Do you ever dream about what your yard could look like some day? As you look through garden catalogs filled with beautiful trees, shrubs, flowers and pictures of beautifully landscaped yards–complete with ponds and garden sculptures–the choices seem endless. Before ordering hundreds of plants or giving up because you cannot decide what you really want, here are a few things to consider.

A common issue in landscaping is creating a peaceful, private environment. While fencing can provide immediate privacy, consider a buffer strip of shrubbery between your yard and the one next door. Many shrubs will grow quickly–within a couple of years–and act as a screen while providing habitat for a variety of birds. Consider planting native shrubs because they are usually well adapted to local conditions and may provide the best habitat for local wildlife. Other considerations: whether the plants have special characteristics such as flowers or fruits, how large they will eventually become, and how much maintenance they require to remain healthy and in scale with your yard. Check with a local nursery or garden center for recommended species.

If you always thought it would be fun to have a pond, try it. With the variety of materials now on the market, anyone can have a garden pond, regardless of the size of the yard. If you have a lot of space, you can build one right in the ground. You can purchase a pre-formed mold or dig a hole and line it with a plastic pond liner. A simple type of pond consists of a plastic lined barrel or tub. Just add water, plants, a pump, and even fish–and you have a pond for your patio. Be sure to consider sources of electricity if you intend to add a pump. Also, make sure you use caution and take security measures if small children have access to your yard and the pond. Another factor to consider is maintenance. A pond can require a lot of effort to keep it clear of algae, leaves, and debris.

If you do not want to spend your weekends maintaining a yard, turn part of it into a wildflower garden. Depending on where you live, this could be a prairie, desert landscape, or alpine garden. Check on local zoning ordinances. Some communities have not yet recognized the value of native landscaping and may consider this a nuisance area. If you want a more maintained yard, consider ground covers instead of grass and use mulch to control weeds in foundation plantings and flower beds.

When selecting plants, make sure they are adapted to your area. Consider both the minimum and maximum temperatures, amount of moisture, amount of sunlight, and soil characteristics. Ask yourself: Do you want an annual that will need replanting every year or a perennial that comes up year after year? Do you want cut flowers for inside your home or to give to friends?

Consider native plants. They are usually better adapted to local conditions and need little maintenance. Be cautious about introducing exotic species such as purple loosestrife that will become invasive and is prohibited in many states.

Above all, choose what you like. There is an enormous variety of plants that will provide food and shelter to a wide variety of wildlife. With a little planning, you and the local wildlife can both enjoy the yard of your dreams.

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The pressures on wildlife populations today are greater than they have ever been and many gardeners assume they can remedy this situation by simply planting a variety of flowering perennials, trees, and shrubs. As Douglas Tallamy points out in this revelatory book, that assumption is largely mistaken. Wild creatures exist in a complex web of interrelationships, and often require different kinds of food at different stages of their development.

There is an unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife. When native plant species disappear, the insects disappear, thus impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals. Fortunately, there is still time to reverse this alarming trend, and gardeners have the power to make a significant contribution toward sustainable biodiversity. By favoring native plants, gardeners can provide a welcoming environment for wildlife of all kinds.

Healthy local ecosystems are not only beautiful and fascinating, they are also essential to human well-being. By heeding Douglas Tallamy’s eloquent arguments and acting upon his recommendations, gardeners everywhere can make a difference.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-11-23
This is a very important book for everyone to read. Tallamy has been an incrediable influence in Northen Michigan to take action in planting native plants. We also now have the research that he has shared in his book to give concrete reasons why to plant native plants.

Review date : 2008-09-21
Bugs are good! That’s the takeaway message of this book. Tallamy is an entomologist so his affection for insects is not surprising, and he clearly admires them for their aesthetic beauty and clever evolutionary adaptations. But he also argues, persuasively and passionately, that there are sound ecological reasons for welcoming insects into our landscapes with open arms–and a smorgasbord of native plants.
Healthy insect populations are essential to sustainable ecosystems that support the birds, butterflies, mammals, reptiles and other "charismatic megafauna" we cherish. Birds, especially, rely on insects and their larvae to feed their young. In the areas we humans have disturbed with our roadways and infrastructure, commercial buildings, residential developments, and agricultural plantations, we have wiped out the native plant diversity that supports wildlife. Tallamy estimates that perhaps only 3% to 5% of the United States remains as undisturbed, natural land, and much of that is composed of "ecological islands" that preclude immigration, making both plant and animal species vulnerable to local extinctions. So unless all of us actively work to convert human-disturbed lands–including our suburban gardens–for the preservation of wild creatures, we will no longer have the opportunity to observe nature on a daily basis. We will have to travel to outlying preserves to visit the few remaining species that survive.
So, what’s the connection to native plants? All plants convert the sun’s energy into organic matter usable by life. They are the first "trophic level." Insect herbivores eat plants and, in turn, provide food for all the other animals in higher trophic levels: insect carnivores, birds, mammals, reptiles, etc. But insects are often specialists, able only to eat those plants they have evolved with. And in our residential landscapes and agricultural plantings, we have systematically chosen exotic plants or created plant cultivars that are distasteful to our native insects. We have done this to protect our valuable food crops and because we
view our landscapes as mere decoration, wanting them to be aesthetically perfect and unmarred by chewed leaves. But deliberately excluding insect herbivores in this way deprives our ecosystems of a vital link in the food web. And introduced exotics are doubly problematic because these "pest-free" species escape our grasp and themselves become pests, precisely because they are distasteful to the insect herbivores that keep native plants in check. Our native plants, by contrast, are tasty insect food, and insects provide the basis for all the other animals.
To help us choose plants that are insect-friendly, the chapter "What Should I Plant?" identifies and describes those plant genera that have demonstrated the greatest ability to support butterfly and moth larvae. This criterion was chosen because Lepidoptera comprise over 50% of all insect herbivores in the US, because caterpillars are important components of many vertebrate diets, and because there is more published data about host plant
use by butterflies and moths than there is for other insects. Tallamy’s plant descriptions are interesting both for his suggestions for landscape applications and his knowledge about which caterpillars make use of each plant group.
The cleverly-titled chapter "What Does Bird Food Look Like?" describes various insect families, including but not limited to Lepidoptera. Tallamy tells us what plants these insects eat, what eats them, and describes interesting or curious facets of their life histories. (Initially I was tempted to skip this chapter but was glad I didn’t because I found it fascinating.)
The book is illustrated throughout with wonderful color photographs of plants and insects, and has useful appendices: a list of native plant species that have both wildlife value and desirable landscaping attributes (sorted by region and plant type), a checklist of host plants of butterflies and showy moths, and a summary of Tallamy’s survey data that demonstrates his thesis. I enjoyed this book immensely and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to make landscape choices that are more likely to attract birds, butterflies and other creatures. Whether you read the book or not, when you see insects dining on your
landscape, rejoice!

Review date : 2008-05-27
This is a very important book. I reluctantly purchased it after hearing several people that I admire recommend it very highly. I am not much into gardening but am interested in birds, biodiversity and restoring natural habitats. I have read hundreds of books on biology and the environment over the years and have been to hundreds of meetings and conferences regarding solutions to the many problems that beset our natural environment. It is not often that I hear of a very simple solution to a ubiquitous problem, that of a decline in the overall population of birds and mammals and the increase in the ravages of diseases affecting our forests, grasslands and deserts.

In addition to offering a novel solution to major problems the outlook of the book is optimistic and the reading is interesting and pleasurable. Dr. Tallamy is a fine writer and also furnishes fascinating descriptions of the plants, insects, mammals and birds that he has studied. One that I remember from the chapter on insects was the defensive strategy of some insects called leafhoppers that are preyed upon by wasps. The mother protects her offspring that are feeding on the stem above by intercepting attackers from below. If a wasp starts an attack from above her young drum out a distress message that vibrates through the stem to her so she can rush up and try to kick the wasp away. Another insect, a tree-boring beetle, flies to the top of mountain ridges to scan for forest fires with infrared vision to locate trees weakened by fire that are prime targets for feeding and breeding locations.

In addition to these insights into the world of insects and plants the book gives you an understanding of the significant danger from the spread of alien plant species. I agree with all the high recommendations for this book. Everyone that reads this will have a new outlook on nature and even the gardeners will enjoy it.

Review date : 2008-05-27
This book is a must read for all. It highlights and informs about the small steps we can each take to create a better world in our own back yards.

Review date : 2008-05-16

I thought this book was great, and now I’m "sold" on only using native plants in my garden. And for those who say that not all alien plants are bad, and that this book doesn’t tell the whole story or whatever, I would retort "well why NOT use native plants only?" To me there’s something more "right" about using plants that are native to the very land you are on.

The back of the book contains a terrific appendix that lists good native plants to grow by U.S. region. I was very disappointed however that there was no index for the Northeast region(which is where I live)…

Here are 10 ways to transform a boring garden into a place of interest:

Attract Wildlife
Who doesn’t love to see birds and butterflies visit their garden? Try to mimic the natural landscape within your garden and you will have lots of little visitors that will delight the senses.

Add a Secret Area
An area that is not immediately visible to the eye when viewing a garden can prove a delightful surprise for visitors. Clever design can hide the entrance, i.e. camouflaging, illusion of depth.

Add a Garden Pond
A garden pond is virtually guaranteed to spark interest from all. Also if installed correctly little maintenance is required. Combine with a waterfall feature for extra novelty.

Add Garden Junk
Everyday objects can be used to create artistic and unique garden junk that will definitely make heads turn i.e. bowling balls, scrap metal, clay pots, anything really. Prepare to get messy and creative!

Add a Focal Point
Direct eyes to an area in your garden using a focal point. Try using simple additions like a birdbath or a large pot or add lighting to bring attention to an otherwise plain object.

Plant with Colours that Complement
Nobody likes to see a garden with one colour. On the flip side no-one wants their eyes to hurt when looking at a garden! So design your planting areas to contain plants whose colours complement each other. A colour chart will come in handy here.

Use Height Effectively
Adding plant sizes of various heights to your garden will entertain the eye. Add a peak here and there with a tree, go mid-size with a few shrubs and finally add some groundcovers to cater for the low points.

Add a Patio
Need some where to sit out on and view the fruits of your gardening labour? Look no further than a patio. It serves as the meeting place between your garden and your home. Make it a bit more of a mixture with a spot of patio gardening.

Plant for Scent
Scents can add a new dimension to your garden. Some plants give off a scent when brushed against and some give off scents as their flowers open. The sense of smell is said to be the best for memory recall so scents in your garden make sure that visitors remember it long after they visit.

Add a Garden Gnome (or Two)
A slightly controversial point seeing as though gnomes are viewed as tacky in some circles. But I say go for it, pick out a few entertaining gnomes and place them strategically around your garden. They may just lend a hand sometime.