Creating Your Eco-Friendly Garden (2008)

 

In Volume 10.3 (May-June 2008) Australian Turfgrass Management reviewed Kevin Handreck’s most recent offering titled Good Gardens with Less Water. Written as a practical guide to gardening with limited water, it was the first book in a series of gardening guides to published by the CSIRO.

Creating Your Eco-friendly Garden, by Mary Horsfall, is the second guide in the series and outlines the steps to develop an environmentally friendly garden for little cost. Practically written, it is based on the author’s first-hand experience as well as the wealth of knowledge she has amassed working at Grass Roots, a popular Australian self-sufficiency magazine.

Running to 168 pages, the fully-illustrated book offers advice on planning a garden, choosing plants, planting times, watering options and pest management following organic principles. It explains how to assess the soil and microclimatic effects of surrounding buildings and vegetation so that you can determine the style of garden that best suits your property.

Water efficiency, biodiversity, soil conservation, use of native and biodiversity-friendly plants, organic methods, use of recycled materials and avoidance of environmental weeds are themes that feature strongly throughout the book, and will appeal to gardeners/landscapers with strong environmental values.

As Horsfall espouses in her introduction: “We humans too often unthinkingly have a negative environmental impact; we use the earth’s resources, leaving nothing but waste in their stead and fail to consider the importance of the natural systems that are essential to our survival. It is within our power to reduce our environmental impact, and creating an eco-friendly garden is a great way to start.

“Our gardens can continuously improve and replenish the soil, use no damaging chemical fertilisers or pesticides, be water efficient, incorporate pre-used materials where possible, include native and indigenous plants and be biodiversity-friendly.”

The book begins with a look at the general concepts of site assessment and goal setting before looking at the importance of biodiversity. Following chapters deal with plant selection, preparation and construction and planting. There are also chapters discussing waterwise options, safe solutions to pest problems and drought proofing. The book also includes a glossary of terms as well as a handy reference guide of waterwise plants which are suited to particular situations.

Although Creating Your Eco-Friendly Garden is targeted mainly at enthusiastic home gardeners and new home owners, it will also have value for horticulture students, landscapers and other horticulture professionals responsible for construction and maintenance of garden areas who are looking at ways of doing so in an environmentally sustainable manner.