I’m reading about guild-building in Toby Hemenway’s Gaia’s Gardens. There are two basic ways to proceed: extended observation of plant community patterns, and book research. The latter appears to be faster and I need to jump start my knowledge.

I did a little research and found this great online book on Plant Communities of the Central Finger Lakes. I haven’t yet explored this e-Cornell online library but this first strike is definitely a gem.

I have a couple of norway maples, some large evergreen trees, a copper maple and several honey locusts. I’ve added a lilac hedge, gingko and several fruit trees. These form the bones of the garden so far. There’s also a black walnut on a neighbor’s lot that hangs about 30% over my property, so we get a lot of black walnuts. Hemenway’s book includes a well-defined walnut guild, but I want to do more with the maples and locusts and evergreens.

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