|
Books > Gardening > Specialized gardening methods > Natural & wild gardening
This handy pocket guide introduces local gardening enthusiasts to some of southern Africa’s most beautiful, beneficial and easy- to-care-for indigenous plants, giving guidance on how best to use them and how to ensure that they flourish.
It offers:
- A selection of 145 garden-friendly, low-maintenance trees, shrubs and bedding plants perfectly adapted to our local soils and weather conditions
- Text that’s direct and simple
- Full-colour photographs that show plant details and ‘in context’ planting
- Icons indicating at a glance whether a species is evergreen or deciduous, frost-hardy, suitable for a sunny or shaded position, fast or slow-growing, water wise, fragrant and attractive to insects or birds.
An essential handbook for easy-care beautiful gardening.
The author, Glenice Ebedes, is the owner of Grounded Landscaping. She is a graduate of Lifestyle College and an active member of the Guild of Landscape Designers. She specializes in indigenous, wildlife-friendly gardens and her gardens regularly feature in magazines.
Patrick Watson is currently South Africa’s most innovative and versatile landscape architect. Known for designing extensive mega-sites, such as Sun City and an entire Indian Ocean Island, he is also the creator of exquisite small gardens in private homes and quiet spaces for reflection, such as the Apartheid Museum and the Garden of Hope at St George’s Anglican Church in Parktown, Johannesburg.
In all he does, he combines artistic intuition with extensive botanical knowledge and a deep concern for the conservation and restoration of nature. His projects are creative, fresh with inspiration, and often bold, and he uses plants, colours, landforms and space to create visual and emotional experiences.
Covering 23 gardens and landscapes, and richly supported by sensitive photography and some specially commissioned artworks, the book is a beautiful record of a remarkable local talent, a visionary whose art is informed by nature. It recognises and celebrates the combination of knowledge, skill and instinct that make up the man, and the radical influence he has had on his profession.
The greatest botanical artists in the world capture one of the most diverse floral kingdoms on earth.
The traditional medium of botanical art is given a new lens with the aim to ultimately connect the reader to a bigger picture - one in which the intricate relationship between ourselves, the natural environment, plants and their pollinators is revealed. Expect meticulous detailing of floral structures, bursting seed pods, brightly coloured beetles, foraging ants, floating pollen and striped field mice...coupled with scientific facts and narrative stories about each plant.
This is a florilegium immersed in the natural world, informed by ecology and the fragility of our botanical heritage. Each chapter includes an up-front ‘Wunderkammer’ of artists' notes, colour swatches, working drawings and archeological details, revealing a glimpse into the creative process and ancient origins of the area.
A unique marriage of art, natural science and storytelling is used to share the treasures of our botanical heritage, diversity and sustainability.
This book is an immersive experience into the delights of foraging in
Spring, written by one of Britain's most respected foragers. Forage In
Spring celebrates the top fifteen edible and medicinal wild plants
found in March, April and May. It's a comprehensive exploration of
their past and present uses as food and medicine. An invaluable
addition to any forager, herbalist, gardener, horticulturist or
naturalist's library, providing plant-lovers with a much-needed
resource to understanding nature's most useful wild plants. Inside,
you'll discover the forgotten story of Alexanders, Brooklime, Cleavers
(Goosegrass), Dandelion, Garlic Mustard, Ground Elder, Ground Ivy,
Plantain, Primrose, Ramsons (Wild Garlic), Sea Beet, Sorrel,
Sowthistle, Stinging Nettle and Violet. Plants have stories that
reconnect us to the Land and the rest of Nature. As our society becomes
ever more disconnected, there is a revivalist movement flourishing like
a rhizome. This ancient path of the forager reconnects us to the vital,
to wildness, to creation, to what is in effect the very pulse of life
itself. One of the most direct ways to experience this is to consume
this wildness. Take it into our bodies, where like a sleeper agent, it
lies dormant until you have eaten enough to change the structure of
your blood, thereby changing your brain and how you relate to the
non-human world. For it is this simple act. The act of taking wild food
and medicine into our body, that in time becomes so transformative.
Forage In Spring is not a harking back to some naive, romantic vision
of how we might once have lived. Instead, these plants' stories are a
way to help you sense into the future and understand our ecological
function (as a species) within the world.
Covers forty eight wild edible and medicinal plants of Britain and
Ireland.
Includes multiple full-colour photographs of each plant to help make
identification easy.
I wrote this book to help you rediscover our forgotten plant heritage.
To learn how to use wild plants as food and medicine. Knowledge that
was once common to everyone.
Each individual plant profile includes:
- common name
- scientific name
- family
- an easy to understand botanical description
- multiple full colour photos of each plant
- when the plant flowers
- where it is found
- a historical summary
- which parts of the plant to use
- how the plant is used as food
- its nutritional profile
- its traditional folk medicine uses
- and finally, safety notes
For over fifteen years I have experimented and explored the world of
wild plants. Uncovering how our ancestors used plants to nourish and
heal themselves.
I’ve spent thousands of hours digging through scientific papers, read
hundreds of books. Even gone so far as to be nomadic for over a year.
During this time I followed the seasons and plants around the highways
and byways of these isles.
I have written this book to help you rediscover our forgotten plant
heritage. To learn how to use wild plants as food and medicine.
Knowledge that was once common to everyone.
From the best-selling author of The Hedgerow Apothecary Learn how
to make the most of your common garden plants like the herbalists
of the past Unlock the sustainable and ethical art of the
apothecarist, and explore its rich folklore and history. Discover
the hidden delights in your own garden and how to use them to make
delicious edible treats, herbal cures and restorative beauty
products. With photographs to help you safely identify edible
plants and tips on how best to prepare and preserve your finds,
this is the essential guide to enjoying the home-grown riches of
your garden. Enjoy the therapeutic delights of the plants to be
found in your own garden with easy-to-follow recipes. Heal dry
hands with calendula balm Encourage restful sleep with cherry moon
milk Get creative with a vivid blue ink made from cornflowers Try a
borage infusion for tired eyes Soothe itchy skin with herbal bath
tea Bake a delicious nettle and lemon sponge cake Freshen up with a
rosemary mouthwash Enjoy a cool glass of red clover lemonade And
much more!
A beginners' guide to growing wild food in pots, making foraging easy.
The Flowerpot Forager details 30 wild edible plants that can be grown at home in containers with as much effort as you'd put into your tending your herb pot from the supermarket, plus a very simple recipe or two on how to use them—think pink clover lemonade, water mint pesto and dandelion salad. Foraging is a perennially aspirational hobby for gardeners and cooks alike, but it's now entering the mainstream; from supermarkets stocking wild garlic to Fever Tree spiking their tonics with elderflower, wild food is everywhere.
Historically, location has hampered the accessibility of foraging—if you don't live near a wood, riverbed or meadow, it can be difficult to find those lusted-after ingredients in cookbooks and on TV shows. But The Flowerpot Forager is here to solve that.
Gardens are often crawling with all kinds of garden bugs, and even
the smallest plot can be an important haven for wildlife. But can
you distinguish between a Garden Snail and a Strawberry Snail? Or
can you tell a False Widow Spider from a Harvestman? These are just
some of the more than 2,000 different species of garden bugs that
are found in the British Isles, many of which we depend on for our
own survival. RSPB ID Spotlight Garden Bugs is a reliable fold-out
chart that presents illustrations of more than 50 of our most
widespread and familiar garden bugs by renowned artist Richard
Lewington. - Species are grouped by family and helpfully labelled
to assist with identification - Artworks are shown side-by-side for
quick comparison and easy reference at home or in the field - The
reverse of the chart provides information on the habitats,
behaviour, life cycles and diets of our garden bugs, as well as the
conservation issues they are facing and how the RSPB and other
conservation charities are working to support them - Practical tips
on bug houses and implementing wildlife-friendly garden practices
are also included The ID Spotlight charts help wildlife enthusiasts
identify and learn more about our most common species using
accurate colour illustrations and informative, accessible text.
This step-by-step guide will answer all of your questions about how
to create beautiful gardens designed to welcome beneficial
pollinators across the South. Combining up-to-date scientific
information with artful design strategies, Danesha Seth Carley and
Anne M. Spafford teach gardeners of all levels to plan, plant, and
maintain successful pollinator gardens at home and in shared
community sites. Everyday gardeners, along with farmers,
scientists, and policy makers, share serious concerns about ongoing
declines in pollinator populations, and here Spafford and Carley
deliver great news: every thoughtfully designed garden, no matter
how small, can play a huge role in providing the habitat,
nourishment, and nesting places so needed by pollinators. This book
explains all you need to be a pollinator champion. Covers USDA
hardiness zones 6, 7, 8, and 9, including twelve southern states;
Explains what makes pollinators happy-bees, for sure, and many
others, great and small; Brings science and art together in gardens
of all types, including urban, food, container, community, school,
and large-scale gardens; Provides step-by-step instructions, from
choosing locations, preparing soil and garden beds, selecting the
best plants, designing, landscaping, and sustaining your garden
through the seasons, and much more; Richly illustrated with
photographs, design plans, and handy charts and lists.
|
|