The Pollinator Bookshelf: Garden Revolution by Larry Weaner

June 24, 2022

The Pollinator Bookshelf is a new feature in Field Notes. Each month we’ll introduce different book and author.

Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (2016)

Larry Weaner is an icon in the world of ecological landscape design, and now his revolutionary approach is available to home gardeners. Garden Revolution shows how an ecological approach to planting can lead to beautiful gardens that buck much of conventional gardening’s counter-productive, time-consuming practices. Instead of picking the wrong plant and then weeding, irrigating, and fertilizing, Weaner advocates for choosing plants that are adapted to the soil and climate of a specific site and letting them naturally evolve over time. This lushly-photographed reference is for anyone looking for a better, smarter way to garden.

Traditional gardening practices are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and result in landscapes that require constant upkeep. But there’s a better way: by following ecological principles, we can have landscapes that are alive with color, friendly to local wildlife, and evolve over time—with much less work and effort. Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher show you exactly how to create these exciting, stimulating landscapes.

About the Author

Larry Weaner is a leading figure in North American landscape design and founder of the educational program series New Directions in the American Landscape. His firm, Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, is known for combining ecological restoration with traditions of fine garden design and has received the top three design awards from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and the Regional Impact Award by the New England Wild Flower Society. Weaner was awarded the Lady Bird Johnson Award by the Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College.

Thomas Christopher is the author of more than a dozen gardening books. He has written for The New York Times, The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, and Horticulture Magazine, as well as serving as a columnist for House & Garden and a contributing editor at Martha Stewart Living.

Resources:

For more information about New Directions in the American Landscape, visit: https://ndal.org/

For more information about the Wallkill Valley Pollinator Pathway and how to join, visit:

https://wallkillvalleylt.org/pp/

Or contact:

pollinators@wallkillvalleylt.org

If you’d like more information about the Wallkill Valley Pollinator Pathway or about pollinator meadows, visit: https://wallkillvalleylt.org/pp/ OR contact Angela Sisson at: pollinators@wallkillvalleylt.org

Joining the pathway is easy—just start doing these three things:

Start planting native species,
Start removing invasive species, and
Avoid pesticides, especially insecticides.

Go to: wallkillvalleylt.org/pp/join-pollinator-pathway/

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