A step-by-step guide for the green gardener

You have butterflies here, native flowers there, water-conserving plants in the front yard, a compost pile in the back. But do all your eco-gardening projects work together?

For those longing for more coherence and, well, style, “The Naturescaping Workbook” (Timber Press) offers an intriguing alternative to the usual scattershot approach: one comprehensive plan that takes aesthetics, water, soil, wildlife and chemical runoff into account.

“When all the plans and changes are made at once, you’re not just filling in the blanks, you’re creating spaces,” says author Beth O’Donnell Young. “There’s a chapter on design skills: proportion and scale and balance. And to design with those ideas in your head will make a much better outdoor environment where you really want to hang out.”

• Maps

• Corvallis, OR, USA

We talked to her about her approach; following is an edited transcript.

Q: I loved that you take views into account when designing a landscape: the mountain or field that can be seen from your garden.

A: It’s the Japanese feeling of “borrowed landscape.” If you don’t take into consideration the properties beyond your own, you’re losing out on a lot of beauty. Also, reversely, to forget that there’s an ugly wall that’s reflecting too much sunlight — to not take into consideration something like that … is a serious mistake.

Q: Naturescaping as you describe it is a big project. How do I start?

A: Just like anything good it’s done organically: slowly and at your own pace and at your own capability. So the first step is just going out and observing nearby nature. These are just walks to take. Just see what’s going on out there.

Q: Is putting together a detailed design plan a realistic goal?

A: These are things that people can do. I created and taught the class that the book is based on, and my students are able to do this. They’re not artists and designers, but they can do this. By Chapter 6, they want to do this. They’re ready to take what they’ve learned to a big sheet of paper. Measuring their site — that’s not difficult. Putting it into a plan — that’s not difficult. It’s just one step after another, and eventually you go, “Wow! I actually designed this.”

Q: Do you have a favorite recent project?

A: The one in the (book’s) introduction was my favorite because it’s my good friend. When she moved into a new house, she got the backyard down to the soil, and she took it from there, and it is gorgeous. The plants play off each other seasonally and texturally, and the different colors — she just kind of limited it to purples and pinks and whites. The plants she chose were based on low-water needs because it’s in Corvalis, Ore., where there is a three-month drought every summer.