This is one of those "especially for now" kinds of books. For you, for the whole family, for your community. Foodscaping visionary Brie Arthur looks at under-utilized garden spaces around homes or in the landscaped common spaces of planned communities - and she sees places where food can be grown...lots and lots of it. And not in isolated patches, but inter-planted with non-food ornamental plants for year-round beauty. This is a new way of looking at private and public spaces, where aesthetics and function operate together to benefit individuals and entire communities. In The Foodscape Revolution, Arthur presents her status-quo-shaking plan to reinvent the common landscape - in a way that even HOA's would approve. Call it food gardening "in plain sight," and having it all. In this entertaining and informative book, you'll learn which edible and ornamental pairings work best to increase biodiversity, how to situate beds to best utilize natural water and light resources, and most importantly, how to begin an enriched gardening lifestyle that is beneficial, sustainable and empowering. With full-color photos, design plans, simple projects and bountiful tips, The Foodscape Revolution can be life-changing.

Learn how to keep your lawn in perfect condition all year round with this handy little guidebook from an experienced National Trust head gardener. It's packed with invaluable advice on all aspects of lawn design, creation and maintenance, whether you want an immaculate striped formal lawn or a more hardwearing surface for your children to play on, or even a romantic chamomile lawn or one strewn with colourful spring flowers. It includes incredibly useful troubleshooting tips for the typical problems your lawn might experience, including invasive weeds, pests and diseases and the effects of the weather. The author discusses which types of mower work best for different lawns, when and how to water and feed, and how to bring a neglected lawn back to life. He even dabbles in artificial turf and how best to use it, and offers creative ideas for decorative elements such as stepping stones, edgings and winding paths. Beautifully illustrated throughout, this practical guide contains everything you need to keep your lawn in tip-top condition, every day of the year.

In a sense this book is a garden-based autobiography of Britain's most famous birdwatcher. The main narrative covers Bill's personal relationship, not only with his present garden, which was described by the Daily Mail as "Probably the most bizarre back garden in Britain", but also with the gardens he has known throughout his life. The first was what he has called "a sink full of mud" in industrial Rochdale in the 1940s. Next came a larger garden on the edge of Birmingham which he used as a bird ringing station, sometimes helped or hindered by his granny, who often trimmed the lawn with a pair of scissors!In Tales of Ludicrous Bird Gardens there are plenty of eccentric stories about garden characters such as the 'feng shui fox', who constantly rearranged the ornaments, 'Limpy', the one-legged single-parent Great Tit, and one memorable nightmarish occasion when over 50 rats came to visit! This book is NOT an instructional guide on 'How to be a ludicrous gardener' although it may well prove inspirational to others to have a go, or to warn them on what to avoid. Bill abhors decking, large concrete patios, and above, all leaf-blowers.As well as neighbours who whinge about the parakeets! What is certain about Tales of Ludicrous Bird Gardens is that Bill's entertaining take on gardening for birds makes compelling reading.

'Delightful... Pavey writes with warmth and spirit, and brings this space to life' Penelope Lively 'Captivating and grounded... If this book was not as much a pleasure to write as it is to read, I'll eat my hat and gardening glove' Observer After years spent living amid the thrum of London, Ruth Pavey yearned to reconnect with the British countryside and she endeavoured to realise her long-held dream of planting a wood. Touring to the West Country in the late 1990s, Pavey found herself in the Somerset Levels. On seeing this expanse of reclaimed land under its wide, soft skies she was struck by its beauty and set-out to plant a wood, tree by tree. She bought four acres, and over the years transformed them into a haven where woodland plants and creatures could flourish an emblem of enduring life in a changeable world. A Wood of One's Own is the story of how she grew to understand and then shape this derelict land into an enduring legacy a verdant landscape rich with wildlife. Interwoven with Pavey's candid descriptions of the practical challenges she faced are forays into the Levels' local history, as well as thoughtful portraits of its inhabitants both past and present. Accompanied throughout by the author's evocative hand-drawn illustrations, A Wood of One's Own is a lyrical, beguiling and inspiring story; a potent reminder of nature's delicate balance, and its comforting and abiding presence.

Eco-friendly gardening is fast catching on. Butterflies are visible signs of a healthy garden, and, with their whimsical flight patterns and glorious colours, they are among the most alluring of our aerial visitors. Gardening for butterflies shows how to attract these beautiful insects, giving step-by-step instructions for planning and planting a garden that will cater for the greatest number and diversity of butterflies. Using a Durban garden as a case study, it includes a recommended layout and plant lists for this area, as well as for other regions around the country. The book showcases 95 garden butterflies and moths, showing their full life cycle, including pupa, eggs and caterpillar. Stunning photography and point-form text ensure accurate identification of each stage in the cycle, and an interesting introduction discusses such topics as the extraordinary process of metamorphosis and the curious habits of these mercurial insects. Whether you’re tempted to undertake a full-scale transformation of your garden to attract butterflies, make smaller adjustments to it, or if you simply want to identify those insects already visiting your space, this book will amaze and enchant you.

Not all weeds are ugly uncontrollable brutes. Yes, they can be difficult and intimidating, but by learning how to grow weeds in unexpected ways you will become a better gardener with a more interesting garden. This book profiles over 50 weeds and shows you surprising ways to grow them, no matter what your garden type: from borders to boxes, sunny to shady, poor soil to rich, tropical to formal, Japanese-style to prairies. With interviews, tips and advice from celebrated gardeners, learn how to let weeds flourish without taking control. Wild about Weeds is the must-have guide for modern gardeners that explains how to tame and nurture the most challenging of plants.

Gardens take many forms, and have a variety of functions. They can serve as spaces of peace and tranquilty, a way to cultivate wildlife, or as places to develop agricultural resources. Globally, gardens have inspired, comforted, and sustained people from all walks of life, and since the Garden of Eden many iconic gardens have inspired great artists, poets, musicians, and writers. In this Very Short Introduction, Gordon Campbell embraces gardens in all their splendour, from parks, and fruit and vegetable gardens to ornamental gardens, and takes the reader on a globe-trotting historical journey through iconic and cultural signposts of gardens from different regions and traditions. Ranging from the gardens of ancient Persia to modern day allotments, he concludes by looking to the future of the garden in the age of global warming, and the adaptive spirit of human innovation. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

First published in 1995, this invaluable guide to the trees, shrubs, ground covers, and smaller plants that thrive in New Mexico's many life zones and growing areas is now available in a long-awaited new edition. Landscape architect Baker H. Morrow considers the significant factors that impact planting in New Mexico-including soil conditions, altitude, drought, urban expansion, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation-to provide the tools for successful gardens and landscapes in the state. Added photographs and sketches identify the forms and uses of plants, including many new species that have become widely available in the region since the 1990s. The latest recommendations for specific cities and towns include more photos for ease of reference, and botanical names have also been updated. With ingenuity and efficient water management, Morrow demonstrates how to create landscapes that provide shade, color, oxygen, soil protection, windscreening, and outdoor enjoyment.

Ultimate Gardens & Swimming Pools Front cover image Wim Pauwels Not yet printed due - 05/19 9782875500656 Hardback Beta-Plus Publishing Territory: World Size: 340 mm x 270 mm Pages: 192 Illustrations: 200 colour RRP GBP69.95 This book features some of the world's most beautiful private gardens and swimming pools, realised by the best garden and landscape architects working today. Includes private gardens from the UK, France, Belgium, and Hong Kong. Text in English and French.

No dig organic gardening saves time and work. It requires an annual dressing of compost to help accelerate the improvement in soil structure and leads to higher fertility and less weeds. No dig experts, Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty, explain how to set up a no dig garden. They describe how to: Make compost, enrich soil, harvest and prepare food and make natural beauty and clean ing products and garden preparations. These approaches work as well in small spaces as in large gardens. The Authors' combined experience gives you ways of growing, preparing and storing the plants you grow for many uses, including delicious vegetable feasts and many recipes and ideas for increasing self reliance, saving money, living sustainably and enjoying the pleasure of growing your own food, year round. Charles' advice is distilled from 35 years of growing vegetables intensively and efficiently; he is the acknowledged no dig guru and salad expert both in the UK and internationally. Stephanie, a kitchen gardener, grows in her small, productive home garden and allotment, and creates no dig gardens for restaurants and private estates.She presents truly delicious seasonal recipes, made from the vegetables anyone can grow. She also explains how to use common plants you can grow and forage for to make handmade preparation for the home and garden.

Consumer interest in tea has grown rapidly in recent years and continues to climb. Worldwide there are 25,000 cups of tea consumed every second - more than billion cups per day! For tea drinkers interested in the freshest flavour, growing the leaves at home is the ideal solution. Lucky for them, tea is not an exotic, hard-to-grow crop - it can be successfully grown anywhere that camellias can be grown. In Grow Your Own Tea, readers will learn how to cultivate, harvest, and process this venerable crop. Parks and Wolcott share details on how to get started; describe cultivation, long-term maintenance, and harvesting; show how to grow tea plants in containers; and describe how to process and store harvested tea leaves. Grow Your Own Tea includes information on how to produce white, green, oolong, and black teas.

Begin your lifelong love affair with the mindful art of bonsai. Do you know your shari from your nebari? Can you tell literati styling from informal upright? Want to know how to create that gnarled and twisted look? Let Happy Bonsai guide you along the path to enlightenment, with care and display profiles for 40 top trees and fully illustrated step-by-steps of more than 20 bonsai techniques and styles. Find your perfect tree and discover how to prune, shape, and tend to its needs to create a beautiful living sculpture. Fall in love with this most meditative of garden crafts.

A practical guide to creating a beautiful native wildflower meadow or a colourful area of cornfield annuals, in even the smallest of gardens.

Aquaponics is a revolutionary system for growing plants by fertilising them with the waste water from fish in a sustainable closed system. A combination of the best of aquaculture and hydroponics, aquaponic gardening is an amazingly productive way to grow organic vegetables, greens, herbs and fruits, while providing the added benefits of fresh fish as a safe, healthy source of protein. On a larger scale, it is a key solution to mitigating food insecurity, climate change, groundwater pollution and the impacts of overfishing on our oceans. This is the definitive do-it-yourself home manual, with an introduction by Charlie Price, head of Aquaponics UK. It focuses on giving you all the tools you need to create your own aquaponic system and enjoy healthy, safe, fresh and delicious food all year round. Starting with an overview of the theory, benefits and potential of aquaponics, this book goes on to explain: system location considerations and hardware components; the living elements - fish, plants, bacteria, and worms; and, putting it all together - starting and maintaining a healthy system. Aquaponics systems are completely organic. They are four to six times more productive and use 90 percent less water than conventional gardens. Other advantages include no weeds, fewer pests, and no watering, fertilising, bending, digging, or heavy lifting - in fact, there really is no down side! Anyone interested in taking the next step towards self-sufficiency will be fascinated by this practical, accessible and well-illustrated guide.

Grow some of the world's most unique and beautiful houseplants with this one-of-a-kind guide. Plus, find DIY projects for using houseplants to kick up your decorating skills! Houseplants make epic house guests-they don't talk back, they're 100% no drama, they're exceptional listeners, and they help beautify your bedroom and calm your senses. Plus, houseplants are fun to nurture and care for. In Houseplant Party, you'll discover dozens of amazing, easy-to-care-for houseplants that are a perfect fit for your desk, windowsill, bedside table, or bathroom vanity. From peace lilies and ponytail palms to fairy washboards, air plants, and Venus fly traps, author and houseplant guru Lisa Eldred Steinkopf has your back with easy-to-follow houseplant advice and insight. But, Houseplant Party isn't just about taking care of plants. It's also about decorating with plants. Get step-by-step plans for making: A creative test tube wall planter A knotted plant hanger using recycled fabric or an old t-shirt A stress-reducing succulent Zen garden for your favorite relaxation spot A bedside aquatic garden with a Japanese moss ball A macrame hanger to display your favorite vining houseplant A wooden trellis to train climbing plants to grow on your wall and ceiling A trio of shadow boxes to display an air plant collection A beautifully trained and pruned bonsai plant Join the Houseplant Party and decorate your world with green!

Grow your own cut flowers and you can fill your house with the gorgeous colours and heavenly scents of your favourite blooms, knowing that they haven't travelled thousands of miles - and you can make money while you do it! Combining boundless passion with down-to-earth guidance and practical advice, Georgie Newbery draws on her own experiences as an artisan flower farmer and florist as she takes you through: * how to start a cut-flower patch * what to grow * cutting, conditioning and presenting cut flowers * creating a hedgerow Christmas * starting a cut-flower business * where to sell * marketing and social media * a flower farmer's year planner. Whether you want to grow for your own pleasure or start your own business, The Flower Farmer's Year is the perfect guide.

Greenhouses fuse together cultures and countries under one glass roof. In their debut book, photographers India Hobson and Magnus Edmondson take you on a worldwide journey through their favourite botanical spaces.

The Haarkon Greenhouse Tour began as a self-initiated adventure in Oxford s botanic garden four years ago. Since then, Magnus and India have visited countless locations in the UK, Europe, America, Asia and beyond in search of dream glasshouses and greenhouses, capturing dramatic palm houses, tropical hothouses and private potting sheds along the way.

Divided into seven thematic chapters History, Specimen, Community, Research, Pleasure, Hobbyist and Architecture the featured spaces in Glasshouse / Greenhouse are depicted via a series of photo-essays that draw out the style, plant collections and character of each space.

It has long been observed, by farmers, gardeners and botanists alike, that from time to time certain plants seem to affect certain other plants growing their near them -- both favourably and unfavourably. By taking account of these relationships, farmers and gardeners can improve the quality of food and flowers, reduce losses from pests and disease, drought and frost, and enhance both satisfaction and pleasure in their work and financial profit. Years of experimentation by Richard Gregg and subsequently Helen Philbrick and others resulted in this unique reference book. It offers a detailed and comprehensive A-Z of plants and how they affect each other and their surrounding environment, including the soil, insects and birds.