The Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating a Garden Ethic - Softcover

Reichard, Sarah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520272757 ISBN 13: 9780520272750

Publisher: University of California Press, 2011

Synopsis

In his influential A Sand County Almanac, published at the beginning of the environmental movement in 1949, Aldo Leopold proposed a new ecological ethic to guide our stewardship of the planet. In this inspiring book, Sarah Hayden Reichard tells how we can bring Leopold’s far-reaching vision to our gardens to make them more sustainable, lively, and healthy places. Today, gardening practices too often damage the environment: we deplete resources in our own soil while mining for soil amendments in far away places, or use water and pesticides in ways that can pollute lakes and rivers. Drawing from cutting edge research on urban horticulture, Reichard explores the many benefits of sustainable gardening and gives straightforward, practical advice on topics such as pest control, water conservation, living with native animals, mulching, and invasive species.

The book includes a scorecard that allows readers to quickly evaluate the sustainability of their current practices, as well as an extensive list of garden plants that are invasive, what they do, and where they should be avoided.

About this title

About the Author:

Sarah Hayden Reichard is Professor of Conservation Biology and Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington. She is also Curator of the Hyde Herbarium at the University of Washington and heads the Rare Plant Care and Conservation Program, both at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. She is coeditor of Invasive Species in the Pacific Northwest.

From Booklist:

Inspired by Aldo Leopold’s visionary environmental philosophy, Reichard positions its tenets vis-à-vis home landscapes, and examines how even the most routine gardening functions can affect today’s increasingly fragile ecosystems. Although gardeners are perhaps more intimately involved with the natural world than most people are, they can still fall prey to products and practices that may unwittingly do more harm than good. Hardscape materials that waste precious rainwater, asbestos-laden potting soils, and invasive alien plants are just some of the dilemmas facing home gardeners on their mission to be better stewards of the earth. Drawing on current scientific research and personal experience, Reichard identifies horticultural methods and merchandise that will benefit the environment rather than continue to deplete its dwindling resources. From soil amendments and pesticides to wildlife management and native plants, Reichard covers every aspect of both suburban and urban gardening with an eye toward sustainability. Succinct guidelines and extensive plant lists transform Reichard’s cogent and considered ecological discourse into a practical and illuminating handbook for concerned and responsible gardeners. --Carol Haggas

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0520272757
• ISBN 13: 9780520272750
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264