The Accidental Garden is a unique book that focuses on why we always tend to think of private gardens as ‘ours’ when in fact, they are of course belonging to the natural world. It is bees that pollinate our food (not us) so we can learn to share our outdoor spaces with all those who benefit.
Use no-dig methods and fruit protection bags (over netting) to help wildlife. And learn how to make your garden safe for pets (use safe humane slug/snail deterrents). For indoor growing, never face indoor foliage to gardens (to help stop birds flying into windows).
Gardens do not ‘belong to us’. They are also occupied by other creatures who all have their own lives to lead. The conflict between these two power bases is a microcosm of what is happening in the larger world (i.e war).
Rooted in the daily drama of his own Norfolk garden, the ‘godfather of nature writing’ offers a different scenario, where nature becomes an equal partner. Against a background of disordered seasons, he watches his ‘accidental garden’ re-organising itself:
- Ants sow cowslip seeds in parched grass
- Moorhens take to nesting in trees
- A self-seeded rose springs up in the gravel
The garden becomes a place of cultural and ecological fusion, and perhaps a metaphor for a troubled planet.
The government has made a vague pledge to conserve thirty percent of land for nature. But things are going in the opposite direction. There are no new green spaces here, and every indicator of biological health is collapsing.
about the author
Richard Mabey is one of England’s greatest nature writers. He is author of 30 books and a regular commentator of on radio. He is an elected Fellow in the Royal Society of Literature.
