Erica's Favorite Books for Naturescaping

***Full list downloadable as PDF here***

Though we have this big list of online resources, I still like to rely on some good books! You will get lots of ideas just flipping through the pages and diving deeper into design principles. These books below should be available from your local library or local bookseller—and note that some bookseller websites allow you to “peek inside.” — Erica

Naturescaping Design Principles 

• Link, Russell. Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press,  1999.  

• Rainer, Thomas and Claudia West. Planting in a Post-wild World: Designing Plant Communities for  Resilient Landscapes. Timber Press, 2015.  

• Cox, Jeff. Landscaping with Nature: Using nature’s designs to plan your yard. Rodale Press, Inc.,  1991.  

• Roth, Sally. Natural Landscaping: Gardening with Nature to Create a Backyard Paradise. Rodale  Press, Inc., 1997.  

• Whitner, Jan Kowalczewski. Northwest Garden Style: Ideas, designs and methods for the creative  gardener. Sasquatch Books, 1996.  

• Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home: How native plants sustain wildlife in our gardens.  Timber Press, 2007.  

• Stein, Sara. Noah’s Garden: Restoring the ecology of our own back yards. Houghton Mifflin Co.,  1993.  

• Lovejoy, Ann. Ann Lovejoy’s Organic Garden Design School: A guide to creating your own beautiful,  easy-care garden. Rodale Press, Inc., 2001.  

• Penick, Pam. Lawn Gone! Low-maintenance, sustainable, attractive alternatives for your yard. Ten  Speed Press, 2013.  

• Levesque, Matthew. The Revolutionary Yardscape: Ideas for repurposing local materials to create  containers, pathways, lighting and more. Timber Press, 2010.  

Plant Design Principles  

• O’Sullivan, Penelope. The Homeowner’s Complete Tree & Shrub Handbook: The essential guide to  choosing, planting, and maintaining perfect landscape plants. Storey Publishing, 2007.

• Cohen, Stephanie & Nancy. J. Ondra. The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer: The essential guide  to creating simply sensational gardens. Storey Publishing, 2005.  

• Burrell, C. Colston. Perennial Combinations: Stunning combinations that make your garden look  fantastic right from the start. Rodale Press, Inc., 1999. 

• Gildemeister, Heidi. Gardening the Mediterranean Way: How to create a waterwise, drought tolerant garden. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 2004.  

• Lloyd, Christopher. Succession Planting for Year-round Pleasure. Timber Press, 2005.  

Plant Ideas & Care: Woody Plants & Perennials  

• Kruckeberg, Arthur R. and Linda Chalker-Scott. Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific  Northwest, Third Edition. University of Washington Press, 2019. (Note: older editions written  solely by Art Kruckeberg are likely widely available in the library and terrific—if you can’t get the  new edition on your budget, go for one of the older editions!)  

• Robson, Kathleen A., Alice Richter and Marianne Filbert. Encyclopedia of Northwest Native Plants  for Gardens and Landscapes. Timber Press, 2008.  

• Leigh, Mike. Grow Your Own Native Landscape: A guide to identifying, propagating, and  landscaping with Western Washington native plants. WSU Extension Native Plant Salvage Project,  1999 (and more recent editions—available from Native Plant Salvage Foundation if you can’t find it  at Timberland Regional Library).  

• Phillips, Ellen & C. Colston Burrell. Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials. Rodale Press,  Inc., 2004.  

• Cox, Jeff. Perennial All-Stars: The 150 Best Perennials for Great-looking Trouble-free Gardens.  Rodale Press, Inc., 1998.  

• Carter, Susan, Carrie Becker and Bob Lilly. Perennials: The Gardener’s Reference. Timber Press,  2007.  

• Macunovich, Janet. Caring for Perennials: What to do and when to do it. Storey Publishing, 1996.  

Plant Ideas & Care: Ornamental Grasses  

• Darke, Rick. The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses, Sedges, Rushes, Restios, Cattails and  Selected Bamboo. Timber Press, 1999.  

• Greenlee, John. The Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses – How to grow and use over 250 beautiful  and versatile plants. Rodale Press, Inc., 2000.  

• Ondra, Nancy J. Grasses. Storey Books, 2002.  

• Gilsenan, Fiona. Sunset Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses. Sunset Books, 2002.  

Other General Suggestions  

• Check out books by Sunset—before Google, their “Western Garden Book” and other guidebooks  were our go-to resources!  

• Get to know more of our native plants by hiking the area with guidebooks such as Lone Pine’s  Revised Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by Jim Pojar & Andy MacKinnon, et al., 2014.

• Learn more about mycorrhizae; for instance: Mycelium Running: How mushrooms can help save the  world, by Paul Stamets,Ten Speed Press, 2005; and more!