![\"\"](\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/1982173351.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg\")
nd this process, it is important to understand wetlands in their many forms.<\/p>\nAnnie Proulx, the well-known fiction writer of books such as \u201cThe Shipping News\u201d and short stories including \u201cBrokeback Mountain\u201d, has also published non-fiction books and booklets on various aspects of gardening.\u00a0 Five of these are in the Miller Library collection.\u00a0 The most recent by this one-time Washington state resident is \u201cFen, Bog & Swamp.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not a book directly about gardening, but is concerned with the limited origins of peat, a long-time staple component of potting soils and an important carbon sink.\u00a0 The wetlands that generate peat have been disappearing, primarily caused by human activities.\u00a0 To understand this process, it is important to understand wetlands in their many forms.<\/p>\n
Fens are deep wetlands that have as their source streams carrying minerals from higher elevations.\u00a0 This supports various grasses and reeds.\u00a0 A bog is shallower and relies on rain as its only source of replenishing water.\u00a0 Sphagnum mosses are prominent in these low-nutrient environments.\u00a0 Swamps are typically at the end of a succession that begins with fens and bogs.\u00a0 They have the least depth of water and will support trees and shrubs.\u00a0 Eventually, they will likely become a dry forest.<\/p>\n
Proulx weaves human stories into her discussions, both historical and quite recent.\u00a0 An example is the fate of the Grand Kankakee Marsh in northwest Indiana.\u00a0 \u201cThis scenario has been repeated the world over: swathes of fen, bog or swamp are deemed too wet for agriculture and the cry goes up that for the public good it must be drained.\u00a0 But the new lands then usually became the property of developers and big agriculturists or ranchers\u2014public good neatly sidestepped.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on May 20, 2024<\/p>\n
Excerpted from the Summer 2024 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Annie Proulx, the well-known fiction writer of books such as \u201cThe Shipping News\u201d and short stories including \u201cBrokeback Mountain\u201d, has also published non-fiction books and booklets on various aspects of gardening.\u00a0 Five of these are in the Miller Library collection.\u00a0 The most recent by this one-time Washington state resident is \u201cFen, Bog & Swamp.\u201d This is not a book directly about gardening, but is concerned with the limited origins of peat, a long-time staple component of potting soils and an…<\/p>\n