Jul 6, 2020
This week I’m speaking to Professor Doug Tallamy, author of amongst other things, the internationally influential wildlife gardening books Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope. Prof. Tallamy calls for an urgent rethink of gardening methods and backs up these calls with an illustrious career's worth of research, facts and figures This interview is a must-listen for wildlife gardeners everywhere!
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Rosemary Leaf Beetle
About Prof. Douglas W. Tallamy:
“Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 95 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 40 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers' Association. The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. Doug's new book 'Nature's Best Hope' was published by Timber Press in February 2020. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence, the 2018 AHS B.Y. Morrison Communication Award and the 2019 Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award.” - http://www.bringingnaturehome.net
What We Discuss:
The problem with thinking that nature is somewhere else, that it’s outside our garden fences
The most compelling reasons to choose natives over non-native plants in gardens
Carrying capacity and why it’s important to humans
The problem with losing species that have evolved as specialist feeders
Are our native trees disease prone and do non-natives provide us with a healthier alternative?
Key research that needs to be done and what people can do in order for us to keep moving in the right direction
Links:
Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy - Timber Press, 2020
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