When we first became interested in gardening differently, few resources existed — especially, it seemed, for the Central New York region. The Midwest, New England, and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed were all way ahead of us.
The Landscaping Revolution was the first book I found that talked about the importance of landscaping differently.
I was so inspired by this that we made a trip to Ohio where the author, Andy Wasowski, was scheduled to speak at a Wild Ones conference!
Now there are more resources
Here are some resources that have broadened our knowledge. I’m sure you’ll find some or all of them useful for you, too.
And almost every page of this Our Habitat Garden website has a Resources section at the bottom that include articles and videos.
- Core resources – the books that provide solid information and inspiration to get started and keep growing your habitat garden
- Plant and habitat books to consult about cultivation requirements or just for learning more about plants
- Plant websites – handy for additional information
- Wildlife-specific books – can help you learn more about particular creatures
- Wildlife-specific websites – to help you enjoy the creatures that visit
- Videos – a wealth of information and inspiration from top experts such as Tallamy
- Apps! – can be very useful for ID and for participating in community science projects
Discussion course
The Caring for Our Piece of the Earth discussion course is designed for small groups, but individuals are welcome to use it, too.
It’s modeled on the Northwest Earth Institute’s (now renamed EcoChallenge.org) discussion courses. Oddly, their courses hadn’t sufficiently addressed how we care for our own piece of the earth, so I wrote my own course.
It’s free for anyone to use. You can download it from the HGCNY website.
Listen to a presentation
I have a number of presentations available either for in-person meetings or as a Zoom webinar. The topics are described here.
HGCNY resources to download
Our local Wild Ones chapter, Habitat Gardening in Central New York (HGCNY), has factsheets on a variety of topics. Most are two pages, which can be printed on one page, front and back, in order to conserve paper.
NOTE: These factsheets were developed for Central New York, but much of the information is applicable to the general Northeast region, as well as other areas of the country. Check our your specific habitat requirements.
Reflections
We all hear that insects and animals depend on plants, but in Bringing Nature Home, Douglas Tallamy presents a powerful and compelling illustration of how the choices we make as gardeners can profoundly impact the diversity of life in our yards, towns and on our planet. This important work should be required reading for anyone who ever put shovel to earth.
~ William Cullina, from the jacket notes on the 2nd edition of Bringing Nature Home