“The Northwest Garden Manifesto” by John Albers is a new book for our region. While the title may conjure up images of gardeners marching rake-to-rake for their causes, this instead is a very solid and comprehensive gardening book that keeps closely in mind the bigger ecosystem surrounding any private garden. Divided into three broad sections, the book asks you to assess what you have, then make changes that are sustainable (for your garden) and healthful (for you), and finally – for all your actions – think outside the property line.
The author is very good at presenting new approaches to regular garden chores. While these may seem mundane, they fit very well into the overarching structure and message of the book. A handy summary checklist at the end of each chapter helps you track this bigger picture. Many of the examples are from his own four-acre garden on the edge of Bremerton, well-captured by the photography of David Perry.
The selection of recommended plants includes native and non-natives as Albers emphasizes that in developed sites, many of the conditions that help natives thrive have been destroyed. Other recommendations include many food-producing plants, everything from annual vegetables to fruit trees. He also advises engineering your lawn – if you must have one – to be either a green space with low demands on resources, or a self-sustaining meadow.
This book’s primary audience is urban dwellers, but that is most of us. “With more than half of humankind living in cities, our first steps must be developing sustainably and restoring urban biodiversity.” So perhaps manifesto is an accurate description of Albers’ goals. I recommend you read his book and make your own decisions.
Excerpted from the Spring 2018 Arboretum Bulletin.