Two Books on Using Native Plants

Two Books on Using Native Plants

The Wild Lawn Handbook: Alternatives to the Traditional Front LawnStevie Daniels, 1995. Macmillan, 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023; 800/858-7674. Hardcover, 223 pages, $20 ($27.95 Canada).

Written for homeowners who are questioning the ecological and financial cost of maintaining a traditional lawn,

The Wild Lawn Handbook is an excellent how-to guide for all property owners and landscape designers. Stevie Daniels, former executive editor of

Organic Gardening magazine, explains the historical development and advantages of the traditional American monoculture lawn. Next she details the reasons why attitudes about lawns are changing.

Property owners are tired of spending so much time and money maintaining a traditional lawn, according to Daniels. They are also concerned about the health effects on people, pets, wildlife and groundwater of using herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. They want to create a biologically diverse environment that will be enjoyed by wildlife as well as themselves.

Daniels notes the irony that we pride ourselves on individualism and diversity, yet we have created a “ritual of lawn mowing that calls for consensus and conformity.”

The Wild Lawn Handbook was written to encourage property owners to assert their individualism and create personalized environments based on the native plant communities that existed on the site before it was developed.

The Wild Lawn Handbook includes suggestions for planning and installing four primary alternatives to lawns: prairie plantings, meadows, mosses, and groundcovers. The book provides practical details on choosing appropriate native plant species and includes extensive native plant lists by ecological region, hardiness zone, light and soil requirements, height, and blooming characteristics. Color photographs show successful low-maintenance lawn alternatives. Appendices include sources for seeds, plants, and equipment, listings of native plant organizations, and sample natural landscape ordinances. This is a great reference and resource on alternatives to traditional lawns.

Going Native: Biodiversity in Our Own BackyardsJanet Marinelli, editor, 1994. Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Inc., 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225; 718/622-4433. 112 pages, soft cover, $6.95 ($8.95 Canada).

One of the great challenges of our time is the struggle to balance human and ecological needs. In

Going Native, Janet Marinelli urges designers, property owners and gardeners to redress the ecological problems conventional gardening has wrought, and tells us how to take the first steps. “We gardeners have an important role to play in efforts to re-create the native habitats we have been destroying,” she says. This wonderful handbook begins with a convincing presentation of the North American continent’s tremendous biodiversity. A listing of the number of native plant species by state shows that each state has over one thousand. (Texas has the most with 4,510.)

However, human impacts on the natural environment are leading to reduced biodiversity. As suburban areas grow—400 square miles (1,037 km²) of land are added to suburban areas annually—not only is there less room for plants and animals, but natural areas are becoming smaller and more isolated from each other. In the first of eleven chapters, Marinelli explains how habitat fragmentation threatens genetic diversity. “When populations of a species are cut off from one another, they are unable to exchange genetic material and inbreeding occurs.” Probable consequences of decreased genetic diversity include reduced adaptability to changing conditions and, over time, decreased plant species.

Fortunately, designers and property owners can help to reverse this trend by creating gardens that

act like nature. We can do this by using plants that (1) are suited to the conditions (sun, soil, water) on the site and (2) can thrive with minimal intervention by us. Marinelli explains that in nature, as in human life, harmony depends on healthy communities. Our job as gardeners, she says, is to combine plants in healthy, self-sustaining plant communities.

In

Going Native, nine top landscape designers have each created a sample garden for a typical piece of property in their region. Easy-to-follow garden plans are provided for every major region, from the East Coast pine barrens to the desert, the California foothills, and the Pacific Northwest. Each design includes a planting plan, a native plant list, and full-color photos of native species with a description of the plant’s preferred habitat and the birds, butterflies and mammals that it attracts. For a clear, compelling introduction to the ecological wisdom of restoring native plants across the nation,

Going Native is definitely worth reading.