Hot off the press — a NEW book:
The Living Landscape,
Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden
by Doug Tallamy and Rick Darke
My copy arrived earlier this week and I’m enjoying the book immensely. The authors walk us through and help us understand the layered landscape, something that so many gardeners don’t address, consider, or even know to think about.
I was guilty of it for years and am trying to rectify the situation by making some changes:
- incorporate layers under the Tulip Tree that shades our house with understory shrubs and shade-loving wildflowers
- incorporate shrub layers in my back side yard where previously lawn had reigned
- and my biggest project has been our reclaimed woodland where previously Multiflora Rose grew so thick that there was no understory except for this non-native rose. The woods have given me immense pleasure as I experiment with new understory trees, shrubs, wildflowers, ferns, and grasses. I continue to be amazed by all the native plants that come up on their own (either planted by wildlife or from seeds in the soil that couldn’t survive previously because of the Multiflora Rose). For example, friends gave me 2 baby Willow Oaks and since then I’ve found 5 more that came up on their own.
If you’re intrigued,be sure to get Tallamy & Darke’s new book and digest it. It’s a gem!
Happy Gardening!
Pat
