Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Gardening With a Wild Heart: Restoring California's Native Landscapes at Home by Judith Larner Lowry ISBN: 0-520-21517-6 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A book every California gardener should read
Comment: A Californian living overseas, I happened to find this book while looking for ideas for a piece of property I own in California. Initially I had "cottage garden" in mind; later, my thinking evolved to more exotic tropical plants. This wonderful book was the first step in my complete conversion to the native plant movement. California is an ecological "island" with an incredible richness of native plants: 6,000 species, of which something like 2,000 live nowhere else. Yet these have been decimated by exotic weeds, development and large-scale agriculture. We should be proud of the native California plants that are now prized by landscapers and gardeners all over the world: the redwood, douglas fir, monterey pine, lilac, and all wildflowers especially the poppy, our State Flower (to name but a few). Yet despite the growing momentum of the native plant movement in the state, many gardeners are indifferent to the debate.
Look for the tufted 6-foot stalks of pampas grass as you drive around California: this aggressive invader from Peru is still being planted by gardeners and landscapers. Consider that eight million acres in the state (and growing) are covered with yellow star thistle, another exotic weed. Aggressive non-native plants out-compete natives (even to the point of extinction) and contribute to the decline of the environment, often in the form of soil erosion.
The most important lesson from this thought-provoking book is that we are interconnected, and the decisions we take on our postage-stamp properties affect the entire environment. We can make a difference. What we do on our little plots can do a lot to restore the ecological well-being of the entire state. As we see the birds and other animals - creatures that evolved specifically for our native flora - return to reclaim the land, parcel by parcel, we can say we have done something positive for the state of California.
Rating: 5
Summary: Not Just About Gardening
Comment: "Gardening With a Wild Heart" is a wonderful book. Even if you could care less about gardening or native plants, it is still a great read. There is so much in here about different ways of life, past and present, in unique Marin County. Open it to any page and you will find fascinating information on a wide variety of subjects, from actual recipes, to native American philsophy. This book fascinated me for hours, and that rarely happens for me with non-fiction books.
Rating: 5
Summary: Transformational!
Comment: I am new to gardening. I was initially seduced by the pictures of California gardens in Sunset magazine. Over the long term, I saw its approach to be only about style and appearance and pleasing the humans. This book on the other hand connects backyard gardening with the wild, with wildlife, and gave me a reason for gardening: for the denizens of the garden -- the birds, bees, butterflies, insects, and squirrels. Good companion books: Glen Keator's books on California natives, Marjorie Schmidt's book, Casebeer's California wildflower book.
 |
Title: Growing California Native Plants (California Natural History Guides (Paperback)) by Marjorie D. Schmidt ISBN: 0520037626 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1981 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title: The California Landscape Garden: Ecology, Culture, and Design by Mark Francis, Andreas Reimann ISBN: 0520217640 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Trees and Shrubs of California (California Natural History Guides) by John David Stuart, John O. Sawyer ISBN: 0520221109 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 14 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
 |
Title: Oaks of California by Bruce Pavlik, Pamela Muick, Sharon Johnson ISBN: 0962850519 Publisher: Cachuma Pr Pub. Date: 01 January, 1993 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
 |
Title: Grasses in California. (California Natural History Guides (Paperback)) by Beecher. Crampton ISBN: 0520025075 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1974 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
