Brief Reviews of Three Books

Invasive Plants: Guide to Identification and the Impacts and Control of Common North American Species – Second Edition by Sylvan Kaufman and Wallace Kaufman (Stackpole Books, Pennsylvania, 2013) is available online for about $30. The book is well written and provides excellent information on both the identification and control of about 175 invasive plants in North America, including Pacific Northwest headaches — Scotch Broom, Norway Maple, English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, Garlic Mustard, Reed Canarygrass, and others. The authors’ expertise and experience are clearly evident, and I will definitely put this book to use in my own forest restoration efforts.

How to Eradicate Invasive Plants by Teri Dunn Chace (Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2013) has two parts. The first provides a broad review of the impacts of invasive plants in the United States and methods to control them. The second is a compendium of 200 common invasive plants in North America, with specific details on how to identify and control them, both with and without herbicides. This book is no longer in print, but I was able to purchase a used copy for about $30. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it that useful, particularly for backyard forest restoration in the Pacific Northwest.

In Nature’s Best Hope (Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2020) author Douglas Tallamy hopes to inspire all Americans to restore native plants to at least half of their yards, creating in effect a twenty-million-acre “homegrown national park” that could save our major ecosystems. A Professor at the University of Delaware, Tallamy is an expert in entomology and wildlife ecology. Especially for the person just getting started in forest restoration, I think this book provides an excellent overview of the history and science of restoration ecology, and why it is important. Tallamy provides many interesting facts and insights, particularly about the important role of insects in the ecosystem, and why insects depend on native plants.