly conducive to the South and its unpredictable rainfall.

This four-color book addresses the specific environmental circumstances of southern gardeners, including climate issues, plant selection, and soil types. The book offers readers step-by-step instruction on constructing such gardens, from the design stage to post-plating maintenance. it also includes extensive design tips, plant lists, and soil amendment instructions, as well as a chapter on troubleshooting.

Rain Gardening in the South, by Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford, received the Silver award of Achievement from the Garden Writers Association. In addition, Rain Gardening in the South won the Silver Benjamin Franklin Award in the Gardening/Agriculture category from the Independent Book Publishers Association and an Honorable Mention in the Home & Garden category for the Eric Hoffer Award.