Low-Maintenance Eco Gardens: A Practical Guide to Creating an Easy & Sustainable Garden That Nourishes You

If you're craving a simpler, more sustainable way to garden, Low-Maintenance Eco Gardens is your perfect starting point. This beginner-friendly guide embraces the principles of permaculture to help you design and maintain self-sustaining gardens that require less effort and fewer inputs while delivering more joy, nourishment, and ecological benefit.Authors Fred Meyer, a certified permaculture designer and founder of the nonprofit EarthMind Practice, and Jen Kardos, a licensed mental health therapist and wellness coach, combine their expertise to present a fresh, accessible approach to eco-conscious gardening. Their method is rooted in working with nature rather than against it, using a holistic strategy that promotes biodiversity, natural pest and weed control, and year-round abundance. Inside, you'll discover how to select and grow 60+ productive, low-maintenance plants suited for urban lots, small yards, and larger spaces alike. The book also includes detailed guidance on building practical garden systems, such as high-yield mini orchards, edible borders, and low-effort irrigation solutions. Meyer and Kardos also explore how gardens can nurture both physical and mental health, emphasizing the therapeutic benefits of connecting with nature. Whether you're growing food for your family, trying to reduce your environmental impact, or simply looking to spend less time weeding and watering, Low-Maintenance Eco Gardens will show you how to create a beautiful, resilient garden that thrives in harmony with the land and your lifestyle.

Author: Fred Meyer,Jen Kardos
Publisher: Creative Homeowner
Published: 03/10/2026
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.80lbs
Size: 11.11h x 8.71w x 0.91d
ISBN: 9781580116169


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 01/01/2026 pg. 69

About the Author
Meyer, Fred: - Fred Meyer has spent decades helping busy families, retirees, and beginners turn balconies, backyards, and community spaces into joyful, low-maintenance gardens that nourish body and spirit. A certified health coach, Master Gardener, permaculture designer, and wilderness guide, he's known for making eco-friendly gardening simple and fun. Through teaching at the University of Iowa and Earthmind Practice, Fred has guided countless people from feeling overwhelmed by gardening to confidently cultivating ease, beauty, and abundance. In Low-Maintenance Eco Gardens, he shows how to let nature do the heavy lifting, so you and your garden thrive no matter your time, space, or experience.
Kardos, Jen: - Jen Kardos is a licensed mental health therapist (LMHC) and certified functional medicine health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC, FMCHC) in private practice in Iowa City, Iowa. She is a lifelong gardener and holds a professional certificate in Horticultural Therapy. Over the past decade, through her work in therapy, health coaching, and as the Wellness Director with the nonprofit Backyard Abundance, she has taught classes and worked one-on-one with people suffering from physical and mental health concerns who are seeking new solutions. Her favorite approach is to connect them more deeply with nature, and nurture other lifestyle factors that can reconnect them with their aliveness and innate ability to heal. She asserts that nature reflects the wisdom and soothing of our nervous systems that we are all seeking during these stressful times. She is delighted to share the permaculture gardening approach with a larger audience, for as a busy mom of three teenagers, she finds it be the most time efficient and stress relieving way for her and her family to enjoy the bounty of their yard.