Product Description

Many gardeners today would like to create more wildlife-friendly gardens, but may feel restricted by their situation, or put off by assuming that they will have to make huge changes to an established plot. This practical book will scotch any myths about wildlife gardening, and encourage everyone, wherever they garden, to invite wildlife to share their outdoor spaces. There are practical ideas for gardens of all sizes and in varied situations, with a special chapter on wildlife gardening in towns: the smallest shady garden can support a range of wildlife and even a window-box or hanging basket in an urban apartment block can make a difference, if you ensure ingredients like extra food in winter, plants that sustain insects and bright or aromatic plants are planted to attract animals and keep them returning. From the best sites for ponds to the right plants to feed various fauna, this book should ensure both you and the wildlife enjoy your garden as fully as possible.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #724309 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Back Cover
How to welcome a multitude of creatures into your borders and beds and create a beautiful garden that is a haven for people as well as wildlife.

About the Author
Charlie Ryrie trained as a journalist before taking a degree in social science and anthropology, then returned to work on newspapers before taking another degree in law. Deciding this was not a career she wanted to follow she moved into freelance researching and editing and spent many years working on enviromental and gardening books behind the scenes as well as writing features for magazines and national newspapers. A gardener "by inclination rather than profession", she puts her fascination with plants and nature down to her farming upbringing, early inspiration from an ethnologist and nurseryman in her family, and from her early schooling where nature study was actively encouraged.

Charlie looks after a "quirky and natural" garden in Herefordshire with her clown/garden designer husband, but they try to leave it for a month or two each winter. A fascination with the ways certain plants have been used for millennia, and the lore of North Africa, and many more travels are planned to explore plants and plant stories in other parts of the world. As well as writing and gardening, Charlie lectures on aspects of practical organic gardening and is an active member of enviromental campaign groups and organic associations.

Customer Reviews

thorough and helpful
I am enjoying this book with its easy style and engagingly casual approach. It describes every plant and feature that the wildlife promoter ought to consider albeit somewhat repetitively. He writes with warmth, colour and optimism. However I would rather have a more systematic approach on some topics and more detail. For example, as long as he strictly bans pesticide I'd appreciate more help on how I can tell that a natural assault is actually working. How about a photo of ladybird larvae? I'd like to create a den for a hedgehog but the advice simply to put a box in a shady spot seems too simplistic. In spite of these shortcomings it does put you on a firm footing.