How to Create an Eco Garden: The Practical Guide to Sustainable and Greener Gardening

Botanical teacher Walker (Weeds: An Organic, Earth-friendly Guide to Their Identification, Use and Control) devotes this encouraging work to laying out an approach to gardening that takes into account one’s own yard space and the surrounding ecosystem as a whole—what he calls “the web of life.” Walker addresses different reasons for setting up a garden—food cultivation, landscape design, or flower planting, among others—and different stages of the process of creating and maintaining a garden, including tool selection, sowing seeds, and fighting pests without using pesticide. Walker further covers proper soil preparation, using compost, harvesting rainwater, and maximizing sun exposure, all with sustainability in mind. He discusses how to make one’s garden into an inviting space for wildlife (though not if one is aiming primarily to raise food, in which case he includes fences in the garden plan). Allowing a section of lawn to grow wild, he notes, will encourage butterflies to visit, while shrubs and trees can provide birds with roosting and nesting spots. Throughout, Walker uses diagrams, color photos, and step-by-step instructions to illustrate his points. His well-stocked primer will ensure that, with persistence and patience, even the average backyard putterer can create an environmentally sustainable garden. (June)