Over time on the blog we have mentioned ideas that will assist you in creating an eco garden. There is however an easier way and it involves buying a book entitled ‘How to Create An Eco Garden: The practical guide to greener, planet friendly gardening’ by John Walker. Filled with detailed illustrations and simple instructions this book makes a great resource for the beginner through to experienced gardeners who wish to take on a more environmental conscious stance to how they garden.
Each page of this planet-friendly book is bursting with inspirational ideas for creating your own eco garden on any scale from a small courtyard to a large garden or allotment. Find out how to make soil-building compost from kitchen and household waste, how to save energy by harvesting rainwater, and how to utilize sunlight in your garden. Discover earth-friendly organic techniques that improve biodiversity and attract pest-eating animals and insects. Learn about the value of using recycled and reclaimed materials for landscaping.
Six eco garden greenprints, each packed with environmentally friendly ideas, include a city courtyard, an intensive food garden, dry and rain gardens, and an eco allotment. Find out how to grow food, from microgreens and potatoes to vertical vegetables and fruits. Simple and fun projects include making a pond and a wildlife hotel, turning a lawn into a wildflower meadow, and planting a fedge.
A fully illustrated directory of 80 plant species will help you to choose the best plants for your eco garden, from flowers for attracting beneficial insects to shrubs that provide winter food for birds. A calendar of care shows you at a glance what jobs need doing and when throughout the year.
Packed with hands-on practical advice, 500 specially commissioned photographs and original illustrations, this eco-friendly book is for everyone who wants to have a beautiful and productive backyard that wont cost the earth.
The Author John Walker is an award-winning gardening and environmental writer with over 30 years experience in horticulture, teaching and garden media. He trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, where he was awarded the Kew Diploma in Horticulture. He was features/deputy editor of Garden Answers magazine, and contributing editor of Kitchen Garden magazine. His long-running Digging Deeper column, exploring the connections between gardening and our environment, first appeared in Organic Gardening magazine in 2006. John also writes about greener gardening for national newspapers and magazines in the UK, including The Telegraph, and for the Royal Horticultural Society’s journal The Garden. He wrote Weeds: An Earth-Friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control and The Bed & Border Planner, and contributed to the Garden Organic Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. John is currently making an earth-friendly eco garden at his home in North Wales. He won the British Garden Media Guild Environmental Award in 2007 and 2010.
www.earthfriendlygardener.net