Product Description

With the growing recognition that a wisely planted garden has a lot to offer, more and more people are looking for ways to make their gardens environmentally friendly. However, gardeners have tended to assume that they need a lot of space to create habitats for wildlife and evoke wild and natural places. In Natural Gardening in Small Spaces, renowned plantsman Noël Kingsbury refutes that presumption, showing how even in a small garden you can create a sustainable ecosystem that looks great—and, once established, largely looks after itself. More than 150 glorious photographs of small natural gardens provide visual confirmation of Noël Kingsbury's contention that even the smallest garden can provide a natural haven.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #544610 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A "balance between ornamental elements and a certain amount of 'letting go'" is the key to the successful natural garden, writes Kingsbury (The New Perennial Garden), and such harmony between art and nature can be achieved even in modest yards. The fundamentals of natural gardening-biodiversity, site-appropriate plantings and wildlife-friendly design-acknowledge that a garden is an ecosystem, one able to simultaneously please humans and sustain flora and fauna. In chapters that nicely mix explanatory text with color photos, Kingsbury walks would-be greenthumbs through shady gardens, backyard grasslands and dryer habitats, suggesting plant species and design ideas and offering tips on how to care for different kinds of plants in different kinds of environments. He even briefly covers "gardening without a garden"-plants that easily grow in pots and flats on rooftops-which many city-dwellers will appreciate (this chapter also features a call for more bat roosting boxes). A plant directory rounds out this helpful and inspiring volume. 150 color photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
A softer, relaxed quality characterizes the trend toward a more naturalistic style of planting. To show gardeners how to attain that mode, Kingsbury covers a variety of approaches aimed at both integrating the types of plants and creating the kinds of habitats that can transform a traditional garden into a wilder sort of setting. Attracting and benefiting wildlife is one of his goals here, but Kingsbury's attitude is rather more inclusive than that of purists dedicated to totally organic methods. Instead, he directs his considerable expertise to the presentation of situations ranging from woodland to prairie to semi-desert. Whether in a city or modest suburban yard, or a country environment, Kingsbury's sound advice orients gardeners toward thinking and planning in terms of an ecosystem as they develop a design scheme that joins together aesthetic elements and handsome plant combinations. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Good ... on the designing–the–space issue."
—Jamaica Kincaid, New York Times, June 1, 2003 (The New York Times )

"The author imparts a working knowledge of how plants grow in nature."
—Science News, July 5, 2003 (Science News )

"Whether in a city or modest suburban yard, or a country environment, Kingsbury's sound advice orients gardeners towards thinking and planning in terms of an ecosystem as they develop a design scheme that joins together aesthetic elements and handsome plant combinations."
—Alice Joyce, Booklist, May 28, 2003 (Booklist )

Good ... on the designingthespace issue. Jamaica Kincaid, New York Times, June 1, 2003 (The New York Times )

The author imparts a working knowledge of how plants grow in nature. Science News, July 5, 2003 (Science News )

Whether in a city or modest suburban yard, or a country environment, Kingsbury's sound advice orients gardeners towards thinking and planning in terms of an ecosystem as they develop a design scheme that joins together aesthetic elements and handsome plant combinations. Alice Joyce, Booklist, May 28, 2003 (Booklist )

Customer Reviews

Perfect for the small garden
I have a townhouse and very little room to garden, but I've long desired to plan a garden that would blend in with the woods that back up to our house. This book has given me my inspiration and has cemented my decision to plan a garden that will be both natural, peaceful and beautiful. It may take a while, but I'll do it thanks to this book. Have no garden space at all? They even cover that in the "Natural Gardening without a Garden".

My All-Time Favorite Garden Design Book
Of the too many gardening books I've purchased, this one has transformed me. It opened my eyes to plant groupings that are natural (often native) and pleasing the year round. The illustrations are very beautiful and really do convey what Kingsbury describes. There is also plenty of useful data to help identify the plants that suit each environment. I bought this years ago and continue to return to it for both inspiration and information.

Emphasis on natural
Kingsbury writes of creating habitat for insects and hedgehogs as well as people, of selecting plants for your soil and water conditions. (He even writes on what grows best in gravel and in bogs.) This book encourages gardeners to be curious and to experiment. It is for those artists who create with plants.