Product Description

The book looks at many different aspects of gardening, such as decorative beds and borders in the ornamental garden, as well as lawns, hedges and the kitchen garden. Domestic outdoor spaces are extremely variable in terms of size, function and location, and the authors explain in each case which types of wildlife can potentially benefit from a particular type of garden. Clear and easy-to-follow instructions on a range of basic techniques - such as plant propagation, soil preparation, planting, creating new habitats and general maintenance - are backed up with advice on planning and designing, showing how we can successfully share our outdoor space with wildlife. In addition, the book shows how to encourage benign and beneficial garden species by feeding and providing shelter for them as well as how best to deal with the more problematic species that occasionally enter our gardens.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49449 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-18
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
Wildlife Garden book has won the Practical Gardening Book of The Year award for 2008, voted by the Garden Writer's Guild. --Anness Publishing

About the Author
Christine Lavelle is a lecturer in horticulture and ecology at Writtle College, Chelmsford, in England. She trained at the National Trust for Scotland's Threave School of Practical Gardening and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew where she carried out research projects to encourage beneficial insects within ornamental gardens. Christine has worked in many different areas of horticulture and has held two head gardenships at Askham Bryan College in York and Otley College in Suffolk. Michael Lavelle is a committed environmentalist and a firm believer that nature provides the best model for any garden design. A keen observer of nature since his early childhood in Lancashire, he believes that this natural model combined with a commonsense approach to horticulture is the key to organic success. Michael studied horticulture at Askham Bryan College in York and environmental management at Wye College in Kent. He worked as a professional landscaper before starting a career as a horticultural lecturer in the early 1990s. Michael has designed and constructed several educational exhibits at the Chelsea Flower Show, achieving prestigious gold medals in 1999 and 2003. He currently works as a senior lecturer in landscape management at Writtle College in Chelmsford.

Customer Reviews

An exceptional book for attracting wildlife into your garden
In my opinion, this is probably the best book I have seen on attracting wildlife into your garden. It is very readable and contains many colour photographs. I particularly like the chapter on recommended plants. Unlike many other books simply giving the type of plant which might attract wildlife, the chapter on recommended plants gives full details of the species of plant which the authors' have shown gives the best results and the type of wildlife attracted. In many cases, the recommended species of plant is the original cultivar which cannot be found in a garden centre - one has to find the plant at a nursery. I have tried several of the authors' suggestions of species of plant and found that my garden is literally 'buzzing' with wildlife activity from bees, hover flies, butterflies, etc.

My view
this is a real quality book and great value for money - I gave it as a gift and it was really appreciated.