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.

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.

Do you love living in the city but dream about growing your own wholesome fruit and vegetables? South Africa’s organic gardening guru, Jane Griffiths, shows you just how easy it is to achieve a flourishing food garden, no matter how small your space.

Jane’s Delicious Urban Gardening is packed with inspirational ideas and practical information on all aspects of urban eco living.

In her trademark sensible and easy-to-follow style, Jane provides a wealth of tips and suggestions for:

• growing organic vegetables just about anywhere – from containers to edible walls, from raised beds to rooftops, from community gardens to neglected pavements
• planting and maintaining a space-efficient urban orchard
• converting an existing lawn or tennis court into an instant edible oasis
• keeping urban bees, hens and aquaponic tanks
• harvesting rainwater and recycling grey water
• introducing solar power into your home
• converting a chlorinated swimming pool into a wetland-filtered haven.

Illustrated with hundreds of beautiful colour photographs, Jane’s Delicious Urban Gardening is essential reading for anyone wanting to live a more sustainable, productive and healthy lifestyle in the city.

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.

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.

Laat Frances Tophill jou met meer as 40 projekte vir kreatiewe houers wys hoe om dikwels misgekykte potte ten beste te benut in jou tuin - of dit nou 'n beskeie balkonnetjie, 'n klein stoepie of net 'n vensterbank is.Daar is altyd plek vir 'n bietjie groenig-heid in 'n mens se lewe. Of jy nou iets vars by jou kombuistuin wil voeg of sukkulente op jou vensterbank wil uitstal, houers maak dit moontlik om die natuur in die kleinste en moeilikste plekkies in te bring. Frances dek 'n verskeidenheid plant-skemas en soorte houers - van kruike en troe tot gestapelde potte en hang-mandjies. Sy gee raad oor die beste plante vir houers, van bonsaibome en bolle tot rankplante en snyblomme. Leer hoe om 'n lewende muur te skep, 'n metaalpot vir 'n dammetjie te gebruik, 'n geut-pyp met aarbeie te beplant of selfs jou eie potte te maak. Met die kreatiewe idees in hierdie boek, kan jy enige tuin met net 'n paar houers in iets besonders omskep.

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!

This beautiful book by Rudi Adam not only guides newcomers in the cultivation of bonsai trees but also provides insights and inspiration for the more experienced. Supplemented by excellent drawings by a bonsai grower and informative step-by-step photographs for special techniques, the book is brimful of information and practical advice. The magnificent photographs have been taken over four seasons and show the trees in all their splendour. With detailed, informative captions, every image is not only a visual inspiration, but in itself a further learning opportunity. In addition to cultivation techniques, expert advice on tree selection, soil types, watering and training the trees there is also an extensive species guide with detailed information on growing and maintenance. This book will help you master bonsai and teach you the rules so that you can apply them or successfully break them in your endeavour to excel at the art.

A stylish, inspirational and practical guidebook to maintaining a more environmentally friendly outdoor space, now shortlisted for the GMG GARDEN BOOK OF THE YEAR award! Sustainable gardener Marian Boswall walks us through the process of creating and maintaining a sustainable outdoor space, offering tips, guidance and step-by-step projects designed to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle. Whether it's by harnessing natural energy, converting to peat-free compost, reducing your consumption of plastic, saving seeds or creating garden areas from reclaimed materials, there are numerous ways - both big and small - to make a difference. Entries cover every aspect of the garden, from how to create a space and draw up a plan for your sustainable garden from scratch, to advice on boundaries and fences, and guidance on how to ethically source materials to make sure your garden is as environmentally friendly as it is beautiful. This book also contains several projects with easy-to-follow instructions that you can replicate at home, such as creating a frame for succulents to grow in out of recycled materials. Projects include: Plant an edible hedge - This berry-laden boundary brings joy into your garden and offers a great way to connect to and notice the seasons for both children and adults, Make a lawn spiral - This innovative approach to lawns will reduce mowing time by half (thereby saving energy) and will create a beautiful, textured swirl of flowering grass which is good for pollinators, Make your own frame for succulents - Using recycled and found materials, create your own vertical planter for a host of succulents, perfect for balconies or other small spaces, Saving your seeds - Collecting seeds from your garden is the perfect way to start planning ahead for your garden next year, all while reducing waste. Sustainable Garden will guide anyone hoping to take informed and intelligent decisions to make a difference, but who perhaps don't know where to begin.

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

User-friendly and highly accessible, this is a practical, fully illustrated and inspiring guide to indoor gardening by self-taught plant enthusiast Jade Murray. Here you will find invaluable tips and advice for choosing, caring for and propagating houseplants. Having limited space is no barrier to indoor gardening. Many of these plants are perfect for small homes and space-saving ideas abound - eg vertical arrangements - whether hanging in a basket, bunched on a shelf, on a window sill or grouped on a ladder. Chapters include: the easiest houseplants to grow for complete beginners (including Chinese Money Plants and Dragon Trees) the best 'diva' plants for creating drama and conversation pieces (including String of Dolphins and Elephant Ear) air-purifying plants (from ferns and lilies to the Fiddle Leaf Fig) humidity-loving plants (including the Lipstick Plant and Asparagus Ferns) heat-resistant indoor plants (cacti and succulents) plants to help with pests (including Venus Fly Trap and Trumpet Pitcher) Throughout the book you will find: advice on where to best position plants in the home ideas for how to display them to best advantage, including vertical arrangements tips on soil mix, watering, feeding and trouble-shooting step-by-step photographs for plant propagation an at-a-glance summary of Jade's 'golden rules' for success Jade firmly believes that plants can be restorative and therapeutic - a positive asset in any home or office. Her advice and enthusiasm shine on every page of this book - as do her glorious photographs.

Saffron is a Cape Town-based plant guru who is obsessed with plants, and she has over 500 of them. After years of amassing them, she put her knowledge to the test by writing "Jungle Problems," a user-friendly guide that will teach plant parents everything they need to know to keep their plants healthy and thriving.

Designed for gardener’s who want to know the secret language of their leafy friends, this fantastic guide will teach readers how to quickly diagnosing any issue with their plants, from the cause of their mysterious yellowing to the cause of their defiant wilting.

Saffron's Jungle Problems is jam-packed with helpful hints, brilliant solutions, and colourful illustrations. This is a fantastic resource which will turn any home gardener into the ultimate botanical investigator.

RSPB ID Spotlight Ladybirds is a reliable fold-out chart that presents illustrations of 27 of our most widespread and familiar ladybirds 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, or the chart can be fixed to the wall as a beautiful poster - The reverse of the chart provides information on the habitats, behaviour, life cycles and diets of our ladybirds, as well as the conservation issues they are facing and how we can support them The ID Spotlight charts help wildlife enthusiasts identify and learn more about our most common species using accurate colour illustrations and informative, accessible text.

A scythe is one of the most elegant and efficient hand tools available. It is ideal for harvesting many types of crops and is quieter and pleasanter to use than a strimmer. There is a graceful, rhythmic quality to scything that once mastered can provide the ultimate mind and body workout. In this book, Ian Miller teaches you how to scythe from scratch including assembly, perfecting the stroke, honing, peening, uses and aftercare. A scythe can be used for mowing the lawn, harvesting small grain, and cutting back wildflower meadows without disrupting wildlife. The hay and straw can be used in the garden for mulching and composting or for food and bedding for household pets while small grains can used for making bread and feeding poultry. The Scything Handbook will delight all gardeners, allotmenteers and smallholders who are tired of their noisy, heavy, fuel-dependent machines and looking for better ways to take care of themselves and their land.

The Gaia Organic Basics series is endorsed by the Soil Association, the UK's principle organisation promoting organic agriculture and horticulture, and the organic organisation - HDRA (Henry Doubleday Research Association). Ideal for town or country gardeners with special topics covering small and urban gardens; Specially commissioned photographs; An original series covering organic gardening in a modern, fresh and vibrant syle; Handy size pocket books provide expert quick reference for practical gardeners; Gaia Organic Basics is an important new series for every gardener who wants to learn how to create a healthy and thriving organic garden. Highly practical, the four books in this series take the mystery out of organic gardening with straightforward explanations of principles and techniques. Designed for beginners as well as more advanced gardeners who want to leave chemicals behind, these titles offer an organic way to cultivate soil, to make one's own compost and to control pests and weeds. Full colour photography illustrates the practical aspects of creating an organic garden and their handy pocket size make these books an expert quick reference for practical gardeners. Whatever the style or size of garden, these books give all the information necessary to take the natural road to a beautiful, lush and fully organic garden.