 |
|||
|
Growing Where We are Planted, the Natural
Way. Kim begins at the beginning with soil, sand, silt and clay (earth) and shows how pH levels affect plant growth. To prepare a garden Kim weighs the alternatives of chemical and organic methods of fertilizing, weed and pest control, composting and watering. How to use compost is a central concern. Next Kim invites her readers to look up at trees and considers how to best live with them. She asks elemental questions like: is the appropriate tree in its appropriate place? She concludes that being involved in community Arbor Days is a good starting point for natural garden lovers. Equipped with a basic knowledge of soils and trees, Kim urges environmental stewards to observe the changing seasons. Deceptively asleep or dormant, the earth in winter allows land stewards to observe its bones or structure. In winter, the eye can see various plant forms and shapes and consider residential or inspirational objects of art. In spring, the garden inspires ideas. Land stewards have the capacity to work in tandem with nature’s annual and perennial presentations. As summer and fall unfold they create opportunities for infinite plays of color combinations and planting styles, as diverse as each climate, microclimate and participant. Even night time is garden time in Kim’s environmental scope. Her scope embraces the wonders of
co-creation and points to ways even the plant market
attempts to work in harmony with nature. How do new plants
show up in nurseries each spring? Kim affirms the work of
hybridizers who spot the emergence of new plants as well as
the many other specialists who are learning to work with
plant life in the global ecosystem. |
|
|
|
|
|||
Foreword