What is a nature lover living in an urban neighborhood to do? Become a gardener, of course.

        First-time homeowner Hadden realizes too late that she has moved into "a vast, barren public park". To gain quick privacy on a limited budget, she goes tree-shopping, and this foray into gardening ignites an obsession. Over the next few years, she cajoles friends into moving tabletop-sized rocks, drafts multi-page To Do lists, struggles with wary neighbors, and installs a vast array of plants, transforming her urban lawn into a private, all-season garden.

        Hadden's emphasis on wildlife-friendly, do-it-yourself, low-maintenance gardening spans the rift between horticulture and ecology. New gardeners will commiserate as she battles perennial thugs and moves mountains by the wheelbarrow. Lovers of wild nature will share her despair at the orderliness of urban neighborhoods and her joy as woody borders grow and bird and butterfly species multiply.

        Earnest and comic, Hadden's stories evoke the wonder, the drama, and the compelling nature of gardening.

"I just loved this book! Hadden expresses her joys and challenges as she converts a barren, St. Paul city lot into a lush, semi-private garden. Along the way she learns which plants thrive in her environment and which ones don't. She also discovers an abundance of wildlife which slowly migrate to her yard. As the garden progresses, Hadden develops her own theories about gardening, ecology, nature's balance and even her neighbors as she tils her little plot of land in the city. Truely a delightful read which will inspire any gardener, novice to experienced - it all begins with a dream...."

"This book was an enjoyable winter read for me, because Evelyn has gone through what I, along with many beginning gardeners, encountered in testing their ideas and skills. The book is written in an amusing style that draws one in to feel the frustrations and joys along with the author. In relating her experiences, Evelyn drops hints of what we maybe should or shouldn't do in our gardens, but this is not a "how-to" book. It is rather the delightful communication to us of what one gardener's experience has been, along with an expression of what she has learned about nature from her interactions with her garden."

Author Evelyn J. Hadden founded the informational website LessLawn.com in 2001. Her garden essays appear in print and online magazines. Apprentice to a Garden is her first book.