Edited by Robert E. Grese
Published by University of Massachusetts Press in association with LALH
The inaugural volume in a new series, Critical Studies in the History of Environmental Design
Paper $29.95
November 2011
To order: University of Massachusetts Press,
tel. 800-537-5487, fax 410-516-6998
In this volume Robert E. Grese gathers together
writings on nature-based landscape design and
conservation by some of the country’s most significant practitioners, horticulturists, botanists,
and conservationists of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. Written with a strong
conservation ethic, these essays often originally
appeared in obscure, short-lived publications and
are difficult to locate today, comprising a rich but
hidden literature.
Over many years of pioneering research into the
work of Jens Jensen, O. C. Simonds, and other early landscape architects who advocated for the use of native plants and conservation, Grese encountered and began collecting these pieces. With this volume, he offers readers his trove. Purposely avoiding literature that is widely available, Grese shares as well his experience of discovery. His introduction provides perspective on the context of these writings and the principles they espouse, and his conclusion illuminates their relevance today with the emerging emphasis on sustainable design. This collection will appeal to general readers interested in the issues of sustainability, horticulture and gardening, and
landscape design and preservation, as well as to
historians, practitioners, and specialists.
Robert E. Grese is professor of landscape architecture at the University of Michigan and author of Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens. Grese is featured as the 2010 LALH preservation hero.
“The relevance of these writings to the current
issues of biodiversity, native plants, and
sustainability cannot be overemphasized. . . . This extensive collection is a valuable addition to landscape scholarship and practice.”
—Robert L. Ryan, coauthor of With People in Mind: Design and Management of Everyday Nature
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