KG Bookshelf: November 2011

Waterwise gardening

In an age when we can no longer take water for granted even in Britain, an invaluable book for gardeners has been published which promises to give you a garden that is largely independent of mains water – and which is also more attractive, productive and beneficial to wildlife.

A Guide to Waterwise Gardening by landscape architect and environmental planner Michael Littlewood introduces the different aspects of water use and water conservation in the garden, showing you both how to use less water and how to save more – vital as summer droughts become increasingly common.

This comprehensive and extremely user-friendly little book covers waterwise garden design, water-efficient gardening techniques, rainwater harvesting and household water recycling.

It is a book which deals in a very practical way with the global and moral issues of using water wisely from an author and writer with extensive experience of organic gardening and sustainable land use projects around the world.

A Guide to Waterwise Gardening is published by Michael Littlewood at Ecodesignscape in softback priced £11.95.

ISBN: 978-0-9563628-4-1

WHO IS IT FOR?

All gardeners who care about the wider issues involved in gardening and the environment.

★★★★

Definitive guide on pruning

The excellent and long established Royal Horticultural Society book, RHS Pruning and Training has been updated and the revised edition applies the latest best practice to pruning over 800 species of plants.

The book gives clear practical guidance in a step by step format with colour illustrations and photographs.

Plants are grouped and then listed alphabetically so the book is easy to navigate. Detailed information is provided on the growth habits and particular needs of individual plants and specialist pruning techniques are included, RHS Pruning and Training, new edition, by Christopher Brickell and David Joyce is published in hardback by Dorling Kindersley Ltd priced £19.99.

ISBN 978-1-4053-6312-9

WHO IS IT FOR?

Those wanting a definitive practical guide to pruning trees, shrubs and climbers.

★★★★★

Community orchards

Working with nature to grow our own food and enjoy our natural environment as a community has become sadly lacking in our modern world, especially in the urban ‘jungle’.

But there are pioneers out there who are trying to put things right – and two of them, environmental experts and prolific authors Sue Clifford and Angela King, have produced a gem of a book in Community Orchards Handbook.

They founded the award-winning environmental charity Common Ground in 1982/3 with Roger Deakin. It offers imaginative ideas for people to progress for themselves in their own places, learning by doing, and is supported by many funding bodies.

The idea of community orchards was initiated in 1992, leading on from the beginnings of the popular apple days, and this indispensable and inspiring handbook is an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in locally produced food in a community setting and preserving and planting orchards.

The Community Orchards Handbook is published by Green Books in softback, priced £14.95.

ISBN: 978-1-900322-92-8

WHO IS IT FOR?

Anyone interested in their environment, their food and their community.

★★★★

For more reviews, see this months issue, available to buy online!