Appendix - From Wasteland to Wonder by Basil Camu

I’ll start with my one and only shameless plug: We share additional how-to and educational videos from Leaf & Limb and Project Pando on our YouTube channel and in our eduction-only monthly newsletter. Check them out and subscribe to one or both to receive new content in the future.

Aside from the statement above, I have no financial interest or gains to be made of any kind from the recommendations in this Appendix. These are also not official recommendations from Leaf & Limb or Project Pando. They are my own and I’m sharing them purely because I have found them to be interesting, enjoyable, and/or helpful.

This list is not comprehensive and many of the authors below have written other books that are worth reading. I also know there are many great books, experts, and resources I have forgotten. I will continue to expand this list. If you have something you recommend, please let me know by sending a note to wonder@leaflimb.com - thanks!

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Before I dive into my recommendations, let me give particular emphasis to one other book for those who are interested in real, tangible paths toward healing Earth and solving major issues like global warming in a reasonable amount of time: Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken

Drawdown is an essential read and one of the most important books written in the past 50 years. I highly and strongly recommend it. Here are my other recommendations:

Non-technical reading recommendations:

• Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation by Paul Hawken
• Nature’s Best Hope and Nature of Oaks by Douglas W Tallamy
• Water in Plain Sight, Reindeer Chronicles, and Cows Can Save the Planet by Judith Schwartz
• Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
• The Overstory by Richard Powers
• Dirt, the Erosion of Civilizations and Growing a Revolution by David R Montgomery
• Eager Beavers Matter by Ben Goldfarb
• Climate - A New Story by Charles Eisenstein
• Half Earth by EO Wilson
• The Song of Trees by David Haskell
• The Forest Unseen by David Haskell
• Urban Forest by Jill Jones
• Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• What a Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz
• The Nature of Oaks by Douglas W Tallamy
  • NOTE: The list of various oak species and their traits in the back of this book is an excellent resource
• Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
• Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
• On Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
• Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Whollben
• The Myth of Progress by Tom Wessels
• Reading the Forested Landscape by Tom Wessels
• Mycelium Running by Paul Stammets
• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
• Wizard and Prophet by Charles Mann
• This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollen
• The Insect Crisis by Oliver Miliman
• Cycles of Life by Vaclav Smil
• Harvesting the Biosphere by Vaclav Smil
• Gaia by James Lovelock
• Rescuing the Planet by Tony Hiss
• The Once and Future World by J.B. MacKinnon
• Rebugging the Planet by Vicki Hird
• Forgotten Grasslands of the South: Natural History and Conservation 2nd Edition by Reed F. Noss
• Beyond the War on Invasive Species by Tao Orion
• The Biosphere by Vladimir Vernadsky
• Wild New World by Dan Flores
• These Trees Tell a Story by Noah Charney
• To Speak for the Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
• The Way by Edward Goldsmith
• The Web of Life by Fritjof Capra
• The Universe Story by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry
• A New Garden Ethic by Benjamin Vogt
• A New Voyage to Carolina by John Lawson
• Travels of William Bertram by William Bertram

Technical reading recommendations:

• Teeming with Microbes, Teeming with Fungi, Teeming with Nutrients, and Teeming with Bacteria by Jeff Lowenfels
• One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukoka
• Mycorrhizal Planet by Michael Phillips
• Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West
• Modern Arboriculture by Alex Shigo
• Garden Revolution by Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher
• Sowing Beauty by James Hitchmough
  • NOTE: This book contains detailed information about creating custom seed blends for meadows that is helpful
• Applied Tree Biology by Andrew Hirons, Peter A. Thomas
• Abiotic Disorders of Landscape Plants: A Diagnostic Guide by Laurence Costello
• Wood Decay Fungi Common to the Northeast and Central United States, 2nd Edition by Christopher J. Luley
  • NOTE: This book can be hard to find but is readily available through the International Society of Arboriculture
• Planting Noah’s Garden by Sara Bonnett Stein
• Mid-Atlantic Native Meadows by Xerces Society
• Mini Forest Revolution by Hannah Lewis
• A Tree Care Primer by by Chris Roddick and Katherine Dana
• Preventing Deer Damage by Robert Juhre
• Reducing Deer Damage in Landscapes by NC Cooperative Extension
• Growing Trees from Seed: A Practical Guide to Growing Native Trees, Vines and Shrubs by Henry Kock
• The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From Seed to Tissue Culture, Second Edition by Michael Dirr
• Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing, and Propagating North American Woody Plants by William Cullinan
• Native Plant Propagation by Jan Midgley
  • NOTE: This one is tricky to purchase. You must email Jan at midgleyjan231@gmail.com
  • Then send payment to: Jan Midgley, 10560 W. Center Ave. , Lakewood, CO 80226
  • For a single copy mail a check for $25 to address above and Jan promptly sends the material. Cost includes the book and shipping.
• Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning, 3rd Edition by Cass Turnbull
• An Illustrated Guide to Pruning, 3rd Edition by Ed Gilman
• The Gardener’s Guide to to Prairie Plants by Neil Diboll & Hilary Cox
• The Xerces Society Guide: Farming with Native Beneficial Insects
• Attracting Native Pollinators by Xerces Society
• Weeds: Control Without Poisons by Charles Walters Jr.
• Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard
• The Ecological Farm by Helen Atthowe
• The Maya Forest Garden by Anabel Ford and Ronald Nigh
• Tending the Wild by Kat Anderson
• Life of a Leaf by Steven Vogel
• The Regenerative Grower’s Guide to Garden Amendments by Nigel Palmer
• The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden by Doug Tallamy and Rick Darke
  • NOTE: The native plant recommendation lists in this book are excellent
• The Body Language of Trees by Claus Mattheck
• Native Meadowscaping by Indigenous Landscapes (Solomon Gamboa)
• USDA Woody Plant Seed manual from 2008
• Prairie Up by Benjamin Vogt
• Up by Roots by James Urban
• Weeds of the South by Charles T. Bryson and Michael S. DeFelice
• Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier
• The Rodale Book of Composting by Grace Gershuny and Deborah Martin
• The Woodchip Handbook by Ben Raskin
• Routledge Handbook of Urban Forestry by Francesco Ferrini, Cecil C. Konijnendijk van den Bosch, Alessio Fini
• Oak Seed Dispersal by Michael A. Steele
• Tree Risk Assessment Manual, Second Edition by Julian A. Dunster, E. Thomas Smiley, Nelda Matheny, and Sharon Lilly
• Holistic Management, Third Edition by Allan Savor
• Arboriculture: Integrated Management of Landscape Trees, Shrubs, and Vines 4th edition by Richard W. Harris
• Tree Biology Notebook, Revised Edition by Richard C. Murray

Reading recommendations pertaining to changing the status quo:

• The Responsible Company by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley
• Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Thinking in Systems by Donnella Meadows
• The Starfish and The Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom
• Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
• Give People Money by Annie Lowrey
• Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas
• New Climate Wars by Michael Mann
• Breaking Through Gridlock by Gabriel Grant and Jason Jay
• We’re All Climate Hypocrites Now by Sami Grover
• One from Many by Dee Hock
• Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux
• Teeming: How Nature’s Oldest Teams Adapt and Thrive by Tamsin Woolley-Barker
• The Uncontrollability of the World by Hartmut Rosa
• Nudge by Cass Sunstein
• Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley
• The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
• The Green Belt Movement by Wangari Maathai
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Plant and ecological databases and lists:

• The National Wildlife Federation native plant database
• Audubon Society Native Plant Finder
• Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder Tool
• Native Plant Trust from Go Botany
• Southeastern Flora
• Pollinator-friendly native plant lists from Xerces
• The Biota of North America Program
• Classification of the Natural Communities of North Carolina
• Alan Weakly & UNC Botanical Garden Flora of the Southeast
• Keystone Plants for Birds in NC courtesy of New Hope Audubon
• NCSU Plant Finder
• NC Native Plant Society recommended native species
• Bplant.org
• The Biota of North America Program

General online resources and experts:

(please note that some of these are from non-profits and authors that give away their work for free - please support them if you are able)

• Homegrown National Park - an initiative from Doug Tallamy and his talented colleagues aimed at planting 20 million acres of native plants in suburban spaces in the U.S.
• Anything from Xerces Society - they offer a litany of free, very informative ebooks and publications about all sorts of important topics
• Acres USA - the industry organization and publisher for all things regenerative agriculture. I have learned so much from their magazines, events, and books
• Edible Acres - one of my favorite YouTube channels. Sean’s work has helped us tremendously at Project Pando
• Trees from Seed on Facebook
• NASA Global Climate Change
• Science of Doom - my favorite blog for all things related to climate science
• Skeptical Science blog
• American Forests is doing amazing work in regards to tree equity
  • Check out their Tree Equity Score tool
• Walter Jehne - Australian microbiologist and climatologist
  • Here is one of his best lectures
• Didi Pershouse - author, educator, and soil sponge strategist
• John Liu - Ecologist, famous filmmaker, founder of Ecosystem Restoration Camps
  • His documentary Hope in a Changing Climate about the Loess Plateau
  • The Lesson of Loess Plateau teaches exactly that
  • A link to his various papers, presentations, and films
• James White (my favorite rhizophagy expert) - here is a good presentation
• Articles, how-to guides, and podcast from A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach
• Courses, videos, and podcast from Joe Gardener by Joe Lamp’l
• The monthly newsletter from Rebecca McMackin
• Water Stories is a learning, training, and action platform focused entirely on Water Cycle restoration
• Wild Ones
• Pollinator Partnership
• SUGi collaborates with a global network of forest makers by planting pocket forests using the Miyawaki method
• Work from Dr Kim Coder
• Rodale Institute - another powerhouse for regenerative agriculture
  • They have many great compost guides, like this one
• Free courses about trees, structural pruning, soil, and more from Ed Gilman and University of Florida - incredible, informative content for free
• Product catalog and various articles from Roundstone Seeds, Prairie Nursery, Ernst Seeds are both highly informative, such as:
  • Six Basic Elements for a Successful Native Grass and Forb Establishment by Roundstone Seeds
  • Five Steps to Successful Prairie Establishment and Establishing a Prairie from Seed by Prairie Nursery
  • A bunch of helpful articles from Ernst Seeds
• Southeastern Grasslands Initiative
• Aside from his books, Benjamin Vogt offers a variety of great classes and resources related to prairies
• Jimi Sol makes great videos about many topics (and related topics) in this book
• Mt Cuba Center is doing all sorts of amazing experiments and research related to native meadows, high density plantings, and so much more
• Dr. Elaine Ingham - she is one of the top experts on all things soil.
  • She also has a robust YouTube channel with many great videos
• Troy Hinke - he is a composting expert and consultant that I highly recommend
  • Check out his podcast “What’s Brewing? A Compost Podcast”
• My favorite soil microbiology testing centers/experts are:
  • Foothill Biological
  • Earthfort
  • Red Mountain Soil Ecology
  • Rhizos
• A soil temperature tool, courtesy of Syngenta (I hesitate to recommend this given that it’s Syngenta, but the soil temperature feature is useful)
• I really enjoy the documentary Symphony of the Soil!
• Richard Perkins has amazing videos and resources regarding regenerative agriculture and permaculture

Resources to help with plant ID:

• iNaturalist - an amazing app to help with plant ID. It works great for mushrooms, insects, and sorts of other life as well!
• Google Lens - ditto for above, but not as good
• PictureThis - my second favorite plant ID app
• Mistaken Identity - Invasive Plants and their Native Look Alikes
• Winter Tree Identification by Donald L. Hagan, Crystal Strickland and Hailey Malone
• Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast by Laura Cotterman, Damon Waitt, Alan Weakley
• Manual of the Grasses of the United States by A. S. Hitchcock
• National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America by by Bruce Kershner
• Eastern Trees (Peterson Field Guide) by George A. Petrides and Janet Wehr
• Wild Flowers of North Carolina by William S. Justice, C. Ritchie Bell, Anne H. Lindsey
• Wildflower Search Online Database
• Trees of the Southeast United States by Wilbur H. Duncan and Marion B. Duncan
• Native Plants of the Southeast by Larry Mellichamp
• Grasses, Sedges, Rushes: An Identification Guide by Lauren Brown and Ted Elliman
• Native Trees of the Southeast by Katherine Kirkman
• Grasses: An Identification Guide by Lauren Brown
• Common Forest Trees of NC
• Trees of the Carolinas Field Guide by Stan Tekiela
• Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the United States By Edward Knobel
• The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers - Eastern Region

Some great podcasts related to these topics:

• A Way to Garden
• The Joe Gardener Show
• YourForest
• Nature Revisited
• Emergence Magazine Podcast
• Jumpstart Nature
• Nature’s Archive
• The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast
• Regenerative Agriculture Podcast by John Kempf
• The Poor Prole’s Almanac Podcast
• Tractor Time (from Acres USA)
• Locals Share Green Action (from GoGreenLocally)
• Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature
• Bird Hugger
• Bug Banter (from Xerces Society)
• Climate Connections (from the Yale Center for Environmental Communication)
• Climate Rising (from Harvard Business School)
• Completely Arbortrary
• Cultivating Place
• Earth To Humans
• Earth Wise
• Growing Greener
• In Defense of Plants
• Let’s Argue About Plants (from Fine Gardening)
• Mother Earth News and Friends
• Native Plants, Healthy Planet
• Nature Guys
• Nerdy About Nature
• Planet Visionaries (from the Washington Post)
• Redefining Conservation (from Sierra Club Maine)
• The Forest Garden
• The Native Plant Podcast
• The No-Till Flowers Podcast
• Think: Sustainability
• This Green Earth
• Wild in the City

Helpful tools and supplies:

• Sunseeker - my favorite app for tracking sun position throughout the year to help determine sun exposure on a site
• Purdue Plant Doctor - a handy site to help ID various pests
• EcoBlend - my favorite natural herbicide made with soybean oil and other natural ingredients
• Bat Houses and all things related to bats from Bat Conservation & Mgmt
• The best, most responsibly made mosquito spray from Murphy’s Naturals
• My favorite loupe for a reasonable price
• My favorite binoculars for a reasonable price
• Bag-A-Nut seed collection tools
• The Uhlik Repeater - the best rat trap should you need it
• Vermicomposting tools, supplies, and so forth from Urban Worm Company
• Felco bypass pruners are world class
• Silky Saws are also world class!
• For loppers, I prefer the options from Stihl
• Roundstone Seeds - my favorite overall seed vendor
• My other favorite seed vendors are:
  • Ernst Seeds
  • Garrett Seeds
  • Prairie Moon Nursery
• If you need a specific seed, consider Jelitto out of Germany. They have a collection of virtually every seed in the world. But they are very expensive.
• Soil temperatures in NC
• Here is a spreadsheet to help with creating custom seed mixes, courtesy of Xerces Society
• A list of native nurseries in the Southeast, compliments of North Carolina Botanical Gardens

Noteworthy organizations and experts local to Raleigh and surrounding cities:

• NC Botanical Gardens
  • They have many excellent resources for gardening with native plants
  • And for removing invasive plants as well!
• JC Raulston Arboretum
• Sarah P Duke Gardens
• Duke Campus Farm
• Carolina Community Garden
• Prairie Ridge Ecostation - they have an incredible collection of native trees!
• NC Audubon Society - join a local chapter!
• NC Invasive Plant Council
• NC Native Plant Society - join a local chapter! (I’m part of the Reid Chapter)
• NC Wildlife Federation - their newsletter the Butterfly Highway is a must read!
• NC Sierra Club
• North Carolina Heritage Program - they ensure public access to information that is needed to weigh the ecological significance of natural areas and to evaluate potential ecological impacts of conservation and development projects.
• Pollinator Friendly Alliance
• Durham Bee City Committee
• The Great Southeast Pollinator Census
• Carolina Vegetation Survey
• NC Native Plant Forum on Facebook
• Local Garden Clubs
• Earthseed Land Collective
• Preserve Rural Durham
• Durham Community Land Trust
• The Great Raleigh Cleanup
• Piedmont Naturalists on Meetup
  • Speaking of which, Von (the group organizer) created this resource with some local designers and native plant nurseries - I am not familiar with all of these but I know that generally Von knows her stuff when it comes to native ecology (she has been an active Project Pando volunteer for many years)
• Local non-profits doing work pertaining to this book:
  • Keep Durham Beautiful
  • We Plant if Forward
  • Triangle Land Conservancy
  • Cary Tree Archive
  • Trees for the Triangle
  • North Carolina Urban Forest Council
  • Eno River Association
  • Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association
  • Lands & Waters South
  • Extra Terrestrial Projects
  • Toxic Free NC
  • Toward Zero Waste
  • Haw River Assembly
  • Croatan Institute
  • Rewild Earth
  • The Umstead Coalition
  • Friends of Bolin Creek
• Preston Montague - A talented educator, landscape architect, and artist who has a deep appreciation and understanding for all things related to native plants.
• Local designers:
  • Dale Batchelor with Gardener by Nature
  • Matthew Arnsberger of Piedmont Environmental Landscaping & Design
  • Deep Roots Natives
• Local native plant nurseries:
  • Mellow Marsh Farm - they sell amazing native saplings, live stakes, etc.
  • Field to Cottage Nursery
  • Rachel’s Natives
  • Deep Roots Natives
  • Flowering Earth Natives
  • Dutch Buffalo Farm
• Compost products and services:
  • Compost collection in Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill: CompostNow
  • Compost collection in Hillsborough: Living Soil
  • Raleigh Yard Waste - they offer excellent, cheap leaf mold and leaf compost
  • NewSoil Vermiculture
  • Brooks Compost
  • Atlas Organics

Last but not least:

Buy from B-Corps! These are good companies doing good things (we are a B-Corp as well). Here is a list of all the B-Corps in North Carolina, courtesy of Southern Energy Management. Here is the national B-Corp directory.