Gold Award Winner, Best Gardening Book from the Garden Writers Association

Silver Award Winner for Achievement for the prestigious Garden Writers Association 2010 Book Awards

Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for 2010

Hoffer Award, Honorable Mention, 2010

The first book for the consumer/home gardener on this important new environmental movement, Rain Gardening in the South helps gardeners wisely use our most precious resource—water. Rain gardens maximize rainwater, enhance the landscape, and promote good environmental stewardship.  

Runoff contributes significantly to polluting our waterways. The rain garden, which functions as a miniature reservoir and filtration system, offers an effective, visually pleasing solution that dramatically reduces toxic runoff, resulting in cleaner rivers, lakes, and oceans.

A readable, how-to guide for creating beautiful gardens that capture, filter, and use water that runs off roofs, driveways, and other hardscapes, Rain Gardening in the South is written by North Carolina State horticulturalists Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford. The book addresses the specific environmental circumstances of southern gardens, such as climate issues, plant selection, and soil types. It includes step-by-step instruction on constructing a garden, from the design stage to post-planting maintenance.