Showing titles in Gardening & Horticulture

Finding herself in a new home in Brighton, Kate Bradbury sets about transforming her decked, barren backyard into a beautiful wildlife garden. She documents the unbuttoning of the earth and the rebirth of the garden, the rewilding of a tiny urban space. But while she's doing this Kate's neighbours continue to pave and deck their gardens locking them away, the wildlife she tries to save is further threatened, and she feels she's fighting an uphill battle.

Mycelium Running is a manual for the mycological rescue of the planet. That’s right: growing more mushrooms may be the best thing we can do to save the environment, and in this groundbreaking text from mushroom expert Paul Stamets, you’ll find out how. The basic science goes like this...

Compared to Charles' other books, this is more about no dig, eliminating weeds, garden layout, compost making, and using compost. There is also a history of no-dig vegetable gardening in the last 100 years. I want listeners to understand the context and the reasons why no dig has not been much valued until recently, and why it is now. This audiobook has 18 sections, covering the key methods and wonderful results of no dig, from starting with weeds to sowing and planting straightaway, and cropping soon after.

A few years ago Lally Snow moved to a Dorset village with her husband and three small children, having spent over a decade as a war photographer, foreign correspondent and film maker living in Kabul. She covered the conflict there as well as other wars from Gaza to Eastern Ukraine, and Iraq. In the late winter of 2021-22, Lally decided to rent an allotment, despite having only a rudimentary knowledge of gardening. She was starting from scratch and setting herself the dual challenge of growing an allotment at the same time as growing a family.

It’s busy: home to all sorts of wildlife, from red mason bees and bumblebees to house sparrows, hedgehogs and dragonflies. It seems the entire frog population of Brighton and Hove breeds in her small pond each spring, and now there are toads here, too. On summer evenings, Kate watches bats flit above her and for a moment, everything seems alright with the world. But she knows habitat loss remains a huge issue in gardens, the wider countryside and worldwide, and there’s another, far bigger threat: climate change.

National treasure and presenter of ITV's hugely popular Love Your Garden Alan Titchmarsh brings us his month by month almanac of garden knowledge, facts, advice and inspiration. Here is seasonal advice on what to grow and sow, projects to engage in, as well as wildlife to spot, gorgeous gardens to visit, birds and flowers to celebrate, weather notes and nature to reflect on in poems, music and books.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Shinrin-Yoku by Dr Qing Li, read by Ramon Tikaram. Shinrin = Forest Yoku = Bathing Shinrin-Yoku or forest bathing is the practice of spending time in the forest for better health, happiness and a sense of calm. A pillar of Japanese culture for decades...

Cultivating herbs for medical use is an ancient and powerful practice—ginger to boost your immune system, basil to ease your morning sickness, garlic to soothe your child’s cough—all these are there in your own kitchen closet. Plus, you can have 71 more science-backed ailments and their remedies in your backyard at your fingertips. But that’s just the beginning…your body’s natural wisdom is just waiting to be unlocked. But our modern, harsh chemicals can block that potential from ever being realized.

‘In another life I may have been a gardener’ Well-known and loved as a cookery writer and presenter, this is Mary Berry’s deeply personal account of the second great love of her life, gardening. She shares her love of growing plants, visiting gardens, and getting hands-on in her own plot...

Gardening Made Simple for Beginners is an encouraging, practical guide designed for anyone who has ever wanted to garden but felt overwhelmed, intimidated, or unsure where to start. This book gently walks listeners through the fundamentals of gardening in a clear, approachable way—covering soil basics, companion planting, eco-friendly pest control, composting, xeriscaping, and seasonal planting schedules. It also explores container and vertical gardening solutions for small spaces, making it ideal for apartment dwellers, busy professionals, and first-time gardeners.

In this beautiful and practical guide, Martha Swales makes it easier than ever before to start growing your own slice of nature with her collection of fool-proof projects. You don’t need expensive tools or equipment, Martha’s approach is all about getting outside, trying something new and watching the magic of nature take its course.

The Atlas of Deadly Plants explores the stories and uses of some of the most deadly plants and fungi from across the world, illuminating their socio-cultural significance, as well as their effects on the human body.

Healing Naturally: Your All in One Guide to Herbal Remedies & Metabolic Reset gives you a clear, step-by-step roadmap to greater energy, balanced weight, stronger immunity, and calmer days. Herbal educator Gerald A. Stutler blends time-tested wisdom with modern research to create practical routines you can start today -- no garden plot, pricey gadgets, or prior knowhow required.

The restoration agriculture system described in this award-winning book works! It is possible for humans to produce staple foods using perennial agricultural ecosystems that actually improve the quality of the environment. This can be done on a backyard, farm, or ranch scale and is needed right now - on a global scale. Restoration Agriculture explains how we can have all of the benefits of natural, perennial ecosystems and create agricultural systems that imitate nature in form and function while still providing for our food, building, fuel, and many other needs.

Call it "Zen and the Art of Farming" or a "Little Green Book", Masanobu Fukuoka's manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book "is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical."

Even with time constraints or region-specific challenges, The DIY Permaculture Blueprint provides adaptable strategies and step-by-step guidance, ensuring any homesteader can succeed, regardless of past experiences.

Brought to you by Penguin. It is my hope that this book will help you discover, or reconfirm, which chicken breeds are your favourites and encourage you to keep them yourself, or at least to remember them. Spotlighting more than fifty breeds of chicken, from the classy Ancona to the lavishly...

From touching poems on the peony, the snowdrop and the sweet pea to hilarious verse on Emily the Gardener and the Garden Design Course, this is Alan Titchmarsh's heartfelt and entertaining celebration of his favourite space - the garden.  

We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.

You may think you don’t have the time or the money to start a big permaculture project. But permaculture doesn’t need to be overwhelming. You can start as small as you like, and you can move at a pace that suits you. Don’t feel you have to learn everything in one go and rush out to transform a whole wilderness in a year. Just deal in manageable chunks, and you’ll do just fine. Even if all you have done is tend to a few tomato plants on your window ledge, you can become an expert gardener; all it takes is a little time, patience, and practice.