"A timely, accessible guide to responsible landscaping that convincingly explains how and why our home landscapes must participate in local ecosystems."--Douglas Tallamy, coauthor of The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden

"By explaining the importance of individual decisions, presenting relevant facts, sharing personal experience, and providing specific strategies, Varlamoff inspires readers to transform their yards into planet-friendly landscapes."--Lucy Bradley, coauthor of Earth-Friendly Desert Gardening

"Captures in clear, easy-to-understand language how our gardening choices impact the environment--from water to soil to the creatures that inhabit them."--Linda Nelson, president, National Garden Clubs, Inc.



While issues such as climate change, pollution, and water shortages become increasingly difficult to ignore, the movement toward sustainability continues to grow. Even though most gardeners are attuned to nature, some common processes of garden maintenance can take a toll on the environment.

Sustainable Gardening for the Southeast is a vividly illustrated guide that offers simple techniques to help conserve water, reduce pollutants, and mitigate climate change while increasing biodiversity and attracting pollinators and wildlife. Gardeners will be inspired and empowered to protect and enhance the local ecology as they cultivate a resilient landscape featuring native plants, colorful flowers and trees, and even organically grown fruits and vegetables. And for those who cherish their emerald lawns, Susan Varlamoff provides tips for keeping it green and environmentally sound.

Gardeners in the Southeast--whether amateurs or professional landscapers--who want to implement sustainable strategies will find this book the ultimate resource for cultivating a garden that gives back to the earth.

Susan M. Varlamoff is director of the Office of Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia, a certified Georgia Master Gardener, and the 2012 recipient of the University of Georgia Sustainability Award. She is the author of The Polluters: A Community Fights Back.

Sample Chapter(s):

Excerpt

Table of Contents

A practical resource guide to sustainable gardening, . . . written for gardeners in the Southeast to help them take advantage of the region’s lengthy growing season and to give them tips for amending the heavy clay soil. But don’t be put off by the “Southeast” in the title if you live in another part of the country. No matter where you live, you can apply Varlamoff’s sound principles for sustainable gardening.
--Mother Nature Network