Category: Publications

This step-by-step guide will answer all of your questions about how to create beautiful gardens designed to welcome beneficial pollinators across the South. Combining up-to-date scientific information with artful design strategies, Danesha Seth Carley and Anne M. Spafford teach gardeners of all levels to plan, plant, and maintain successful pollinator gardens at home and in shared community sites. Everyday gardeners, along with farmers, scientists, and policy makers, share serious concerns about ongoing declines in bee and other pollinator populations, and here Spafford and Carley deliver great news: every thoughtfully designed garden, no matter how small, can play a huge role in providing the habitat, nourishment, and nesting places so needed by pollinators. This book explains all you need to be a pollinator champion.

• Covers USDA hardiness zones 6, 7, 8, and 9, including twelve southern states
• Explains what makes pollinators happy—bees, for sure, and many others, great and small
• Brings science and art together in gardens of all types, including urban, food, container, community, school, and large-scale gardens
• Provides step-by-step instructions for choosing locations, preparing soil and garden beds, selecting the best plants, considering seasonality in your garden design, managing your garden throughout the year, and much more
• Richly illustrated with photographs, design plans, and handy charts and lists

Reviews

“A delightful, easy to understand guidebook. . . . Not only is the science impeccable, this outdoor lover’s manual is full of wisdom, history and wonderful observations about nature, even human nature.” —Lloyd Brinson, Briar Patch Books

“Pollinator Gardening for the South offers a unique approach to creating pollinator gardens and habitats—no other book like it exists. With this gardening guide in hand, anyone can learn to create gardens to support pollinators at all scales, large and small—even as small as a container garden! The authors will be alongside you every step of the way. Truly a book for everyone, from beginners to seasoned landscape professionals.” —Patricia R. Drackett, director of the Crosby Arboretum at Mississippi State University

Publisher information

The University of North Carolina Press
168 pages, 8 x 9, 134 color plates, 19 drawings, 8 tables, index
ISBN: 978-1469659411

Order your copy today!

NC State University – Distance Education

HS 432-590 Introduction to Permaculture – lecture 015: Rain Gardening in the Home Landscape

Professor Will Hooker
Professor Anne Spafford
Length:  01:22:40

Permaculture means “permanent culture,” (or “permanent agriculture”) and … “is the conscious design and maintenance of cultivated ecosystems that have the diversity, stability, and resilience of a natural ecosystem.” (Bill Mollison)

This course explores, through lectures, discussions, field trips, and required projects, a design/thinking methodology that seeks to provide for our physical needs, food, water, shelter, energy, etc., while doing so in an environmentally friendly, sustainable manner.

In this episode, Anne Spafford explains the concept and importance of rain gardens, discusses construction methodologies, shows examples of stellar rain gardens, and (because she is a plant aficionado and can’t help herself) shares some of her favorite rain garden plants.

The first book for the consumer/home gardener on this important new environmental movement, Rain Gardening in the South is a readable how-to guide on creating beautiful gardens that capture, filter, and use water that runs off roofs, driveways, and other hardscapes. Written by NCSU horticulturalists Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford, Rain Gardening in the South helps gardeners wisely use our most precious resource—water. Rain gardens maximize rainwater, enhance the landscape, and promote good environmental stewardship.

Runoff contributes significantly to polluting our waterways. The rain garden, which functions as a miniature reservoir and filtration system, offers an effective, visually pleasing solution that dramatically reduces toxic runoff, resulting in cleaner rivers, lakes, and oceans.

The authors define the rain garden as “a garden slightly sunken below grade designed to capture rainfall, store that water to nurture the garden plants, and cleanse runoff, thus removing pollution.”

Ironically, rain gardens are more drought-tolerant than conventional gardens. Because of their plant selection and ability to store water, rain gardens flourish during dry spells, as well as rainy seasons, making them particularly conducive to the South.

“Water-wise gardeners are conscious of both the need to limit their water use and the need to minimize runoff, thereby dramatically reducing water pollution,” write Kraus and Spafford. “Not only are rain gardens extremely effective in addressing water and pollution issues, they are gorgeous.”

Rain Gardening in the South addresses the specific environmental circumstances of southern gardens, such as climate issues, plant selection, and soil types. It includes step-by-step instruction on constructing a garden, from the design stage to post-planting maintenance.

Rain Gardening in the South has won numerous awards, including the Gold and Silver awards from the Garden Writers Association, the Silver award from the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards and Honorable Mention from the Hoffer Awards.

Reviews

“With on-going urban growth and regional climate changes, Rain Gardening in the South provides timely lessons and much-needed factual information, reminding us along the way that we are better stewards of the environment with water-wise gardening.” –Bobby J. Ward, author of The Plant Hunters Garden

“Homeowners and landscapers have needed a concise guide into the uncharted waters of rain gardeningin the South… This book is filled with easy-to-understand principles we can apply to any landscape.” –Pam Beck, columnist, Raleigh News & Observer and author of Best Garden Plants for North Carolina

“…a great addition to the home library. it’s informative, but also presents rain gardens in a way that gets you excited to build one. That’s a victory for any author.” –Revolutionary Gardens

“Homeowners and landscapers have needed a concise guide into the uncharted waters of rain gardening in the South… This book is filled with easy-to-understand principles we can apply to any landscape.” –Pam Beck, columnist, Raleigh News & Observer and author of Best Garden Plants for North Carolina

“…a great addition to the home library. it’s informative, but also presents rain gardens in a way that gets you excited to build one. That’s a victory for any author.” –Revolutionary Gardens

Publisher information

Eno Publishers
Illustrated, four-color, soft-cover
143 pages
ISBN: ‎ 978-0982077108

Order your copy today!

APPIP ERROR: amazonproducts[
AccessDeniedAwsUsers|The Access Key Id 06B3V40HR1G46HJSCZR2 is not enabled for accessing this version of Product Advertising API. Please migrate your credentials as referred here https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/documentation/migrating-your-product-advertising-api-account-from-your-aws-account.html.
]