Reed Sue - Climate-wise landscaping: practical actions for a sustainable future

Advance Praise for Climate-Wise Landscaping

Sue Reed and Ginny Stibolt bring complementary backgrounds to bear on the subject of how we can adapt our landscapes to a changing climate. Starting from the premise that the impacts of climate change will only become more severe in the future, the authors have created a comprehensive book that outlines dozens of actions that people can take to adjust to evolving climate regimes. In the process, they articulate a new gardening aesthetic for people who work with small garden plots, farms and woodlots. The result is a positive and hopeful story of how people can use their imagination and ingenuity to help craft more resilient landscapes.

Dr. Peter Robinson, former CEO, David Suzuki Foundation

Climate-Wise Landscaping is a comprehensive, yet easy to read, source of information on climate-change adaptation and mitigation actions for the homeowner, gardener, and landscape professional. Beautiful photos and pleasing graphics illustrate key ideas and actions while informative sidebars and inspiring quotes from climate and landscape experts provide clarity of complex systems and motivation to adapt to a changing future. The text provides an engaging blend of broad ideas along with specific actions we can take to adapt to climate-change at the level of our home landscapes, whether a small garden plot within an urban area or twenty acres in the countryside.

Julie Richburg, Ph.D., Ecologist

Given the lateness of the hour, a book on climate-wise landscaping could not be more timely or more necessary. We are moving into a new and critical era, and this book takes landscape professionals and home gardeners where they need to go. The facts, well-presented and practical, will be an eye-opener for many people, and empower us as horticulturists of all stripes to do what is both helpful and imperative. Landscaping has always been more than just exterior decorating, and now we have one more tool in our kit to make the landscape ecosystem a part of the solution. Thank you, Sue and Ginny, for hitting a home run.

Owen Dell RLA, ASLA, landscape architect, educator, author, Owen Dell & Associates

Gardening is not always as green and good for the planet as we might think. Sue Reed and Ginny Stibolt open our eyes to surprisingly common, unsustainable landscaping practices and inspire us to rethink how we create and care for land. This fantastic resource is filled with climate-wise solutions for anyone who owns or manages a piece of ground even if its just a few containers on a tiny rooftop garden. You will quickly learn about exiting ways to offset some of the effects we people have on the planet. The book is easy to navigate and it passionately links better gardening practices with better life quality and a brighter future for our planet.

Claudia West ASLA, Principal, Phyto Studio LLC

The authors of this book provide a comprehensive approach to designing landscapes that have the potential of being both environmentally sound and experientially rich. I applaud them in doing the extensive research, backed up by their own professional expertise and experience, in creating this very useful guide to designing landscapes for the 21st Century which clearly respond to our changing climate.

Darrel Morrison, Honorary Associate Faculty Member in Landscape Architecture University of Wisconsin-Madison

Copyright 2018 Sue Reed and Ginny Stibolt. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

Cover images iStock: Garden 584877834; Trillium (bottom) 516010372.

Interior images: p 6 Oksancia; p 10 background alenek; p 228 zgurski1980;
tree icons topor / Adobe Stock

Printed in Canada. First printing March 2018.

This book is intended to be educational and informative. It is not intended to serve as a guide. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be associated with the application of any of the contents of this book.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Climate-Wise Landscaping should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.

To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada (250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Reed, Sue, 1953-, author

Climate-wise landscaping : practical actions for a sustainable future / Sue Reed and Ginny Stibolt.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-86571-888-3 (softcover).ISBN 978-1-55092-680-4 (PDF). ISBN 978-1-77142-275-8 (EPUB).

1. Landscape gardeningEnvironmental aspects. 2. Landscaping industryEnvironmental aspects. 3. Sustainable living. I. Stibolt, Ginny, author II. Title.

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

Like many creative works, this book took a long time to produce and an even longer time to figure out before the writing began. I am very grateful for the help of many friends and colleagues throughout the entire process. My great appreciation goes to:

Ginny Stibolt, for agreeing to share in creating this book, and for her gardening and botany expertise, excellent photos, clear thinking, and straightforward communication.

Doug Tallamy, for his early validating comments about my idea for this book.

Owen Dell, for his unique perspective on sustainable design, and for encouragement at both the start and end of this writing.

Graduate students at the Conway School, class of 2016, for our fruitful brainstorming session.

Sally Naser, for countless relevant articles and ideas, and always cheering me on.

Bill Lattrell and Julie Richburg, for essential information about ecology and wildlife.

Lauren Wheeler and Aaron Schlechter, for guidance about green infrastructure.

Claudia Thompson, Katherine MacColl, Jan Voorhis, and Carol Cone, for sharing their gardening experiences. (And Katherine for editing help at the finish line.)

Betsy Abert, for always reminding me about birds and their habitat needs.

Adam Martin, for answering my many questions (at the end of one long hot day!) about community-scale composting.

Benjamin Vogt, for sharing portions of his unpublished manuscript for A New Garden Ethic.

John Cornell, for ideas about landscape construction and green roofs, and Fiona and Becky Cornell for sending me garden photos.

Carole S. Brown, for including me as a contributor in her inspiring native plant blog.

Rhea Banker, for her publishing advice at the start, many clarifying questions as I went along, and invaluable guidance about cover design at the end.

Laura MacKay, for vital editing and marketing ideas.