Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18061 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Country Smallholder, Dec 2001
It is is practical book....philosophical, personal and visionary.

Permaculture Magazine, No29, 2001
....a vast body of insight and practical advice....amazing.

Woodlots, No36, Aug 2001
....innovative....practical....covering every aspect of woodland stewardship.

Customer Reviews

An inspirational and enjoyable book
The author, writes from the heart and obviously has a very deep commitment to practical sustainability. He lives in his own woodlands, 'Prickly Nut Wood' in Lodsworth and he has recently been granted permission for a permanent home there. There are plenty of excellent photographs adding vision to his text. He covers every conceivable issue relating to wood, woodlands and woodland management. Some of his ideas are radical alternatives to conventional woodland management and his aim is to create bio-diversity, a healthy environment, added value products and food, a livelihood for woodland workers and farmers and benefits for the local community. His vision is to encourage such woodlands all over Britain.

How to learn about truly living a Permaculture lifestyle
We have all read or heard descriptions of how our world needs to change. But much of what I've heard or read (or said myself, especially after a drink or two!) doesn't adequately bridge the gap between theory and practice. The Woodland Way bridges this gap, and does it well. It sets out Ben's thesis and original vision for sustainable woodland management in Britain. I found it a most inspiring book in its practicality and "do-ability".

Ben taught the permaculture design course that I took, and I have him to thank for opening my eyes to the whole PC design process. One can see this process underlying Ben's approach to woodlands in general and to his own land throughout this book. Reading it has opened my eyes to a new, much more holistic way of using and living in and with woodlands in Britain. The range of sustainable, income-generating ways that Ben uses his own woodland is truly astonishing (just look at the amazing "Analysis of Ben Law's Livelihood" in the centre of the book!), let alone what he suggests as options for woodlands in general.

The Woodland Way is packed with detail. For many areas this detail is more than adequate to use the book as an instructional guide. For other aspects of woodland management, Ben has provided an overview that starts the reader on a path needing further information. Here the extensive and excellent appendices come into their own. They are packed with extra information, further references and contact details for many woodland related organisations. They enhance its value greatly and turn it from a very readable book into a hugely usable reference as well. This aspect of the book in particular is very similar in style to its sister publication Plants for a Future. I am sure that my copy of the Woodland Way will become as dog-eared as Plants for a Future has become - the best review that any author could wish for!

If I have a criticism of the book, it is only the very minor one that it has a slight southern English bias in its plant information and recommendations. Ben does warn that some of the plants that he lists may not thrive everywhere in Britain. Having moved to West Wales after living just down the road from Ben, it is surprising just how different the two climates are. For instance, bluebells are a native woodland indicator in Ben's bioregion, here in Ceredigion they grow on almost any suitable roadside verge that isn't cut too frequently, as well as on many bracken covered hill slopes! But you can fill in such info from your own local observations so don't let that put you off. If you want to learn about truly living a Permaculture lifestyle as well as working woodlands

Good enough
The problem faced by anyone writing about woodland management is that there are so many types of woodland, each of which can be managed in several ways, so their books often end up as a series of generalisations and lacking in detail.
Ben Law's book is the best I have read on the subject, and it is particularly pleasing in its honesty and aspects of its detail.
This is a realistic book, not given to overstatement.
I am not entirely sure whether there is a difference between sensible woodland management and the permaculture approach. I have planted 150 acres of new woodland and manage it along the lines outlined in the book without ever having heard of Permaculture before, but if nothing else I have found this book has been very encouraging, and feel reasured that I am doing most things "right"