Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back Yards

Arguing for a radical new approach to gardening, the author discusses the ravages of suburban landscaping and proposes a plan for restoring native plant and animal life to the nation's communities. By the author of My Weeds. Tour.

Suburban development has wrought habitat destruction on a large scale, notes the author; our tidy lawns and gardens have wiped out numerous plants and animals, including predators that keep pests in check. Science writer Stein ( My Weeds ) calls our attention to the critical role yards play in supporting biodiversity. She describes how she rebuilt her garden in Westchester County, N.Y., using native plants to create pocket woodlands, berried hedgerows and a meadow. Stein gives a fine explanation of the difference between cool-weather lawn grasses and the hot-weather varieties. She disdains the popular "Meadow-in-a-can," reporting that making a real meadow requires approximately three years, and discusses the need to attract the declining frog, toad and turtle populations. This is a valuable book. Illustrations. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A personal perspective on the growing movement toward more natural and ecologically sound gardens in which snakes are as welcome as butterflies. In chapters that loosely follow the course of a year-- beginning in the fall and ending the following Thanksgiving--Stein (My Weeds, 1988, etc.) describes how she came to change radically the way she gardened. The author, who lives with her husband on six acres in Pound Ridge, New York, began to question conventional practices--large lawns surrounded by neat beds of flowers and occasional specimen plantings--when, a few years ago, she noticed the absence of many creatures she could recall from childhood. Creatures like orioles, bluebirds, box turtles, and Monarch butterflies, once common, were seen no more. Stein began reading books and consulting experts, and decided to try to reverse the trend by changing the way she maintained her land. To restore the delicate balance necessary for a native ecology to flourish, she planted not only shrubs and trees native to the region but ones that would encourage birds and beneficial insects to return. She deepened her pond so that fish and turtles could flourish in water purified by appropriate plant life; replaced most flower beds with plantings of native flowers and shrubs; restricted the lawns to a small patch; seeded the old lawns with native grasses; and began to restore woodland areas to their pristine state. Stein still plants favorite foreign species, but argues forcefully that the old methods of gardening not only require inordinate amounts of labor and chemicals to keep unsuitable plants alive but are dangerously inhospitable to indigenous inhabitants. A persuasive and informed plea to change the way we garden, thoughtfully defying old wisdom and suggesting, without ever being didactic, just what can be achieved even on the smallest suburban lot. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Stein, who has a garden in Pound Ridge, New York, wrote about her experience in My Weeds: A Gardener's Botany ( LJ 3/1/89). She sadly realized, however, that in creating her garden animals had been banished from her Eden. Thus began her "reeducation of a gardener" and the realization that backyards, like rain forests, are an ecosystem. Stein recounts her efforts in planting berry-producing shrubs, learning to live with moles (replace the lawn with a meadow), dealing with insect pests (use resistant varieties of plants), and rejuvenating grass by scheduled burning. Her advice is logical and environmentally sound, but her writing tends to ramble. Line drawings and several appendixes on suggested plants accompany the text. Stein's book aims to refocus the philosophy of backyard gardening and is recommended for public library collections that concentrate on organic and environmental gardening.
- Eva Lautemann, Dekalb Coll. Lib., Clarkston, Ga.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.