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Healthy Soils for Sustainable Gardens

Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guides

Soil Resources

Use the links below to find these recommended resources for sale at shop.bbg.org or on Amazon.com.

GENERAL SOIL SCIENCE

The Nature and Properties of Soils
Nyle C. Brady and Ray R. Weil
Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Site
soils.usda.gov

SOIL ANALYSIS

Alternative Soil-Testing Labs
(organic fertilizer recommendations, soil food web evaluations, and more) attra.org/attra-pub/soil-lab.html

COMPOSTING

Urban Composting
bbg.org/composting

Cornell University Composting
compost.css.cornell.edu/Composting_Homepage.html

URBAN SOILS

Urban Soils: Applications and Practices
Philip J. Craul John Wiley & Sons, 1999

USDA NRCS Urban Soils Site (see especially Urban Soil Primer)
soils.usda.gov/use/urban/

ORGANIC SOIL CARE

Improving the Soil
Erin Hynes Rodale Press, 1994

Start with the Soil
Grace Gershuny Rodale Press, 1993

SOIL CONSERVATION

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
David R. Montgomery University of California Press, 2007

Great Lakes Worm Watch (forest ecology and worms)
www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/

The Soil and Water Conservation Society
www.swcs.org

SOIL ECOLOGY FOR GARDENERS

BLM National Science and Technology Center (soil biological communities) www.blm.gov/nstc/soil/

Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners
James B. Nardi University of Chicago Press, 2007

Soil Foodweb, Inc soilfoodweb.com

Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web
Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis Timber Press, 2006

USDA NRCS Soil Biology Primer
soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/biology.html

NO-TILL GARDENING

Organic Gardening: The Natural No-Dig Way
Charles Dowding Green Books, 2007

MATCHING PLANTS TO SOIL/SITE CONDITIONS

Perfect Plant, Perfect Place
Roy Lancaster DK Publishing, 2002

Right Plant, Right Place
Nicola Ferguson Fireside, 2005

Trees in the Urban Landscape: Site Assessment, Design, and Installation Peter J. Trowbridge and Nina L. Bassuk John Wiley & Sons, 2004

BBG BOOKS ON RELATED TOPICS

Easy Compost, 2001
Natural Disease Control, 2000
Natural Insect Control, 1994

To read excerpts from these and other titles, visit bbg.org/handbooks.
To order books, go to shop.bbg.org or call 718-623-7286.