"Edible Forest Gardens" is a groundbreaking two-volume work that spells out and explores the key concepts of forest ecology and applies them to the needs of natural gardeners in temperate climates. Volume I lays out the vision of the forest garden and explains the basic ecological principles that make it work. In Volume II, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier move on to practical considerations: concrete ways to design, establish, and maintain your own forest garden. Along the way they present case studies and examples, as well as tables, illustrations, and a uniquely valuable "plant matrix" that lists hundreds of the best edible and useful species.

Taken together, the two volumes of "Edible Forest Gardens" offer an advanced course in ecological gardening-one that will forever change the way you look at plants and your environment.What is an edible forest garden?An edible forest garden is a perennial polyculture of multipurpose plants. Most plants regrow every year without replanting: perennials. Many species grow together: a polyculture. Each plant contributes to the success of the whole by fulfilling many functions: multipurpose. In other words, a forest garden is an edible ecosystem, a consciously designed community of mutually beneficial plants and animals intended for human food production. Edible forest gardens provide more than just a variety of foods. The seven F's apply here: food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizer, and "farmaceuticals," as well as fun. A beautiful, lush environment can be a conscious focus of your garden design, or a side benefit you enjoy

With fans far and wide, cacti and succulents come in myriad shapes and sizes too. These firm favourites of Instagram influencers are perfect for adding greenery indoors, and can add structure and detail to outdoor spaces as well. Smaller plants are companions for 'generation rent', since they are easily moved from place to place. Generally low-maintenance, being 'plant mum' to one or two of these tiny plants often starts a life-long fascination, and an ever growing horde. The Little Book of Cacti and Succulents is an inspiring and indispensable guide to growing these fascinating plants. Detailed Plant Profiles are divided into sections according to style and shape, from beautiful trailing plants to intricately formed rosettes. At the beginning of the book, you'll find practical advice on getting started, caring for the plants through the year and how best to show your plants off. You can also discover how to grow your collection using various propagation techniques with step-by-step guidance. Cacti and succulents provide year-round interest for very little input, and caring for their fascinating forms is an enchanting hobby. Full of beautiful photography and sweet illustrations, The Little Book of Cacti and Succulents is an encouraging and down-to-earth guide to these weird and wonderful plants.

Create your own compost and grow better plants. With breathtaking clarity, Compost Science for Gardeners demystifies composting practices and helps readers determine the best technique for their unique situation. This comprehensive science-based book is your key to building healthier soil and growing better plants. Using plain language and easy-to-follow instructions, this essential resource distills and blends the latest scientific research with the author's many decades of knowledge and experience into manageable form, debunking a host of common gardening myths along the way. Learn about: The role of composting in the ecological cycle Compostable materials to incorporate and those to avoid Browns and greens vs the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio The full range of composting methods, including cold and hot composting; composting in piles, bins, and tumblers; and pit and trench composting Keyhole gardening, food digesters, vermicomposting, bokashi, eco-enzyme fermentation, and more The relative merits and impact on the environment of each composting technique Using finished compost to improve soil health Anyone can compost. Whether you are a balcony or backyard gardener, market gardener, small-scale farmer, or homesteader, or even if you are simply looking for a way to keep organic matter out of the landfill, this book will show you how to do it simply, safely, and sensibly.

Discover how to create a weed-free, sustainable, abundant garden with the no-till gardening method! The no-dig or no-till gardening method is an easy and climate-smart technique that is gaining in popularity and revolutionizing the gardening world. This book teaches you everything you need to start and care for a kitchen garden without any digging, watering, or weeding. Too good to be true? Find out for yourself! No-dig gardening is better for the environment, easier on your back, and yields abundant vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Learn everything you need to get started! Layer your garden properly (the lasagna method) Choose the right cover materials When to plant seedlings and when to direct sow How to compost Learn about permaculture techniques Attract the good insects and repel the unwanted ones Recognize common plant diseases Chock-full of practical tips and designed with gorgeous photos throughout, this is your guide to a healthy, eco-friendly, abundant garden.

Grow up! If you have limited outdoor space and would like to grow your food, this practical illustrated guide will help you transform previously plant-free zones into thriving, beneficial and utterly beautiful food-growing areas. Using special containers, either bought or home-made, as well as conventional methods such as containers on a roof or growing plants up walls, you can grow a wide range of edible crops - and grab a salad for lunch without getting your feet wet. This book includes: * Creating edible roof gardens * Planning and growing crops on green roofs, including on sheds * Using a wide variety of containers, e.g. ladder allotments and growing frames, with details of how to make them * Making the most of wall boxes and hanging baskets * A directory of plants suitable for vertical growing - fruit, flowers and herbs as well as vegetables - with advice on how to cultivate them. Whether you have an apartment with just a wall, windowsill, balcony or small flat roof; a school with nothing but a tarmac playground; or just a paved courtyard in your community centre, this book will get you started on a new way of growing.

Breaks down key information on cultivating bonsai into 101 easy-to-grasp tips and gives quick answers to all your questions.

Legendary gardener and plantswoman Beth Chatto describes how she transformed a piece of wasteland into a lush and blooming garden in this beautiful book, filled with helpful tips and practical advice. The story of how Beth Chatto created her gravel garden on 'possibly the driest, and the most windswept, piece of soil in England' has a message of hope for gardeners everywhere. At the outset she promised herself: 'This garden was not to be irrigated in times of drought. Once established the plants must fend for themselves or die.' The results, eloquently described by the author and beautifully portrayed in Steven Wooster's specially commissioned photographs taken through the seasons, testify to the triumphant outcome of the adventure. Showing how her principles can be applied on any scale, this book is an essential read for any gardener facing water shortages and poor soil. Rich with hard-won tips and expressed in Beth Chatto's matchless style, this is a gardening classic.

No matter your space, this planet-friendly introduction to gardening will get you growing your own fruit, veg and flowers in no time!

Gardening expert and social media sensation Joe Clark of @joesgarden shares everything he has learned about the power of gardening to bring you joy, save you money and help the planet.

You will:

• Learn when and how to grow your own food, even in small spaces like containers or raised beds
• Find advice on attracting garden-friendly insects and wildlife, including a how-to guide for building your own hedgehog hotel and rewilding tips
• Make your own organic pest controls, plant food and rainwater collector so you can nourish your garden while being kind to the planet
• Discover useful food sustainability tips, from extending the shelf life of your produce to avoiding food waste and preserving your food
• Find ideas on how you can use you gardening to improve your mental and physical health

With beautiful illustrations and easy-to-understand instructions and growing tips, this is the perfect book for budding or seasoned nature lovers who want to use their green-fingers to make a difference.

Learn how to grow wild and exotic, medicinally important, sustainable, and deeply delicious mushrooms right at your own home, just as people throughout the world have been doing for centuries. Mushrooms are healthy, packed with vitamins and antioxidants; rich with flavor, an excellent source of the fifth flavor know as umami; and can be used medicinally in teas and tinctures. By growing your own, you can enjoy these benefits while also enriching your soil, speeding up your composting, and even suppressing weeds-though the biggest draw may be the magic of watching this unique form of life grow. Understanding how mushrooms grow is crucial to successfully cultivating them, and Mushroom Cultivation offers photo-illustrated instruction both on how mushrooms grow and how you can cultivate them yourself, with a focus on six types of mushroom-shiitake, oyster, wine cap, hericium, blewit, and agaricus. You'll learn how to: Grow mushrooms, step by step, in a variety of different mediums: logs, straw, wood chips and sawdust, and compost Troubleshoot problems, including identification, underwatering, overwatering, and insects Store, dry, and freeze your mushroom harvest Cook with mushrooms, including variety-specific cooking tips and 8 tasty recipes Find supplies and more information with the resources listed at the back of the book After reading Mushroom Cultivation, you'll discover that growing a mushroom is really no more difficult than growing a tomato. You just need a slightly different set of skills. Picking your own fresh mushrooms at the peak of their flavor and nutrition is within your reach with this comprehensive, step-by-step guide.

Among the oldest plants on earth, mosses are a gardener's dream - they provide a lush backdrop in almost any setting and are easy to keep healthy with regular maintenance. In The Magical World of Moss Gardening, moss enthusiast Annie Martin shows you how to create a green and sustainable solution to that difficult shady spot in your garden.

'A remarkable book from one of our greatest plant experts' DAILY TELEGRAPH With a new introduction by Monty Don In revealing what worked in her own garden, Beth Chatto passes on a wealth of advice gleaned from her personal experience. She provides detailed - and accessible - ideas on garden management, plans for every type of soil and situation, nearly twenty specially tailored lists to help with planting in various conditions, and descriptions of over a thousand suitable plants for making the most of damp ground.

Marijuana Garden Saver is the go-to field guide designed for growers who need to quickly identify and fix problems and restore plant health. It covers the pests, diseases, environmental stresses and nutrient deficiencies that impact the cannabis garden, threatening a successful harvest.

Marijuana Garden Saver is the resource for all types of gardens, greenhouses and farms:

• Clear photographs help you quickly identify problems indoors and out
• Tells you how to fix problems now, and how to prevent them in the future
• Features organic and safe IPM solutions
• Addresses all major marijuana garden problems

The most trusted name in marijuana cultivation is here to save your garden.

Readers will learn about the relationships between people and the gardens of Earth, seed preservation, Native diets and meals, natural pest control, and the importance of the Circle of Life.

Making a garden that can withstand summer drought without being watered is the dream of many who wish to garden in harmony with the environment. In this classic work on gardening in dry climates, first published in 2008, Olivier Filippi offers practical advice to achieve this goal based on his, and his wife Clara's, experience of working with mediterranean-region plants for over 30 years. The first part of the book examines the behaviour of plants that face drought in their natural habitat. What is drought and how do plants manage to survive when little water is available? The second part is concerned with gardening techniques in a dry climate. How do you prepare the soil, when do you plant, how do you maintain a dry garden? The third and longest part describes in detail no less than 500 rewarding plants that are marvellously well adapted to dry gardens. This book is essential reading for gardeners who live in one of the world's mediterranean climate zones and will also be of interest to gardeners in areas where drought is becoming a recurring problem. Armed with a new palette of plants and liberated from the hose and the sprinkler this book invites you on a pioneering adventure that paves the way to a new style of gardening.

"Society does not generally expect its farmers to be visionaries." Perhaps not, but longtime Maine farmer and homesteader Will Bonsall does possess a unique clarity of vision that extends all the way from the finer points of soil fertility and seed saving to exploring how we can transform civilization and make our world a better, more resilient place. In Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening, Bonsall maintains that to achieve real wealth we first need to understand the economy of the land, to realize that things that might make sense economically don't always make sense ecologically, and vice versa. The marketplace distorts our values, and our modern dependence on petroleum in particular presents a serious barrier to creating a truly sustainable agriculture. For him the solution is, first and foremost, greater self-reliance, especially in the areas of food and energy. By avoiding any off-farm inputs (fertilizers, minerals, and animal manures), Bonsall has learned how to practice a purely veganic, or plant-based, agriculture-not from a strictly moralistic or philosophical perspective, but because it makes good business sense: spend less instead of making more. What this means in practical terms is that Bonsall draws upon the fertility of on-farm plant materials: compost, green manures, perennial grasses, and forest products like leaves and ramial wood chips. And he grows and harvests a diversity of crops from both cultivated and perennial plants: vegetables, grains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and nuts-even uncommon but useful permaculture plants like groundnut (Apios). In a friendly, almost conversational way, Bonsall imparts a wealth of knowledge drawn from his more than forty years of farming experience. "My goal," he writes, "is not to feed the world, but to feed myself and let others feed themselves. If we all did that, it might be a good beginning."