We are the ark : returning our gardens to their true nature with acts of restorative kindness

We are the ark Returning our gardens to their true nature with acts of restorative kindness

Mary Reynolds

Book - 2022

"We Are the Ark asks readers to have a sweeping change of vision for our relationship with our gardens. To inspire people to look at what we can do for the earth and all her kin, rather than seeing our patches of the planet as 'outdoor rooms' for our pleasure or 'blank pallets' for our creative visions. To Ark their land and restore a network of native plants instead of 'low maintenance' burdens. It aspires to get all schools on board. From the smallest children up to university level. To inspire them to give their unused land and corners here and there back to nature. To get local governments and commercial and corporate landowners onboard to return unused 'maintained' land back to its true natu...re, to support life. Ultimately, We Are the Ark asks people to build a patchwork quilt of healed land and water that will wrap its way around the globe and to reform the world of gardening into a network of nature sanctuaries. In a matter of a few short years this will reach a critical mass that will shift the consciousness of the rest of our planet's humans, giving us a real shot at restoring the earth back to health and harmony"--

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Subjects
Sustainable agriculture.
Sustainable horticulture.
Endemic plants.
Environmentalism.
Green movement.
Restoration ecology.
Published
Portland, Oregon : Timber Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Mary Reynolds (author)
Other Authors
Ruth Evans (illustrator)
Physical Description
275 pages : color illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 260-265) and index.
ISBN
9781643261782
  • Preface: What This Book Is About
  • ARKs and the Great Remembering
  • Birth of We Are the ARK
  • The Garden Industry and the Great Forgetting
  • Guardians, Not Gardeners
  • The Science Bit and ARKing Aims
  • Our Shifting Baseline
  • Three Basic Laws of Ecology
  • Seeds of Restoration
  • How ARKing Differs from Large-Scale Rewilding
  • ARKing Aims
  • ARK Design and First Steps
  • First Steps in Building Your ARK
  • Landscape ARKitecture for Different Parts of Our Shared Planet
  • The Plants That Build an ARK
  • Why Native Plants?
  • The Plant Layers of an ARK
  • Developing a Diverse ARK Ecosystem
  • Sowing or Restoring an ARK Lawn or Meadow
  • Creating a Woodland System
  • Extra Layers of Creature Support
  • Embrace the Mess!
  • Water Homes
  • Bird and Bat Supports
  • Minding the Tiny and Invisible Kingdoms
  • Reversing Insectageddon
  • The Kingdoms Beneath Our Feet
  • Grow Your Own Food!
  • The Nutty Food System
  • Change from the Ground Up
  • Feed the Soil, Feed Your Body
  • Practices for Food Self-Sufficiency
  • Share and Create a Community
  • Wider ARKevism
  • ARKs on School, Public, and Commercial Lands
  • Political ARKevism
  • Conclusion: Reimagining Living in Harmony
  • Appendix: Getting Started
  • References and Resources
  • Acknowledgments
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

Irish gardening activist Reynolds, who in her twenties took gold at the 2002 Chelsea Flower Show (recounted in the biopic Dare to Be Wild), dares to advocate "Acts of Restorative Kindness," or ARKs--interconnecting often-modest patches of biodiversity--in a world where monocultural farming, deforestation, pesticide abuse, and the widespread introduction of nonnative plants, among other worst practices, threaten to upend Earth's delicate ecosystem. Native-plant gardening has many boosters, but Reynolds and illustrator Ruth Evans package their advocacy in an especially coherent, homeowner-friendly way, deftly outlining the problem, suggesting what barriers to alter or remove (hardscape, nonnative plants, pets) in prepping a garden, and recommending home habitats that offer the most biodiversity, especially in bolstering all-important insect populations. Certainly there will be better books on the subject to follow, but this is a serviceable introduction for the home gardener.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this impassioned plea to restore native ecosystems, landscape designer Reynolds (The Garden Awakening) sets out to recruit green "warriors" to build ARKs, or "Acts of Restorative Kindness," on their land. Reynolds sees monocultural lawns as "a symbol of disconnection from and suppression of our wild nature," and suggests that many of the best-intentioned gardens are actually "green deserts" filled with nonnative plants that "monopolize the attention of pollinators" and "sever the food web." Those looking to turn their gardens into ARKs should overcome "the shame of having a messy garden"; abstain from using fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides; cut back on concrete usage in lanscaping so as to "let the earth breathe as much as possible"; and plant native flora. Reynolds emphasizes the importance of having a variety of plants (seeds, trees, and weeds all play a role in a healthy ecosystem), and fostering "different layers of ecosystem maturity" (including short grass, long grass, and scrubs). New gardeners might have a hard time getting on board with ideas such as ditching all nonnative plants, but for those passionate about having their backyards be "part of the solution," Reynolds's message will ring loud and clear. Gardeners intrigued by rewilding practices will find this worth a look. (Oct.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

In this non-gardening garden book, Irish author Reynolds (The Garden Awakening) advocates for returning cultivated spaces to nature. She wants people to become guardians rather than gardeners in her global movement to restore habitat to what it once was and should still be. She launched ARK, which stands for acts of restorative kindness, and it is a loose, international organization that preaches the gospel of restoring the Earth one small patch at a time. Evans's gloriously fanciful illustrations are a major part of the text, serving to inspire all to "rewild" their manicured plots, no matter the size. Removing non-native plants, eliminating all chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and making space and providing water for the creatures that used to abound is merely the start. While this seems most appropriate for rural spaces rather than urban or suburban gardens, there are suggestions for plots as small as window boxes. The persuasive text is followed by an appendix that gives step-by-step plans, extensive references, and a bibliography. VERDICT This may not be the handbook that many gardeners crave, but it is inspirational for all.--Danise Hoover

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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