Climate-Wise Landscaping is a super book written by expert landscapers. You can use this book for a new garden or to retro-scape an existing garden. In a nutshell, it uses garden landscaping knowledge with planet-friendly expertise, so you can design a garden more akin to how it should be nature.
It’s best to avoid gravel paving near pets, as it can get stuck in paws. For dirty paving slabs, a pressure water using just water should usually suffice.
For professional cleaning, Delphis Eco Patio & Stone Cleaner is safer, but still keep away from children and pets (you can also use it to clean headstones, to avoid toxic alternatives).
Use no-dig gardening to protect wildlife. Use fruit protection bags (over netting which can trap birds and wildlife). Learn how to create gardens safe for pets (use humane slug/snail deterrents). Read how to help stop birds flying into windows.
For instance, you’ll know where to plant (or replant) trees to let the light in or give shade (to save on heating and cooling bills indoors) plus learn how to plant to avoid floods or waterlogged soil, and where to find plants that need less water etc.
Create cleaner water and air, with no need for expensive tools or purchases. And naturally support habitats of birds, butterflies, pollinators and other wildlife.
- Lawns – reducing climate impact & maintenance
- Trees & shrubs – cooling the air, storing carbon, providing habitat
- Water – dealing with too little or too much
- Ecosystems – carbon storage & supporting wildlife
- Soil – productivity and carbon issues
- Planning & design – for practicality and comfort
- Herbaceous plants – shrinking their carbon footprint
- Urban issues – heat island effect & promoting nature
- Food – local food and reduced CO2 emissions
- Materials – climate footprints of landscaping options
The volume of information here is impressive, each action accompanied by an explanation of why it’s important. Many suggestions (beyond stop using pesticides, reduce irrigation, replace non-native plants) aim to minimise damage from fire, flood and storm). Ann Heidemann
Sue Reed is a registered landscape architect with 30 years experience in designing sustainable landscapes. She lives in Massachusetts, USA. Ginny Stibolt manages a sustainable gardening blog in Florida, USA.
A Year in a Small Garden is a book that follows BBC Gardener’s World presenter Frances Tophill, as she creates her new garden in a Devon terraced house. See how she brings her garden to life, plus find tips to build small community gardens, providing free food for people local to you.
Focusing on sustainable garden, her bachelor’s degree in horticulture and experience working in royal botanic gardens is sure to inspire.
Frances Tophill is a horticulturalist, conservationist, author and presenter on BBC Gardener’s World. She studied at Scottish Agricultural College and Royal Botanic Garden (Edinburgh. She also works with Royal Horticultural Society’s campaign for school gardening to promote gardening to young people, and is also a keen quilter and amateur potter.
How to Grow a Garden is a lovely book to grow your own garden. Wander through 20 diverse spaces containing more than 100 plants that each make the world a better place in a different way. Some have the power to heal, some nourish, while others help to repair and restore Planet Earth.
How Climate Change Is Affecting Wild Gardens
One Garden Against the World is the story of how the author looks for positive ways to keep going in a changing world of climate-change anxiety, through caring for her mother and rescuing her dog.
Her garden is home to red mason bees and bumblebees, house sparrows, hedgehogs and dragonflies. And the entire frog population of Brighton & Hove seems to breed in her small pond each spring, and there are toads now too.
On summer evenings, she watches bats flit above her and for a moment, all is right with the world.
But with habitat loss and rising temperatures, she worries what it means for wildlife. This is a call-to-action for gardeners, communities and individuals to help wildlife and the climate. If we work together, it’s not too late to make a difference.
In my 20s I lived in Manchester on the sixth floor of a block of council flats, just off the A57. I grew sweetcorn, tomatoes and courgettes in pots on the balcony. I worked in pubs and clubs in Manchester’s gay village and walked home in the early hours, keys poked through my clenched fist to protect me from would-be attackers.
And I would see hedgehogs. It never occurred to me that the hedgehogs might be in trouble, foraging beneath the ring road. It occurred to me only that their presence was magical.
Years later I had a job in Manchester, and walked to the estate where I used to live. The flats had had a makeover. The balconies were now sealed with airtight windows that presumably made them warmer and more soundproof.
The gardens of the houses had been paved over and there seemed to be more space for parking. It wasn’t just the people who would be suffering from the lack of green space. I wondered how the hedgehogs were getting on.
Kate Bradbury is an award-winning writer on wildlife gardener, the wildlife editor for BBC Gardeners’ World magazine, and a regular columnist for newspapers. She and her garden have appears on BBC Springwatch and Autumnwatch. She lives in Sussex.
Inside Kate’s wild garden, lies the key to a gentle revolution. This beautiful story recognises the power we have to support our wildlife and climate, through the humble act of cherishing our gardens.
Each leaf, flower and animal that makes its home within Kate’s wild sanctuary is a symbol of hope and resilience. This book is empowering. It’s joyous. Megan McCubbin
Kate shows how a single person has the power to change things, and how tiny actions combine to make a big difference. She is defending our beautiful planet and its wildlife, one caterpillar at a time. Pam Ayres
Choosing the Right Location
- Do some parts bask in sunlight while others remain in shade? Most plants thrive with a minimum of six hours of sun, so position your garden accordingly.
- Strong winds can disrupt your garden experience and damage delicate plants. Look for natural windbreaks like fences, walls, or larger trees that can shield your sanctuary.
- You can also plant sturdy shrubs or create low hedges to protect your space from gusts. With the right protection, your garden can be a serene oasis rather than a chaotic whirlwind.
- Consider how easy it is to access your garden sanctuary. A convenient location invites you to spend more time there. Additionally, think about the views.
- You’ll want to ensure your sanctuary offers a pleasing sight, whether it’s a beautiful flower arrangement or a charming seating area.
From the Caribbean (to a country garden)
Uprooting is the interesting story of a woman who ‘uprooted’ from her home in Trinidad, to move to the English countryside, where she found she was the only black woman in the village. Winner of the Nan Shepherd Prize, this book looks at the relationship with her garden deepens, as she discovers her conflicting identities are more intertwined than she knew.
England is known as a (mostly) welcoming nation to immigrants, but the author does not shy away from the roots of England’s history including colonialism. This book is full of hope and healing, inviting us to reconnect not just with the land but with ourselves.
I cannot shake the feeling that we are somehow meant to be here. And here they are on the floor before me, delicate and small, but unmistakably fresh flowers. Their pale pink colour seems out of place in the grey and brown of an English winter.
I notice a shrub tucked into the corner a building, next to the front door. It is midwinter, and yet its branches are covered in tiny bunches of flowers. I do not believe I have ever seen such a thing. Or have never noticed. The garden has offered us a welcome bouquet.
Marchelle Farrell is a therapist, writer and amateur gardener. Born in Trinidad & Tobago, she has spent 20 years in the UK, and spends much of her time in her Somerset country garden.
A beautiful memoir that shows how gardens can be a place to plant our most troubled feelings, to put own roots and find peace. Katherine May
