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by privong·3y ago·view on hn ↗
A wonderful book about such things (and other "place words") is "Landmarks" by Robert Macfarlane.

There does seem to be a richness that we're losing, in terms of our ability to describe nature. I often find myself struggling to describe places or to differentiate no-so-subtle (but also not trivially different) features (e.g., ravines cut by water flows of different rates and temporal consistencies). I love the collections people are making, but I find it hard to gain "fluency" in this way of describing nature. I guess that's an artifact of mostly being a "weekend warrior" when it comes to nature and most of my daily work revolving around science and computers.

[0] https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536563/landmarks-by...

1 comments
> I guess that's an artifact of mostly being a "weekend warrior" when it comes to nature and most of my daily work revolving around science and computers.

I've always liked nature but I found that my awareness of nature - and it's variations - significantly increased when I moved to a house set within a reasonably large garden that included large mature trees (oak and beech). This awareness increased when I retired and could spend more time outside - daily if I wanted. I sometimes feel that I've spotted botanical distinctions that I wasn't previously aware of - e.g. the variations in spikiness of holly leaves depending on the age of the tree and height from the ground.

That makes sense. I guess it's all about time spent exposed to it. I do okay with geologic features (from being a backpacker and climber) except, oddly, types of rocks. But I have never been great at tree/plant identification. We did just move to a house with a decent yard/garden, so I am learning at least some of the names for things that are in the yard (and that we've started planting ourselves).
I also learned some practical things:

Don't plant things too close to each other or to fences. It's amazing how they spread out and obscure views / block paths.

When you put a pile of something somewhere, temporarily, make sure it's not a problem if it is actually there for the next five years.

> Don't plant things too close to each other or to fences.

This issue was drilled into my head with the tracts of new homes in Boise; that 5-10 years later had plant beds were overgrown and too crowded.

> When you put a pile of something somewhere, temporarily, make sure it's not a problem if it is actually there for the next five years.

Haha, good advice! I can absolutely see where this will happen.