The Ecological Gardener: How to Create Beauty and Biodiversity from the Soil Up

British garden designer Rees-Warren puts “ecological considerations above all else” in his passionate debut on understanding gardens’ function as the “great green lungs of every nation.” Championing a mindset that favors responding to a landscape, Rees-Warren argues for fostering ecosystems rather than creating gardens that work against nature: “abandon minimalism and monocultures” and observe what’s already happening, he advises. Rees-Warren points out the damage caused by nonorganic fertilizer, overcultivation, and wild habitat destruction, and offers pointers on testing soil, drainage, different methods for composting, creating meadows, harvesting rainwater, and recycling waste water from home appliances. He also touts the importance of caring for native species that support resident and migratory birds, honeybees, and butterflies. (U.S. readers, though, should be prepared for discussions of plants native to England and metric measurements.) Throughout, the author makes a convincing case that while reimagining one’s way of gardening may seem like a small thing, it can have an outsize impact on Earth’s ecological crisis. Gardeners with a zero-waste mindset will find much to be excited by. (Apr.)