Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology [Hardcover]

Sara B. Stein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1997

Sarah Stein's brilliant book Noah's Garden placed the author at the forefront of the new field of ecological gardening. Now, in Planting Noah's Garden, she tells the even more fascinating story of the many ways people in all parts of the country are redesigning their surroundings to welcome back the birds, butterflies, fireflies, and other creatures driven away by the sterility of the typical suburban landscape. In the second half of the book she offers specific information readers will find nowhere else: how to learn the common flora of your region; how to handle group wholesale orders; how to kill invasive plants; how to collect and plant wild seeds; how to start a tree island; how to plan a patio habitat - and much, much more. Planting Noah's Garden is both a call to action and a blueprint for a new gardening aesthetic.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Noah's Garden, published in 1994, gardener and writer Sara Stein addressed the business of making a messy backyard--of restoring a naturally chaotic and dynamic "floral-faunal-microbial system" in the place of neatly tended, carefully selected and weeded, and ultimately artificial gardens. Just as charmingly written as its predecessor, Planting Noah's Garden furthers Stein's campaign to make lawns animated, full of disorder, life, and wildness. Studded with ringing tributes to alumroot, trillium, goldenrod, bellworts, and mayflowers, this is a lovely gardener's manifesto. Packed with practical instructions for planning and maintaining a garden of one's own, it's also wonderful entertainment for anyone with a green thumb.

From Library Journal

In Noah's Garden (LJ 4/1/93), Stein described how she rehabilitated her landscape in Westchester County, New York, by reintroducing native plants and other features designed to attract and support wildlife. This sequel relates her experiences in lecturing around the country and meeting other gardeners who are putting her recommendations into practice. She also expands upon the complexities of reestablishing native habitats. For example, it's not enough simply to let fields and woods go "wild" when they are already choked by invasive alien species such as the frightening "mile-a-minute" vine. The answer lies in researching plants native to the locale, replanting, and removing weeds. The results often run counter to traditional gardening tastes, e.g., poison ivy, a native plant that feeds wildlife, is good, while barberry, which invades woodlands, is bad. But this will surely become a bible for anyone interested in a rehabilitation project, as it provides a wealth of information. Recommended for all gardening collections.?Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., Va.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; First Edition edition (April 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395709601
• ISBN-13: 978-0395709603
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for back yard, native plant oriented souls, July 20, 1998

By 

Jack Learner (Port Republic, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology (Hardcover)

This book is totally enchanting. When I first read "David Copperfield" I told myself that I would read it again in a few years and it would read differently. And it has."Planting Noah's Garden" has exactly the same feel. I have spent the last six months recommending this book to my naturalist friends. I have often though of passing my copy on, but have decided not to. I buy another copy instead. I have the feeling that this is a book that I will want to read again.and again.Sara states that "Children are part of the mega-fauna of every landscape." She writes about the basic need of children to look under rocks and logs, to climb trees..to discover the natural wonders that await them there. And, or course, she tells us how to make this happen.

If you enjoy planting things, if you enjoy your yard, your children and your grandchildren, buy this book. It is a masterpiece.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking...worth every penny, August 9, 2001

By 

DNP "waterlily525" (Framingham, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I have two children and one of the other reviewers spoke about how the author views children as part of the "mega fauna" of a landscape and gives her suggestions on how to make an interesting outdoor "habitat" for them, so to speak. In addition, I've always tried to take an ecologically sound approach to landscaping in my yard by gardening organically.

Truth to tell, I never really thought about whether or not it's ecologically sound to plant mostly exotic plants in my yard versus native ones. I congratulated myself that I let a meadow emerge in my back yard when I moved in. I never gave much thought to exactly what was growing in it. I've always believed that it is just plain wrong to collect plants from the wild...but are there times when it is not only justified but perhaps actually beneficial? If so, when?

In any case, the book definitely stretched my perceptions and gave me a whole lot to think about in terms of my own typical, "newly developed" suburban lot. I felt like the chapter about the author's niece, also about such a suburban lot, could have been about my own.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in gardening or ecology...and even those not currently interested could probably benefit! Worth every penny I paid...not just an enjoyable read, but a very informative one.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Reccomended!, March 31, 2001

By 

trace b "www.constantholiday.blogspot.com" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology (Hardcover)

I cannot encourage anyone who is even slightly interested in wildlife or butterfly gardening strongly enough - READ THIS BOOK! Along with Noah's Garden, Stein's first "eco-gardening" book, this is a great read for anyone who finds endless lawns boring, or has driven past a wooded lot daily, only to wake up one day and find it has been flattened to make a strip mall. I have read both books several times and used the advice in both to build an beautiful butterfly and bird garden (on a patio outside an apartment, no less) and I can't wait to apply it to a full-sized yard. This book doesn't just encourage you to make a difference - even if it's just a dent - it actually shows you how. I loved it, and I plan to give it as gifts in the future.