Recommended Books

Here is a curated list of books from my own library, selected for their value in planting design, ecology, garden craft, and long-term landscape thinking. Many are grounded in careful observation, ecological research, and the study of how plant communities function over time. Some are by my teachers, as well as highly influential figures in contemporary landscape and planting design whose work has shaped my own thinking, design approach, and installation techniques. Each title includes a link so you can find the edition that suits you. These are references I return to when shaping plant-forward, nature-inspired gardens that mature beautifully and intelligently over time.

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BRINGING NATURE HOME by Doug Tallamy

“If you cut down the goldenrod, the wild black cherry, the milkweed and other natives, you eliminate the larvae, and starve the birds. This simple revelation about the food web—and it is an intricate web, not a chain—is the driving force in Bringing Nature Home.”

- The New York Times

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THE LIVING LANDSCAPE by Rick Darke & Doug Tallamy

Many gardeners today want a home landscape that nourishes and fosters wildlife. But they also want beauty, a space for the kids to play, privacy, and maybe even a vegetable patch. Sure, it’s a tall order, but The Living Landscape shows how.

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GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES

Protect and nurture the best-loved of garden guests: butterflies, nature’s kaleidoscopes with wings. The Xerces Society introduces you to a variety of butterflies who need our help, and provides suggestions for native plants to attract them, habitat designs to help them thrive, and garden practices to accommodate all their stages of life.

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PLANTING: A NEW PERSPECTIVE by Piet Oudolf & Noel Kingsbury

Planting: A New Perspective is an essential resource for designers and gardeners looking to create plant-rich, beautiful gardens that support biodiversity and nourish the human spirit. An intimate knowledge of plants is essential to the success of modern landscape design.

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PLANTING IN A POST-WILD WORLD by Claudia West & Thomas Rainer

Over time, with industrialization and urban sprawl, we have driven nature out of our neighborhoods and cities. But we can invite it back by designing landscapes that look and function more like they do in the wild: robust, diverse, and visually harmonious.

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ATTRACTING NATIVE POLLINATORS

Attracting Native Pollinators provides dramatically expanded breadth and detail, reflecting the latest understanding about creating and managing pollinator habitat. Illustrated with hundreds of color photographs and dozens of specially created illustrations.

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THE BEES IN YOUR BACKYARD

The Bees in Your Backyard provides an engaging introduction to the roughly 4,000 different bee species found in the United States and Canada, dispelling common myths about bees while offering essential tips for telling them apart in the field.

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CATERPILLARS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA

This lavishly illustrated guide will enable you to identify the caterpillars of nearly 700 butterflies and moths found east of the Mississippi. The more than 1,200 color photographs and two dozen line drawings include numerous exceptionally striking images.

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THE SIBLEY GUIDE TO BIRDS by David Sibley

This is my favorite Bird Identification book. Used by millions of birders from novices to the most expert, The Sibley Guide became the standard by which natural history guides are measured.

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PLANTING THE NATURAL GARDEN by Peit Oudouf

This updated edition of the book that started the "Dutch Wave," a movement that is now sweeping gardens from Europe to North America, shows how to plant a garden that can look wild but be tame at heart.

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DIRR'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TREES & SHRUBS by Michael Dirr

With Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs and Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates, Michael Dirr set the gold standard for horticultural reference. This season, Timber Press is proud to publish his seminal work, Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs, the most comprehensive visual reference on this important subject.

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A-Z ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GARDEN PLANTS

The AHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants is the most comprehensive, detailed, and lavishly illustrated guide to garden plants ever published. With authoritative coverage of more than 15,000 ornamental plants.

GARDEN REVOLUTION by Larry Weiner

Garden Revolution shows how an ecological approach to planting can lead to beautiful gardens that buck much of conventional gardening’s counter-productive, time-consuming practices

NATURALISTIC PLANTING DESIGN - THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE by Nigel Dunnett

Nigel Dunnett’s work showed how designed plantings can feel beautiful, uplifting, and alive while still working with natural processes. His book explains how layered perennials, grasses, seasonal succession, and pollinator-rich plant communities can create powerful gardens with fewer demands on water, maintenance, and resources.

PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE DESIGN by Travis Beck

Travis Beck’s Principles of Ecological Landscape Design shows how beautiful, functional landscapes can be designed as living ecological systems. The book translates ecology into practical design guidance, covering plant communities, soil life, succession, biodiversity, and long-term landscape performance.

PERENNIALS AND THEIR GARDEN HABITATS by RICHARD HANSEN & FRIEDRICH STAHL

A foundational guide to ecological perennial planting and habitat-based design. Although written for European plants, many overlap with our gardens here, and the larger concepts remain highly relevant. Organized by habitat, it shows how durable, low-maintenance plant communities begin with the right plant in the right place. Out of print, available used.

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