Sustainable Gardening is a good introduction to the basic concepts involved in creating and maintaining a sustainable landscape.
Author Vincent Simeone discusses a number of important issues:
• Composting
• Reducing your carbon footprint
• Water conservation
• Rain gardens
• Organic gardening
• Lawn reduction
• Lawn alternatives
• Limiting chemical inputs
• Removing invasive species
• Soil health management
• Right plant, right place
• Ecological landscape design
• IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
It’s not a simple process and is more complicated than putting in a few plants for pollinators. You basically have to learn how to think ecologically. The good news is you can start small and work your way up.
There are a number of ways to start: adopt practices that conserve water, reduce your lawn, plant native plants, eradicate invasive plants, and start to compost.
After his general introduction to sustainability, Simeone offers a list of suitable plants broken down into shrubs, trees, herbaceous plants and ornamentals grasses. Each example has a color photo and a description of its ornamental value, landscape value, cultural requirements, cultivars and related species. He also mentions a dozen annuals along the way.
Sustainable Gardening: Grow a “Greener” Low-maintenance Landscape with Fewer Resources
Paperback $24.99, 176 pages, 6.69” × 9.69”
ISBN 978-0-7603-7036-0
Cool Springs Press – quartoknows.com
