Gardening Science

Exploding myths and offering research-backed advice, this audiobook provides a shortcut to decades of gardening experience by explaining the science behind how a garden grows. Why does my cherry tree blossom but never fruit? What's the most effective slug deterrent? Could I breed my own unique variety of flower? The world of gardening can be a mystifying place, with so many instructions to follow and often little explanation as to why.

Embarking on your gardening journey is an exciting adventure, filled with daily wonders from the sight of blossoming flowers to the satisfaction of tasting homegrown produce. However, as a novice gardener, worries about soil health, maximizing crop yields, and addressing climate impact may dampen your enthusiasm. The key to overcoming these challenges lies in understanding the simple science of soil.

Since his early days of plant restoration, amateur plant scientist Matt Candeias has been enchanted with flora and the greater environmental ecology of the planet. Now, he looks at the study of plants through the lens of his ever-growing houseplant collection.

Call it "Zen and the Art of Farming" or a "Little Green Book", Masanobu Fukuoka's manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book "is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical."

As development and subsequent habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. But there is an important and simple step toward reversing this alarming trend: Everyone with access to a patch of earth can make a significant contribution toward sustaining biodiversity. Bringing Nature Home has sparked a national conversation about the link between healthy local ecosystems and human well-being, and this audio edition will help broaden the movement. By acting on Douglas Tallamy's practical recommendations, everyone can make a difference.

To grow produce of the highest nutritional quality the essential minerals lacking in our soil must be replaced, but this re-mineralization calls for far more attention to detail than the simple addition of composted manure or NPK fertilizers. The Intelligent Gardener demystifies the process, while simultaneously debunking much of the false and misleading information perpetuated by both the conventional and organic agricultural movements. In doing so, it conclusively establishes the link between healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people.

Plant Science for Gardeners empowers growers to analyze common problems, find solutions, and make better decisions in the garden for optimal plant health and productivity. Most gardeners learn by accumulating rules–water once a week, never dry out snowdrop bulbs, prune lilacs after flowering, plant garlic in October—the list is endless. There is a better way.

Finding herself in a new home in Brighton, Kate Bradbury sets about transforming her barren backyard into a beautiful wildlife garden. But while she's doing this Kate's neighbours continue to pave their gardens, the wildlife she tries to save is further threatened and she feels she's fighting an uphill battle. Is there any point in gardening for wildlife when everyone else is drowning the land in poison and cement? If the dead could return, what would they say about the land we have taken, the ancient routes we have carved up, the wildlife we have lost?

You may think you don’t have the time or the money to start a big permaculture project. But permaculture doesn’t need to be overwhelming. You can start as small as you like, and you can move at a pace that suits you. Don’t feel you have to learn everything in one go and rush out to transform a whole wilderness in a year. Just deal in manageable chunks, and you’ll do just fine. Even if all you have done is tend to a few tomato plants on your window ledge, you can become an expert gardener; all it takes is a little time, patience, and practice.

Self-confessed bad birdwatcher Simon Barnes thought he knew nothing about plants. He didn't object to them: trees are interesting, because birds perch in them; plants are useful as they create habitats and birds live in habitats. But while admiring the tenacity of some sea kale and yellow-horned poppy to thrive on an inhospitable shingle beach, he was struck by a truth - it all begins with plants. In this funny and inspiring book, Simon Barnes tells the story of a lifelong relationship with plants, and the realisation of the fact.

Canadian botanist, biochemist, and visionary Diana Beresford-Kroeger's startling insights into the hidden life of trees have already sparked a quiet revolution in how we understand our relationship to forests. Now, in a captivating account of how her life led her to these illuminating and crucial ideas, she shows us how forests can not only heal us but save the planet.

Would your garden, small or large, in town or country, win a prize? Is there room for improvement? Everybody has favourite plants, but the ability to put them all together to ensure a splendid show throughout the year is a skill that must be acquired. The Well-Chosen Garden will guide you to making the most of your available space, help you avoid untimely gaps, colour clashes and many other pitfalls of garden planning.

The Plant Hunter's Atlas is a volume telling some of the most extraordinary tales of horticultural discovery and exploring the characters behind the stories. Taking in the world's inhabited continents and spanning the centuries, the stories range from tales of derring-do in the age of discovery to modern-day botanists working at the cutting-edge of science. The text explores how plant hunters have been inspired by everything from scientific curiosity to economic greed, and their own ingrained sense of adventure.

When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains plants and then become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of toxic substances. Teaming with Microbes offers an alternative to this vicious circle and details how to garden in a way that strengthens, rather than destroys, the soil food web. You’ll discover that healthy soil is teeming with life - not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms.

A garden fork. Preferably forged from a single piece of steel. Not because, given a good enough shove, its tines would pierce a zombie's skull as easily as an overripe melon but because come the end of the world, gardening will be what saves your skin. This book, which is aimed at beginners and more seasoned gardeners alike, will tell you what you need; provide the basics of gardening language and technique; provide a planting plan; debunk gardening myths; and show you how to preserve your food and grow your own medicine even if there are no zombies around.

The Garden Jungle is about the wildlife that lives right under our noses, in our gardens and parks, between the gaps in the pavement and in the soil beneath our feet. Wherever you are right now, the chances are that there are worms, woodlice, centipedes, flies, silverfish, wasps, beetles, mice, shrews and much, much more, quietly living within just a few paces of you.

Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life is the first work to explore the origins of Beatrix Potter's love of gardening and plants and show how this passion came to be reflected in her work.

Taking us back to that exhilarating - and often dangerous - moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what it was they'd discovered, we see gases as the formative substances of our modern world. From how nitrous oxide and chloroform get into our bloodstream and affect our neural pathways to the gases that make plants grow and flowers smell through to the carbon-fuelled climate crisis, Mark Miodownik masterfully reveals this invisible world through his unique brand of scientific storytelling.

Whether your garden is big or small or you are a complete beginner, building raised beds can help you achieve the perfect garden. It offers many benefits over traditional gardening, including—improving the drainage, being able to manage the quality of the soil, extending your growing season, along with many more. And you don’t need to be an expert to build and manage raised beds.

In 1637, one Dutchman paid as much for a single tulip bulb as the going price of a town house in Amsterdam. Three and a half centuries later, Amsterdam is once again the mecca for people who care passionately about one particular plant—though this time the obsessions revolves around the intoxicating effects of marijuana rather than the visual beauty of the tulip. How could flowers, of all things, become such objects of desire that they can drive men to financial ruin?