Grass Isn't Greener is an accessible, interesting, and often sobering look at natural diversity and the benefits of natural plantings over grass lawn and monoculture in suburban and exurban spaces by Danae Wolfe. Released 13th May 2025 by Hachette on their Timber Press imprint, it's 240 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

According to the WHO one of the biggest threats to humanity is the loss of biodiversity across climates and geographical areas. Supporting biodiversity in our immediate area is something tangible which everyone can do to some degree. The author gives concrete, implementable, often surprisingly simple suggestions in the chapters which most people can do without major disruption. These include leaving leaves, save and use seeds, improve soil with compost, support and attract local pollinators and wildlife, control/limit light pollution, reduce or eliminate pesticide use, and more.

It's written in layman accessible language, simple enough for readers to understand and encouraging enough to raise enthusiasm. It's a practical and hands-on approach.

Graphically, it's simple and direct. There's a ton of photography throughout, high quality, clear, and in color.

Four stars. It would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, for home use, community gardens, activity groups, and similar.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

This is such a wonderful book for beginner learners to learn about ways to conserve nature at home and within in their community. The organization and writing is engaging and easy to read. The book includes lots of lovely pictures for aesthetics and education.

This is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to transform their yard into a sustainable, wildlife-friendly space. Danae Wolfe’s approach is refreshingly practical: she breaks down eco-conscious gardening into 20 manageable steps, making it easy for beginners to dive in without feeling overwhelmed. From leaving fallen leaves to reducing light pollution, each tip is straightforward and backed by real-life examples. The section on attracting pollinators was especially eye-opening—I never realized how much impact even a small native plant patch could have! The DIY projects sprinkled throughout (like creating water features for birds) added a fun, hands-on element. The book’s tone is encouraging, not preachy, which makes sustainability feel achievable rather than daunting. Wolfe also addresses common hurdles, like HOA restrictions or skeptical neighbors, offering clever workarounds. And the photos are great!

If you’re a new homeowner, renter with a patio, or seasoned gardener looking to go greener, this book is a must-read. It’s packed with small changes that add up to big benefits for the planet—and it might just make you fall in love with your "messy" yard.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was a great little introductory guide into some greener ways to live in your home. It was basic, easy to understand, and very informative. I especially enjoyed the DIY tips provided and now have an obsession with water areas for birds and butterflies. I also now know some better ways to kill my grass to start planting native flowers! I really enjoyed the read and the great pictures. Definitely recommend for those trying to make small changes in their lives to better our planet!

Thank you to Timber Press publishing for providing me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my review.

Early spring gets me excited to read gardening books and I confess I was hooked by the title. The author is new to me, but her writing style, the presentation of the book, the pictures and graphics were all very attractive to me. I was glad to page through and further my amateur gardening education.

Over the years, I made some decisions about my yard and garden by simply following personal inclination. On moving in, we planted some more indigenous trees, bushes, wilder beds, raised beds, compost heap areas, and this resulted in reducing the amount of actual grass in our yard by more than half. We didn’t sweat it when clover and other types of green cover growth pushed out grass. This non-grass was just as green, just as easy on bare feet, and required less water so we went with it.

That brings me to water. I grew up where water was a premium, especially in the warmer months when we always had watering restrictions so I took advantage of this Great Lakes’ regions large amounts of precipitation to hydrate our yard and plants rather than the hose. We have rain barrels to provide what’s needed for garden beds, water-gathering containers open to bug, bird, and animal visitors needing a drink or bath. We’ve used the old leaves, twigs and pine needles and the small amount of grass cuttings we do have to create a mulch rather than buy that dyed stuff to lay over the garden and beds to help hold the moisture in the soil.

I say all that to make a point. What I didn’t realize was all we’d been doing was in line with an actual conservationist movement out there and the point of this book.

Grass Isn’t Greener is an introduction into this conservationist movement. The author explains why this is important for the environment, for ecosystems, for our very sustenance. She explains how to bring it about, and how to make it mutually enjoyed by the wild animals and the family residents alike. She gives advice for those who might have city or home owner association rules about yards. Lots of advice for turning the yard into a place where bugs, birds, and other animals can share the space and why keeping it friendly to them is so important for all of us. There are hints about dealing with pests and yard care without needing to resort to chemicals. Advice about ditching the loud lawn care equipment (leaf blowers are anathema!) and even having a thought for reducing light and sound pollution.

And for those of us who get a heavy annual fall of leaves and start muttering after a few weeks of raking duty each autumn, the author gives us permission to be a little lazy. There is a big plea for folks to let their yards look a little shabby by not raking up every last leaf or stray twig to help the soil and the creatures. Again, I’d already started realizing when I began doing composting that the leaves which provided shade all summer could still do some good by becoming mulch for the soil when they decomposed. And, my husband was particularly taken with the part when she advises that if you really must keep a lawn then reduce the mows each year and let the grass grow a little longer between mows. She mentions the British yard movement spreading to the US called #NoMowMay.

Grass Isn’t Greener is more common sense and simple suggestions- rather more for the beginner and dilletante gardener like myself than someone more advanced or a pro. It’s a call to going back to nature- really getting to know what grows or lives native to the region where one lives, restoring, and maintaining that in one’s small slice of the world.

A wonderful take on how individuals can help mitigate the impact of climate change through community science, backyard gardening, and sustainable landscaping.

Easy to read and full of good information and beautiful pictures. Lots of tips to make your yard beautiful anad safe for wildlife. Everything from getting rid of your grass, to planting natives and attacting wildlife. Excellent information to put you on the path to make small changes in your yard that will help the planet, the insects, wildlife and your garden!

A solid, beautifully laid out, generalists guide to refitting your yard with local plants and ecological practices and lifestyle adjustments to live in a more environmentally friendly way. I write "generalist" because regionally specific necessities mean that some sections can only get so deep.

Beautiful book with gorgeous photographs. This book walks through 20 different steps to understanding and growing gardens in lieu of lawns. Lots of suggestions in what to plant where, how to invite in pollinators and beneficial wildlife, and so much more. Thoughtfully laid out and a joy to read. Will be a great addition to my gardening collection.

This is such a helpful and easy to read book! It is full of tons of information on how to make meaningful (and feasible) changes that improve our own quality of life as well as our relationships with nature!

A practical guide for transforming your yard from turf/grass to plants native to your area, this book outlines some high-level steps for making the change (and a host of reasons to do it). I appreciate books like this, but the problem is that the nation and the world is so large with such diverse climates that it's hard to know which advice will be truly relevant - and hard to add truly useful specifics to a book that isn't region-specific. Still, a good starter manual.

Grass Isn’t Greener is a beautiful book that would be best for beginners/ those new to the topics. The book dives into 20 topics, so it covers a wide breadth and not a lot within each topic. The boom would be great to be introduced to lots of ideas, that you can then further research. The book does not introduce any new or novel concepts, so for some readers it won’t be value added.

This is a very informative without being overwhelming. It has some easy and accessible steps people can take to improve the conservation in their yards. It includes activities families could do with their children. Really only for home owners not much for container gardeners and renters.

Yes, please buy this book. I’ll give an automatic 4.5 stars to any book that encourages lessening your lawn, planting more native plants, getting rid of invasive plants and creating safe spaces for wildlife. I’m excited to hold the actual book in my hands and place it in my home library.
Full of important, yet often simple ways to encourage a more sustainable yard. There are also little projects in here ranging from easy peasy (bird feeders) to weekend projects (building a pond).
Great book for a new homeowner or anyone looking to make the planet a more livable place.

This is a beautiful, helpful book on creating a natural yard. Covers everything you can think of, from tick control to seed saving to leaves to dealing with neighbors. It’s full of gorgeous photos, tons of info and inspiration.

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

This book is great and i wish I had been able to read it years ago when I was just starting out my gardening adventures. Wolfe shares a lot of high quality info about gardening and landscaping sustainably and I wish more people would read this and practice green.