Barbara W. Ellis - Chesapeake Gardening and Landscaping The Essential Green Guide

In wildness is the preservation of the world.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

In civilization is the hope of preservation of wildness.

WENDELL BERRY

In gardens is the preservation of the world.

JOHN HANSON MITCHELL

I settle in comfortably beside nature writer John Hanson Mitchell in a belief in gardening as our salvation. We are what we garden. To garden is to nurture, and what we choose to nurture is where we will live and find support for our lives. Will we choose to live under the shade of mature trees, surrounded by diverse plantings of ground covers and shrubs, native meadows, and woodlands where we can observe and enjoy abundant wildlife? Will we choose to grow greens and berries to harvest in the morning for supper in the evening? Will we have a prospect to view, a spot of refuge to retreat to, and a clean stream where we fish and swim?

In Chesapeake Gardening and Landscaping: The Essential Green Guide, Adkins Arboretum on Marylands Eastern Shore partners with the venerable University of North Carolina Press and seasoned gardener and garden book author Barbara Ellis. The result is an indispensable resource for all gardenerswhether novice or experiencedwho wish to hone their craft and take part in making our world a healthier and more beautiful habitat for all creatures.

Not all gardening is green. Enough ill-gotten gardening advice is promulgated through garden centers and all forms of media to confuse even the most sophisticated gardener. Often what falls under the guise of good gardening practices is merely a marketing ploy to sell chemicals and petroleum-fueled equipment. Despite conveying a sense of well-being by lessening your physical effort, riding mowers, backpack leaf blowers, and motorized pesticide sprayers cause environmental harm. This comprehensive guide will build your confidence so that you can make good decisions about how you garden to truly make the world greener.

Gardeners come to gardening with many motivationsto solve a drainage problem, to attract birds to their yard, to decorate their patio, for curb appeal, and for physical exercise and solace for the soul. Whether your priority is improving environmental health, pursuing healthy activities, or beautifying your yard, Chesapeake Gardening and Landscaping: The Essential Green Guide offers first steps and next steps that are successful and ecologically beneficial to help you achieve your dreams for your property.

This is not a guide for gardening with native plants, and yet it is a guide for gardening with native plants. Do not let this confuse you. Throughout the book, you will be introduced to native plants not only for their aesthetic characteristics but for their ecological function, such as providing food and shelter for wildlife and nectar for pollinators. You will also learn about non-native plants that are neither invasive nor detrimental to the environment, and that prove beneficial as ground covers to prevent erosion on steep, dry, or shady slopes. You will find that Chesapeake Gardening and Landscaping: The Essential Green Guide recommends planting predominantly native plants, but not to the degree that non-invasive non-natives are ignored when they can solve a homeowners challengethe need for an evergreen screen, midsummer color, or to tolerate a range of soil conditions.

Chesapeake Gardening and Landscaping: The Essential Green Guide is a clarion call that urges all landowners to become green gardeners. Our ability to survive on this planet depends upon it. Sustainable gardening practices can minimize the use of resources, water, pesticides, and fuels, thus increasing our ability to harness resources, store carbon, minimize soil erosion and pollution, and provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. By implementing these practices, we will ultimately create, one yard at a time, a green world that is critical to supporting our health and the health of our children.

Eleanor Altman

Executive Director

Adkins Arboretum

Marylands Eastern Shore