New Book Helps You Shape Your Backyard Environment

Would you like to see more natural beauty and less manicured lawn surrounding your home? A new book co-authored by a Penn State forest expert can help you rebuild your backyard environment.

The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home is a 138-page combined book and workbook written specifically for people who live on one to 10 acres of land that is forested or that has natural unmowed areas, and for those who want to turn a mowed area into a natural one.

“Since assistance from public forest managers is not available in most states to people in this situation, our book will be an especially important resource,” says Jim Finley, professor of forest resources and state extension forester.

According to Finley, about two-thirds of forest landowners in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast region own 10 or fewer acres. “The Woods in Your Backyard promotes the stewardship of small parcels of land for personal enjoyment of the owners or society,” he says. “Improving water and air quality, enhancing wildlife habitats and overall health of natural areas, and spending less time mowing the lawn and more time enjoying outdoor activities are just some of the benefits to be gained by learning how to manage and shape your backyard parcel of land.”

The coil-bound book is divided into five sections, each including a series of lessons, with corresponding activities in the workbook section. Enhanced by 91 color photos, eight tables, three case studies, worksheets, and much more, the text guides the reader through a series of steps that can result in an enriched, well-managed outdoor environment.

Topics include mapping the land; assessing the family’s interests in the land; inventorying the property; learning the basics of tree identification, forestry, and wildlife habitat management; understanding how your land relates to the land around you; ecological principles of forestry, succession, water resources, natural areas, and wildlife; assessing and improving the property’s water resources,recreational possibilities, and aesthetic appeal; choosing a few land-management projects to meet personal goals; and setting a timetable and marking progress.

“By explaining basic principles and procedures for a variety of land-management techniques, this book will help you understand why letting nature take its course may not be the best approach to meeting your goals,” Finley explains. “You will learn how your intervention can help create a healthy, environmentally friendly backyard living area you and your family can enjoy for years to come.”

The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home was published by the Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service. In addition to Finley, authors are Jonathan Kays, regional extension specialist in natural resources for Maryland Cooperative Extension, Joy Drohan, freelance environmental science writer/editor, and Adam Downing, extension agent specializing in forestry and natural resources for Virginia Cooperative Extension.

The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home ($18 plus $4.25 shipping and handling within the continental United States) can be obtained by contacting Regional Agricultural Engineering Service, P.O. Box 4557, Ithaca, N.Y. 14852 (make checks payable to NRAES); by phoning 607-255-7654 (all major credit cards accepted); or by sending e-mail to nraes@cornell.edu.

—Jeff Mulhollem