Gardening in a Changing World
Gardening in a Changing World
Plants, People and the Climate Crisis
- AvailableHardback9781910258286240 pagesList Price: GBP 20.00 Buy from bookshop.org (UK)
Our planet, the Earth, is under threat, with potentially catastrophic consequences for ourselves and the other lifeforms it sustains.
Yet Nature itself can still rescue us - with plants playing a pivotal role, in the countryside - and everywhere. In gardens and parks, plants are the mainstay of our relationship with the natural world, and we celebrate them for the pleasures they bring. However, that can be part of the problem: too often we value plants for their aesthetic qualities rather than the vital role they play in the ecology of the Earth.
In Gardening in a Changing World Darryl Moore explores how gardens can be better for human beings and for all the other lifeforms that inhabit them. Recent developments in horticulture and plant science show us that we need to rethink our attitude to plants beyond purely aesthetic concerns, and to adopt more holistic approaches to how we design, inhabit and enjoy our gardens. He looks at the history of garden design, to show how we got to where we are today, and recommends ways of changing to new principles of sustainable ecological horticulture.
This challenging and important new book will be essential reading for professionals and students of horticulture and garden and landscape design, as well as for anyone interested in making gardens part of the solution to the future of life on Earth.
Darryl Moore is an award-winning garden and landscape designer and writer focusing on contemporary garden and landscape design and planting. He has been a feature writer for Garden Design Journal for the past 15 years and has also been published in The Guardian, Homes & Gardens, The English Garden, Pro Landscaper, The Garden and RSA Journal. He is a member of the Garden Media Guild and was Trade Journalist of the Year in 2016. He is a former member of GDJ Editorial Panel and is also a published garden photographer. He is Director and co-founder of the innovative urban landscape organisation Cityscapes, realizing creative approaches to greening city spaces through novel design ideas that ensure ecological, economic and social sustainability. He lives in London, SW2,
Preface
Introduction - A Changing World: Life in the Anthropocene; the climate and extinction crises
1. Plants as Producers:
In Praise of Plants; Plants and a Changing Planet
2. Plants as Panacea:
The Unseen Green- Plant Blindness; Health and Well-being; The Nature Disconnect; Managing the Environment; Ecosystem Services; Environmental Practice; Novel Ecosystems; Urban Ecology; Garden Ecology; Cleaning up the Garden
3. Plants as Pictures - Historical Planting Styles:
Growing the Idea of the Garden; The Colourists (Gertrude Jekyll, the Garden Club of America, Lawrence Johnston, Vita Sackville-West, Margery Fish, Rosemary Verey, Penelope Hobhouse, etc.); Planting Through the Lens of Modernism (Garrett Eckbo, Thomas Church, Roberto Burle Marx, John Brookes, etc); The Zenith of Pictorial. Planting and the Path to Biodiversity (Christopher Lloyd and Fergus Garrett at Great Dixter); Right Plant, Right Place (Beth Chatto)
4. Plants as Processes - The ecological alternative:
Ecological Planting; Plant Communities; The Competitive Edge and Beyond; Ecological Developments in the United States; Growing Wild in the Netherlands; Ecological Developments in Germany; New Directions in Britain; France: All Change
5. Plant as Possibilities:
Ecotypes; The Rhizosphere; Mutualisms; Microbiomes; Biocenology;
Plant Intelligence (Thinking Like a Plant)
6. Plants as Partners
Traditional Ecological Knowledge; The Law of the Land;
A Plantcentric Perspective
Notes, Resources, Index, Acknowledgements
‘The most illuminating book on this very important subject.’
"I can't recommend this new book enough...a comprehensive and deeply researched account of humans' relationship with plants. The depth of the book is quite extraordinary. It's not a glossy image-led garden book, it's a serious text. And it is a fantastic and up-to-date overview of current trends and approaches in planting design."
'This book not only acknowledges some of our greatest plantspeople, but ensures that we must always remember plants are front and centre stage on Earth . . . always!'
"The book every gardener needs."
"Darryl Moore has been revolutionising how we grow in cities for the past decade and picked up a medal for his city-friendly design at RHS Chelsea this year. Here he galvanises readers to make meaningful change - whether in their gardens or beyond."
"If there were a prize for most timely publication of the year, this would be a contender...This must-read book is expertly divided into neat, digestible sections that are jam-packed with fascinating and vital information."
"The premise of this book is simple. To avert further climate crisis and biodiversity loss, we need to rethink our relationship with plants. Gardening in a Changing World covers many complex topics, but it does so in short, digestible chapters and a lucid style...It will alter the way you garden."
"The book forms a new intellectualism towards the use of plants. Moore's book cites more than 300 sources showing how recent developments in horticulture and plant science show how gardens can be better for humans and other lifeforms."
"Darryl Moore explores how our humble gardens could be key to saving us all from the climate crisis. He turns our enjoyment of plants on its head, showing how their vital importance to the future of the planet is even more beautiful than their aesthetic appeal. The book also draws on recent scientific research to offer guidance into changing our gardening habits and rethinking the design and use of our outside spaces for sustainable, future-proof gardens."
"Hugely informative"
"Gardening in a Changing World sets a new high-water mark in our individual and collective understanding and appreciation of the art and science of ecological planting design. A book for any ecologically-minded gardener or design professional looking to seriously sharpen and elevate their knowledge, awareness, and skill levels."
"A fascinating exploration of how gardens can be better for human beings, with reference to recent plant science that demonstrates the need to have a new attitude to plants beyond aesthetics. This book provides an introduction to taking a holistic approach when designing, inhabiting and enjoying our gardens."