Natural Landscaping:
Designing With Native Plant Communities
by John Diekelmann and Robert M. Schuster, with
Renee Graef Published by: University of Wisconsin
Press
Written by a landscape architect and an educator,
this thorough text is a great resource for those
who want to landscape with native plants and restore
native communities, including wetlands. A profile
of an ongoing restoration project around an old
Wisconsin schoolhouse provides a fascinating example
of the benefits of such restoration. 302 pp.
The
Natural Habitat Garden
by Ken Druse Published by: Clarkson Potter
Homeowners, landscape professionals, or any gardener
who is interested in the environment can benefit
from this book about recreating natural habitat.
Incorporating 500 color photos into his text,
Druse surveys 35 native plant gardens from across
the US, discusses how to recreate wildlife habitats,
and provides planting advice, a source guide,
and a suggested reading list.
The Landscaping
Revolution
by Andy Wasowski and Sally Wasowski (contributor) Published by: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary
Books
Two award-winning gardening experts use humor
and common sense to make their case against traditional
"good landscaping"practices. They also
share advice on gardening with native plants,
using natural alternatives to man-made chemicals,
and making easy-to-maintain landscape designs.
The book includes pictures and descriptions of
native plants from around the US and a comprehensive
list of native plant societies. A good coffee
table book and an entertaining and informative
read. 176 pp.
Gardening
with Native Wild Flowers
by Leonard E. Foote and Samuel B. Jones, Jr. Published by: Timber Press
These two authors bring different points of view
to the subject of native gardening, making this
book useful to those wishing to create a natural
meadow/woodlands landscape as well as to those
in favor of a more traditionally controlled garden.
It includes information on developing and maintaining
a native wildflower garden, and on propagation,
as well as sources for acquiring plants and a
discussion of the meadow concept. Helpful both
for identification and for gardening. 247 pp.
The Wild Lawn
Handbook
by Stevie Daniels Published by: Hungry Minds, Inc.
Daniels presents the how and the why of replacing
a turfgrass lawn with other plants. Her instructions
on designing and maintaining prairie and native
grass lawns, wildflower yards, meadows, moss lawns,
woodlands, and front yard gardens are illustrated
with inspiring photographs. 240 pp.
Noah's Garden:
Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards by Sara B. Stein Published by: Houghton Mifflin
Co.
Curious about native gardening? This book is a
good place to start. It is a personal perspective
on growing a garden in which native wildlife is
welcome. In chapters that loosely follow the course
of a year -- beginning in the fall and ending
the following Thanksgiving -- the author describes
how she came to radically change the way she gardened.
274 pp.
Planting Noah's
Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology
by Sara B. Stein Published by: Houghton Mifflin
Co.
From the author of Noah's Garden
comes this charmingly-written account of the people
she met across the U.S. who were putting her recommendations
into practice and restoring native habitats in
their own backyards. Stein's entertaining prose
is packed full of practical instructions for planning
and maintaining a native garden: how to learn
about the common flora of your region, handle
group wholesale orders, kill invasive plants,
collect and plant wild seeds, and plan a patio
habitat, and more. 464 pp.
100 Easy-to-Grow
Native Plants for American Gardeners in Temperate
Zones
by Lorraine Johnson Published by: Firefly Books
A guide to 100 beautiful and low-maintenance northern
native plants, including botannical name, height,
sun/shade preference, soil requirements, moisture
needed, habitat, description, propagation, companions,
related species, and photographs. 160 pp. Available at: Your local
bookstore, or Powells.com,
Amazon.com,
or BarnesandNoble.com.
Also consider
the following helpful books
The Native Plant Primer,
by Carole Otteson. A comprehensive, region-by-region
guide to selecting and maintaining regional species.
Out of print: try your local bookstore, or powells.com,
amazon.com, or barnesandnoble.com.
Wild Neighbors: The Humane Approach to Living
with Wildlife, by John Hadidian, Guy R. Hodge,
and John W. Grandy.
