Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes Hardcover – October 7, 2015

I am an avid, but amateur gardener/landscaper of my front yard. I am constantly trying to improve the look and feel in an effort to create a cozy sanctuary of plants and flowers that 'make sense' - meaning, they all look like they have been there forever and I don't need to provide extra water and spend countless hours tending to them. I also want to create a habitat for wildlife where we can all live together together without sacrificing so much time, energy, effort and money. This book has taught me so much in terms of planting for our unique spaces in an effort to create the look and feel of what we want and letting nature do her thing. I have so much more to learn as it pertains to different species, but at least now, thanks to this book, I have a working understanding of how to structure our landscape so it is full of life and biodiversity and appealing to the senses. I am on the path to 'working' smarter instead of harder and getting more enjoyment out of the process and the result. I would think that this book is good for many audiences with many different levels of experience - from beginner to advanced - in many different fields - from gardener, to landscape designer, to landscape architect. I am very happy I purchased this book. Thank you to the authors. Beautiful work.

This is a partial review as i have read both part of the end and part of the beginning of the book. What I found disturbingly lacking was the treatment of plant communities, native or not, as isolated from all the other living organisms that that plants are dependent upon and which are dependent upon them, from fungi, pollinators, to those communities of animals that shelter in and that eat of and disperse seeds. In this way that work appeared callow. Though I will read on, and may up date if greater depth and breadth appear! Thank you ~ Some informations and suggestions I find very helpful from these two authors, but still found myself annoyed with a certain shallowness, limitation in the underlying thesis. Thank you.

Lots of food for thought! I heard one of the author’s speak. I had hoped to find this amazing chart he showed with a list of perennials by season but you have to dig thru the book. Great photos depicting the layers

This book is written very methodically, so the authors' theory and advice can be digested and implemented by the knowledgeable home gardener.

Best gardening book that I’ve read this year. So many things to think about require a ‘slow read’. A book to savor like chocolate.

Great book

The acceptance that we revegetate to bring sensory pleasure is a masterstroke of this ode to ecologically intentional planting.Rainer and West build a compelling bridge between the imperative for ecological purpose and the importance of landscapes to engage people.It would be easy to say this book is primarily relevant in an urban context. Its promise in rural areas seems just as potent.The references are unapologetically northern hemisphere, but the principles are sufficiently clear to make them applicable in more arid or tropical biomes.Thoroughly recommend.

This book is a must-read for anyone working to create a more-natural beautiful landscape. I have been muddling through with some success and some failures, but could not necessary put a finger on why one area was a success and others were lackluster. This book immediately clarified my struggles in a real, tangible way. While I had been trying to create a mixed landscape, I was pulling plants from all kind of different landscapes, resulting in a blend that neither functionally or aesthetically really worked. There have been plenty of pretty garden moments that has fostered wildlife, but my yard has still lacked any kind of real cohesion. It did not take long to understand my many mistakes and get inspired for spring!

This is an excellent book, aimed at the American market but appropriate anywhere. It's a reminder for professionals to use plants as they would be found naturally fulfilling their niche role and for the every day gardener a thought provoking book which helps illustrate how and why plants grow together and what type of plants to use where.

Needed for any professional in the industry

excellent

This book is great! It breaks down the ecological and designed principles for naturalistic planting.The book puts together all the relevant principles/theories behind creating naturalistic planting designs. It gives landscape professionals a clear framework to set landscape goals, select and layer plants.While the book is largely aimed at American landscape the principles can be applied anywhere in the world.

I enjoyed learning about the authors ideas about "covering the ground" and other ideas about gardening that are different from the usual mulch, mulch, mulch school of gardening. Their thinking in this regard is consistent with my own tendencies as my garden evolves. I found the Kindle version quite annoying in the way that charts and illustrations seemed disconnected from relevant text and would have preferred a book but decided not to get the book as overall this book is much more directed at the professional landscaper and design of public gardens than the home / hobby gardener, like me.