Summary

North America's eastern half, roughly from the Midwest to the Atlantic, was once a great deciduous forest. Although centuries of human intervention have cleared much of the land, the timeless forest remains in the spirit of the place. Today, even the shortest period of human neglect allows for the resurgence of the process of forest creation. The greatest gardens - and happiest gardeners - in this area will be those that take into account the nature of the land.In his unique, and often thought-provoking new book, award-winning author Darke promotes and stunningly illustrates a garden aesthetic based on the strengths and opportunities of the woodland, including play of light, sound, and scent; seasonal drama; and the architectural interest of woody plants.While written from a compelling and fresh perspective, The American Woodland Garden never strays from the realistic concerns of the everyday gardener. Information on planting, soils, and maintenance provides a firm foundation for horticultural accomplishment. An alphabetical list of woodland plants offers useful advice for every garden, emphasizing native trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, grasses, sedges, and flowering perennials that fit the forest aesthetic. More than 700 of the author's stunning photographs show both the natural palette of plants in the wild and the effects that can be achieved with them in garden settings. Many of the most striking photos in the book were taken at classic gardens that are paragons of an ecological style. The American Woodland Garden is a clarion call to a new awareness of our relationship to the natural world. This book will take its rightful place among the classic works that have influenced our concept of the American landscape.

Author Biography

Rick Darke was a member of Longwood Gardens' staff for twenty years, first as assistant taxonomist and then as Curator of Plants.

Preface
Acknowledgments
A Forest Aesthetic
Forest Dynamics
Luminous Qualities
Color Cycles
Foliage Color Cycles
Flower Color Cycles
Constant Colors
An Evergreen Presence
Time and Transition
Forest Architecture
Layers
Canopy
Mid-level or Understory Trees
Shrub Layer
Herbaceous Layer
Ground Layer
Vines
Areas
Interior
Edge
Roadside Woodlands and Forest Relics
Diversity and the Beauty of Provenance
Exotic Questions
Learning from a Woodland Stream
Designing the Woodland Garden
Abstracting the Forest
Framing and Enclosing
Working with Layers
Celebrating and Encouraging Natural Form
Gardening at the Edge
Integrating Exotics
Working with Textures and within the Color Green
The Influence of Evergreens
Celebrating Natural Light in the Woodland Garden
Woodland Walks and Pathways
The Woodland Garden Dwelling
Planting and Maintaining the Woodland Garden
Selecting and Acquiring Plants
The Ethics of Acquisition
Starting Plants from Seed
Purchasing Plants
Respecting Roots
Matching Plants to Available Light
Hardiness
Woodland Soils
Acidity and Alkalinity
Organic Matter and Fertility
Moisture and Drainage
Covering the Ground
New Planting and Transplanting
Pruning and Cutting Back
Pests and Diseases
Weeds
The Forest Palette
Acer
Aconitum
Actaea
Aesculus
Agastache
Allium
Alnus
Amelanchier
Anemone
Anemonella
Aquilegia
Aralia
Arisaema
Aristolochia
Aronia
Aruncus
Asarum
Asclepias
Asimina
Aster
Astilbe
Betula
Caltha
Calycanthus
Campanula
Carpinus
Carya
Caulophyllum
Ceanothus
Cercis
Chionanthus
Chrysogonum
Cimicifuga
Claytonia
Clethra
Clintonia
Cornus
Cotinus
Crataegus
Cyrilla
Delphinium
Dentaria
Dicentra
Dioscorea
Diospyros
Diphylleia
Dirca
Echinacea
Erythronium
Euonymus
Eupatorium
Fagus
Ferns
Fothergilla
Fraxinus
Galax
Gentiana
Geranium
Gillenia
Grasses, Sedges, and Wood-rushes
Gymnocladus
Halesia
Hamamelis
Heuchera
Hexastylis
Houstonia
Hydrangea
Hydrastis
Ilex
Iris
Isopyrum
Itea
Jeffersonia
Juniperus
Kalmia
Leucothoe
Lilium
Lindera
Liquidambar
Liriodendron
Lonicera
Magnolia
Maianthemum
Mertensia
Mitchella
Mitella
Monarda
Neviusia
Nyssa
Ostrya
Oxydendrum
Pachysandra
Panax
Parthenocissus
Phacelia
Phlox
Pieris
Platanus
Podophyllum
Polemonium
Polygonatum
Quercus
Rhododendron
Rhus
Rubus
Sambucus
Sanguinaria
Sassafras
Sedum
Senecio
Silene
Smilacina
Solidago
Spigelia
Staphylea
Stewartia
Stylophorum
Styrax
Symplocarpus
Tiarella
Trillium
Tsuga
Uvularia
Vaccinium
Veratrum
Veronicastrum
Viburnum
Viola
Wisteria
Xanthorhiza
Plant Sources USDA Hardiness Zone Map
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

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Excerpts

There is no overstating the grandeur and dignity of the deciduous forest canopy: it is truly awesome. I've always found the top of the woods especially enthralling in mid winter, when trees are completely bare of leaves. Stand still and follow the lines of massive trunks skyward, and you'll observe their graceful splitting into repeatedly finer segments until they become mere threads, barely distinguishable to the naked eye. Then move forward just a step or two, while looking up, and literal millions of angles will shift and change. The canopy is a fabulous study in intricate detail.Exquisitely displayed in winter's exposed canopy, the signature of a tree is written in its branching patterns and angles. Most trees, including beech, Fagus grandifolia, oaks, Quercus species, and hickories, Carya species, branch in an alternate fashion; others, including ash, Fraxinus species, and maple, Acer species, produce branches in opposite pairs. With a keen eye, these differences can be appreciated from considerable distance. Individual branch angles also vary among different species; for example, the angles of beech are relatively narrow, while those of maples are broad. Dormant trees can also be distinguished by the characteristic lines of their branches. The branches of some, including maples, continue along fairly smooth lines. Others such as black gum, Nyssa sylvatica, and burr oak, Quercus macrocarpa, are noted for their sinuous curves.Marvelous in detail, the canopy is also visually fascinating in broad perspective: a diverse collection of tree shapes sketched by branches, interrupted occasionally by small patches of open sky. The crowns of canopy trees are shaped by many forces including storms and light competition from other trees; however, they often maintain representative outlines. When growing through the canopy and into the light, the summits of tuliptrees, Liriodendron tulipifera, form distinctive spires. Beeches, under the same conditions, become broad, rounded brushes. Breaks in the canopy set off the outlines of the trees, and the also function as literal windows--the forest's fenestration--through which some sunlight will pass to sustain the understory below.Photo: Straight as rules and strictly upright, the trunks of three tuliptrees, Liriodendron tulipifera, appear as huge black cylinders, their massive lines accentuated by the delicacy of crossing beech branches, in late March in Delaware.