Growing Woodland Plants

From the creator of "one of the most exciting and innovative gardens in Britain today" With their moss-covered stones, towering trees, and pockets of quiet shade, woodlands have a romantic power unlike anything else. Whether your garden is currently open and sunny, or on the small side, you can capture that sylvan atmosphere with carefully chosen trees and shade-loving plants. In Designing and Planting the Woodland Garden, Keith Wiley explains how to combine plants in natural, self-supporting colonies. His hand-picked selection of unexpected collectables—shrubs, perennials, bulbs, ferns, and grasses—mingle with garden favorites to create fabulous effects in all seasons.

Prepare a woodland garden, bring native wild plants into other plantings. Full description, cultivation information on over 200 suitable, beautiful, unusual plants. 195 illustrations.

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

The authors explain the interrelationships of trees, wildflowers, ferns, bacteria, and the soil of woodlands; suggest ways of preparing both large and small wildflower gardens; and describe when, where, and how to gather woods plants. Includes detailed information on over 200 wildflowers and ferns. 195 illustrations.

Native plants are drought tolerant, disease resistant, wildlife friendly, and environmentally sound. Experts increasingly encourage gardeners to use natives exclusively. This handy and practical guide focuses on 100 great native flowers, ground covers, shrubs, ferns, and grasses that will thrive in New England gardens. The presentation is aimed at gardeners, who want concise, practical information. It will also include material on the importance and desirability of using native plants. The heart of this book is 100 two-page spreads, one for each species. The spreads will include facts about the plant of use to a gardener (not a botanist)—where it grows best, when it blooms, the soil conditions in which it thrives, its appeal to wildlife, sunlight requirements, how high it grows, how to propagate it, and how to avoid any problems particular to the species. Each spread will also feature two color photos.

Line drawings face each description of the plant's basic structural features in this guide for the amateur wildflower sleuth

Many gardeners today want a home landscape that nourishes and fosters wildlife. But they also want beauty, a space for the kids to play, privacy, and maybe even a vegetable patch. Sure, it’s a tall order, but The Living Landscape shows how to do it. By combining the insights of two outstanding authors, it offers a model that anyone can follow. Inspired by its examples, you’ll learn the strategies for making and maintaining a diverse, layered landscape—one that offers beauty on many levels, provides outdoor rooms and turf areas for children and pets, incorporates fragrance and edible plants, and provides cover, shelter, and sustenance for wildlife. Richly illustrated with superb photographs and informed by both a keen eye for design and an understanding of how healthy ecologies work, The Living Landscape will enable you to create a garden that is full of life and that fulfills both human needs and the needs of wildlife communities.