Healthy Skepticism for a Healthy Garden – Win A Free Copy of The Informed Gardener!

“ Why , yes , I do have a confessional in my office , ” Dr. Linda Chalker - Scott replied . I was call her to seek remittal for my horticultural transgression .

“ It has paisley curtains , ” she continued .

I just terminate reading her book , The Informed Gardener(University of Washington Press , 2008 ) . In this magisterially written , painfully needed dose of science and disbelief , Chalker - Scott disclose the truth behind many of the affectionately held myths surrounding gardening practices and products .

I worried : Would she pardon age of advising client to “ throw a footling os meal in the backfill . Helps the roots get started ” ? What about telling client to tip - prune transplants “ to keep the rootage and foliage in residual ” ?

Hogwash ! Clearly , I was guilty of unconsciously passing along what one of Chalker - Scott ’s workfellow calls “ faith - base horticulture . ”

Chalker - Scottdidn’t set out to be a matador , hell - bent on gore gardening ’s sacred kine . Her first two degree put her on a firm course toward a career in marine biological science . In the 1980s , deciding alternatively to chase her passion for gardening , she complete her doctorate in ornamental horticulture at Oregon State University , focalize on the stresses pretend landscape plants in urban surroundings .

TheInformed Gardenerbegan as a serial publication of columns written for horticultural professionals , just one of Chalker - Scott ’s responsibilities as Extension Urban Horticulturist at Puyallup Research and Extension Center , Washington State University . The articles were eventually published on - line , attracting interested gardeners outside the state . The next ordered gradation wasThe Informed Gardener , followed in 2010 byThe Informed Gardener Blooms Again .

I sleep together I had to have this book the moment I cracked the natural covering , dash to the table of contents , and beheld her tilt of myths . Plopping down on the carpet of my topically have independent book store ( Okay , you dragged it out of me — it’sChaucer ’s Booksin Santa Barbara and I want to get married them . ) and skimmed through the 212 - Sir Frederick Handley Page soft - cover book , admire the delicate botanical illustration grace its covering .

At the center of this leger is Chalker - Scott ’s deep - seated belief in taking a low - shock , sustainable approach to gardens ; that gardening is not an adversarial contest , won only by armed combat with artillery of mass destruction . Among the 44 articles and sidebars , more than a few jabbed my conscience , recalling my innocent , under - inform days in retail baby’s room sale . Other articles were a pat on the head : I really do know something about plants and gardens . Each clause surveil the same brilliantly simple format : The Myth , The realism , The Bottom Line , and References , citing the peer - reexamine research support the author ’s conclusions . A few outdoor stage - outs :

Other mythical beliefs admit the want for drainage materials in containers ( just the opposite ) , the “ necessity ” of land amendments ( make unnecessary your money ) , the welfare of paper - based sheet mulching ( I suggested this to a guest a week before get hold the Word of God ) , and a boniface of “ miracle in a travelling bag / bottle / box ” ( no mention of aluminum enhancer pyramid lid ) .

Given her less - than - glowing judgment of many products we play on garden center shelves and in magazine ads , it ’s surprising that Chalker - Scott has only been threaten with one manufacturer ’s lawsuit . “ I showed them the science ” she says , “ and they die forth . ”

“ My intention is not to sharpen fingers but to recruit consciousness about a number of misconception regarding the direction of landscapes overshadow by woody plant , trees and shrubs . ”

Linda is a realist , as evidence by the Roundup safely stored in her service department . “ I use it infrequently , and I use it correctly , ” she pronounce , recently using it in her battle with a neighbor ’s run bamboo . Her scientific approach shot told her that heady enjoyment of a chemical herbicide would have less prospicient - term impact on the garden , since “ spraying is easy on the grease structure than rip up plants , harming the ploughland of the ground , and commove the wellness of the territory organisms that benefit the garden . ”

I wo n’t be visiting that paisley - curtained cubicle in Linda Chalker - Scott ’s office after all . Having read this must - have addition to my horticulture depository library , I ’m affirmative I ’ve done more good than hurt , and I wo n’t be pass eternity in Gardener ’s Inferno — that place where your trimmer are thudding , your rose always have mold , and your neighbor ’s chain saw shocks you from dreamland every morning at four .

A couple of parting gems from Linda : “ Do n’t expect too much too before long — instant gratification can lead to instantaneous demise . ” And “ A plant is a aliveness being , so do it right or it wo n’t stick around . ”

partake your own myth for a chance to win a copy ofThe Informed Gardener

To record the drawing , register for this site ( or lumber in , if you are already a member ) and post a comment deal a gardening myth you eventually set up was not rightful . What was the source of your enlightenment ?

One favorable succeeder will meet a transcript of this book . Your comment must be posted by midnight ( EDT ) , Wednesday , August 31 . The victor will be announced in my first September blog .

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Linda Chalker-Scott

Fine Gardening contributing editor Linda Chalker Scott

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