"What shall I learn of beans or beans of me? I cherish them. I hoe them, early and late I have an eye to them; and this is my day's work. It is a fine broad leaf to look on. My auxiliaries are the dews and rains which water this dry soil, and what fertility is in the soil itself, which for the most part is lean and effete. My enemies are worms, cool days, and most of all woodchucks. The last have nibbled for me a quarter of an acre clean. But what right had I to oust johnswort and the rest, and break up their ancient herb garden? Soon, however, the remaining beans will be too tough for them, and go forward to meet new foes."
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Here are a variety of books this month to provide you with information and inspiration for your Spring gardening pursuits.
Harry Wiland, Dale Bell, and Joseph D'Agnese. Edens Lost & Found: How Ordinary Citizens are Restoring Our Great Cities. (2006)
Learn how to use your garden and your horticultural skills to make your city more livable. This book profiles the individuals and groups in Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Los Angeles who are working to encourage the development of green spaces there. From roof gardens to urban farms, citizen activism and leadership are restoring communities through the creation of sustainable urban ecosystems.
Christopher Brickell, ed. & John Eisley, horticultural consultant. The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. (1989)
Are you looking for a large shrub that has pink flowers in summer? Do you need a tree that won't grow too large for a particular corner of your garden? This book can help. Created by a team of forty horticultural experts, photographers, and consultants, it is a clear and comprehensive guide to over 8,000 plants that can be cultivated in a diverse range of climates. Articles also include advice on cultivation, propagation, pruning, landscaping, and cautions about pests and diseases.
Kathleen Norris Benzel, ed. Sunset Western Gardening Book. (2001)
A no-nonsense garden guide to gardening in the Western U.S., it includes climate zone maps, over 8,000 plant listings, 30 plant selection guides, and hundreds of how-to tips and techniques.
Roger B. Yepsen, Jr., ed. Organic Plant Protection: A Comprehensive Reference on Controlling Insects and Diseases in the Garden, Orchard and Yard without Using Chemicals. (1976)
From the editors of Organic Gardening and Farming magazine, this is a guide to tending your patch of earth without "protective jackets of poison." The first part of the book explains step-by-step approaches to strategies for creating and maintaining the delicate balance of nature in your garden, while the second part is a quick reference to more than a thousand bugs and diseases that could be effecting your vegetables, fruits, berries, and trees.
Ellen Sandbeck. Slug Bread and Beheaded Thistles: Amusing and Useful Techniques for Nontoxic Housekeeping and Gardening. (2000)
Ellen Sandbeck shows that using all-natural alternatives to toxic chemicals in your home and garden is not only healthier but also more fun. Learn how to explode cockroaches with baking soda and sugar, how to deflate a cow, why caffeine is effective against mosquito larvae, and what happens when you wound sorghum.
Peter Bernhardt. The Rose's Kiss: A Natural History of Flowers. (1999)
Get to know the inner workings of your flowering plants, as well as the many hidden interactions they have with their surroundings and the other living organisms upon which they depend for survival. An accessible introduction to botanical science and the daily lives of these biological factories, this book also looks at the cultural roles of flowers in history, folklore, and mythology.
Karan Davis Cutler, ed. Starting from Seed: The Natural Gardener's Guide to Propagating Plants. (1998)
Growing seeds is one way to help the survival of threatened plants and protect biodiversity. From the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's 21st-Century Gardening Series, this is an illustrated guide to collecting, storing, and growing seeds. Filled with advice on hundreds of different vegetables, ornamental plants, and wildflowers, it will help you create a garden that is both beautiful and ecologically sensible.
Douglas Kent. A New Era of Gardening: A Book on Gardening for Oxygen and a Healthier Atmospher. (2001)
A controversial look at composting that asks: is your garden contributing to global warming? It might be if you are using too much energy to sustain it and composting too much greenwaste. The goal of the author is to help gardeners create sustainable landscapes that ultimately produce more oxygen than they do carbon dioxide, largely by burying biomass.
Susan J. Tweit. The Rocky Mountain Garden Survival Guide. (2004)
From ecologist Susan J. Tweit, this book tackles the challenges of gardening in the difficult conditions of the Rocky Mountains. Filled with tips that could be useful in a variety of places, its essays also illustrates an approach to gardening informed by ecology. The philosophy behind the book is that understanding the physical environment in which your garden is located and the relationships among the organisms there enables you to work with the landscape and its living population instead of trying to fight against it.
Thomas Leo Ogren. Safe Sex in the Garden and other Propositions for an Allergy-Free World. (2003)
Author Thomas Leo Ogren finds "prime examples of out of whack, sexually manipulated, highly allergenic landscapes everywhere I turn." What is the connection between plant sex and allergies? Since female trees produce fruit which is often considered "messy", landscapers plant predominantly male trees, which means lots of excess pollen, which means highly allergenic residential and commercial landscapes. Ogren argues that what you plant in your own yard can make a difference in making communities healthier places.
Deni Brown. The Herb Society of America's Encyclopedia of Herbs and their Uses. (1995)
Written for gardeners, herbalists, and cooks, this encyclopedia covers over 1000 herbs grown worldwide for their culinary, aromatic, medicinal, and economic uses, as well as for their decorative qualities in the garden. It includes identification photographs and detailed botanical descriptions, as well as complete garden designs and planting plans for your own herb gardens, both formal and informal.
