Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants: Brooklyn Botanical Garden All-Region Guide
by C. Colston Burrell
Janet Marinelli and Bonnie Harper-Lore, eds.
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, 2006.

Ever wish you were someone else? A rock star, an astronaut, a novelist? Ever read a book and wish you could have written it?

I wish I had written this book!
Heck, I wish I had found it a year ago when it first came out! (actually it was published 9-28-06, so I’ve only missed out on it for 355 days, but who’s counting?)
I have been working on a pitiful, hodge-podge list for years that barely scratches the surface of this book.

This book is an easy-to-read reference. It’s seperated into plant groups by type (tree, shrub, etc.) then by invasive plant (ex: Tree of Heaven) and then native substitutes are listed (ex: Pecan, Yellowwood.)
The Invasive plant is listed by latin and common name, there is a small picture of it, and then a list of it’s “current invaded range.”
The Native substitutions have large (almost full-page) entries below, with pictures, plant details, native ranges and growing tips.

The guide is aimed at roadside managers and landscapers, but is beautiful and easy to use.
Gardeners need to pay special attention to “invaded ranges” in order to determine how bad an invasive is and what the appropriated substitute is. For instance, pink and yellow bush lantana is invasive in Florida, but I live in Texas, and it’s actually a native in Mexico and is treated as a ‘native’ here. (Texas has a related native bush lantana, but it’s red and orange.)
“Native ranges” are important, too: if I wanted a substitute for an ornamental pear, an allegheny seviceberry wouldn’t work in my zone, but the other recommendation, fringe tree, would. (Actually, in Texas I would plant a Mexican plum, but outside of Texas that wouldn’t be appropriate, and this guide is for the whole U.S.)
Also keep in mind that professional landscapers may have a different objective with certain plants: the suggestion to substitute Western sweetshrub for an edible fig would give the right “look”, but if a gardener wants edible fruit, then a red mulberry (suggested elsewhere) would be a better substitution.

All in all, buy this book for yourself.
And for every gardener you know.
And the guy who cuts your lawn.
And the owner of your favorite nursery.
And the head of your HOA.
And your mother’s landscaper.
And your next door neighbor.
And all your co-workers.

Heck, I recommend you buy a bunch and just give them away at every oppurtunity.

This book is worth giving away, but you’ll want a copy for yourself, too!

Outside the Not So Big House: Creating the Landscape of Home
By Julie Moir Messervy & Sarah Susanka

As both a gardener and a fan of the Not So Big House movement, I eagerly sought out this book. Unfortunately this book was horribly disappointing.

This book is frustrating to a homeowner: in other books there were suggestions that could be used for renovating—here much time is taken up with dream landscapes with fabulous views and hill top sites. The book constantly reassures us that “Not so big doesn’t necessarily mean small,” because so many of these landscapes are measured in acres, and the house that go with them are gargantuan!

The authors have no concept of what normal homeowners have to work with–fences aren’t even mentioned until halfway through the book! They actually bemoan the “great challenge” of landscaping a home that had neighbors on three sides. The authors give concepts to work towards, with little explanation, or advice on how to achieve them, even in a dream landscape.
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