Life In Your Garden - Hardcover

Manley, Reeser; Peronto, Marjorie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0884484726 ISBN 13: 9780884484721

Publisher: Tilbury House, 2016

Synopsis

Horticulture experts Reeser Manley and Marjorie Peronto share their own experiences in gardening for biodiversity, placing a strong emphasis on insect diversity as a bellwether of success. Insects comprise 60 percent of Earth's biodiversity, and they deserve to be recognized as the creatures that run our gardens. It is not the gardener's job to eliminate insects that munch on leaves, suck the sap from stems, bore holes in fruits, or graze on roots. This is the work of predatory insects and arachnids such as ladybug beetles, hoverfly larvae, praying mantises, certain wasps, and spiders. It is the gardener's task to cultivate populations of these predators. The Life in Your Garden also describes the functional plants of a garden (with recommendations for understory trees and shrubs throughout North America) and their relationship with garden life, introducing the concept of a “garden insectary.” That a gardener can be an important steward for our planet is a powerful concept, and here at last is the book that shows us how. Let wild pollinators into your garden. Nurture butterfly, bird and animal life. Encourage insect diversity for self-regulating ecosystem in the garden to help prevent mass extinction. No more rototiller use.Convert lawn to garden.Create a biorefuge with annuals, perennials, and native trees and herbaceous plants. A book for all of North America.

About this title

About the Authors

Reeser Manley holds a Ph.D. in Horticultural Science and has gardened for many years in Massachusetts and Maine, and before that in South Carolina and Washington state. He is the author of The New England Gardener's Year.

Marjorie Peronto is a University of Maine professor with 20 years’ experience teaching courses in ornamental gardening, ecologcal landscaping, and home food production. She trains Master Gardener Volunteers to conduct community outreach projects that promote sustainable gardening and food security. She is the author of The Nea England Garderner's Year.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The current period of mass extinction is unique in two ways: It is the first such event in the short history of the human species, and we are the cause of it. In his recent book Half Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life, biologist E. O. Wilson frames one of the great moral questions of our time: "Will we continue to degrade our planet to satisfy our own immediate needs, or will we find a way to halt this mass extinction for the sake of future generations?"

Wilson summarizes the cause of this unprecedented species loss in the acronym HIPPO: Habitat loss due to human activities; Invasive species introduced around the world by human activity; Pollution of all types; human Population growth; and Overharvesting of earth's resources, particularly in our oceans. These five causes of our planet's biodiversity crisis appear in the acronym in the order of their impact on species loss. Habitat loss caused by human activity is the number one cause of Earth's biodiversity crisis.

from pp 2-3

Edition details

• Publisher: Tilbury House
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0884484726
• ISBN 13: 9780884484721
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320