A New Era of Gardening
by Douglas Kent

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Book Reviews of A New Era of Gardening

Book Review: Making the complex simple!
Summary: 5 Stars

Summary of A New Era of Gardening

'New Era' provides a model of sustainability based on the oxygen release rates of a landscape. Its goal is to help the urban and suburban gardeners create landscapes that produce more oxygen than carbon dioxide. Because of its controversial nature, 'New Era' is exceptionally well researched.

There are a variety of reasons why New Era is controversial: it shows that most landscapes are not good for the atmosphere; it thoroughly explains why composting is bad for the atmosphere; it demands that the gardener take full responsibility for their impact; and it promotes throwing our greenwaste into landfills.

Gardening for oxygen is not easy.

If you want to create a landscape that releases more oxygen, one that is good for the atmosphere, then you will want to read 'A New Era of Gardening.' In it are all the elements of sustainability, and all the steps needed to get there.

In Chapter One the processes of oxygen production are thoroughly explained. It is a common perception that plants are always producing oxygen, but they aren't. The net amount of oxygen a plant has produced can be literally seen, because the amount of biomass (tissue) it has created is directly linked to its amount of oxygen. If you want to know how much oxygen a plant has produced, then weigh it. For example, a pine tree that weighs 1000 pounds, when dried, produced about 730 pounds of oxygen.

In Chapter Two the idea of a "Carbon Costly Landscape" is explained. Believe it or not, all landscapes are a source of carbon dioxide. All landscapes require energy to sustain themselves. The amount of energy used by gardeners to sustain the urban/suburban landscapes can equate to an amazing amount of carbon dioxide. Gasoline driven engines, water, fertilizers, pesticides and plumbing are only some of the many energy consuming and carbon dioxide releasing resources used in landscapes.

Chapter Three provides model of sustainability. Sustainability is reached when a landscape produces more oxygen than carbon dioxide. Conservation and biomass generation are the actions needed to reach sustainability. The goal is to create beautiful, bountiful landscapes at the lowest possible costs. The design and maintenance characteristics that lend themselves to this goal are described in this chapter.

And lastly, the impact you and your landscape has on the atmosphere is revealed in Chapter 4. Theory takes the leap to action in this chapter and the nitty-gritty details of sustainability are provided. Prepare to roll-up your sleeves.

'A New Era of Gardening' is a no-nonsense book. It doesn't get political, and it doesn't attack. It is about gardening for oxygen.

Over the last 150 years the level of carbon dioxide has leaped by 25%. Unfortunately, the global mean temperature mimics this rise. There has never been a better time, or a greater need to start gardening for oxygen. Urban and suburban landscapes should be good for the atmosphere, greenbelts maintained by the public should be sustainable, and our personal escapes, the home garden, should be, and can be a haven against atmospheric and environmental ailments. Read 'A New Era of Gardening,' then go into your garden and take action, action aimed at keeping our atmosphere in its present, comfortable state of existence.

Gardening & Horticulture Books

• Subjects > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Horticulture