Nettles and Petals: Grow Food. Eat Weeds. Save Seeds.

Horticulturist Walton debuts with a comprehensive primer on sustainable gardening. Explaining how “companion planting” takes advantage of symbiotic relationships between plants, he describes, for instance, how corn stalks can provide a “natural trellis for beans to climb” while the beans “fix nitrogen in the soil.” He also advocates for “circular gardening,” which involves mitigating waste through such methods as creating mulch from unwanted plant matter and harvesting rainwater for use in irrigation systems. Flowers can be as practical as they are pretty, Walton contends, suggesting that planting daffodils can attract pollinators that boost crop yields, while nasturtiums produce compounds that repel aphids, whiteflies, and other harmful insects. The guidance upends conventional wisdom, as when he notes that weeds typically crop up to “repair soil imbalances” and encourages gardeners to address the underlying conditions fueling weed growth instead of simply plucking them out (the presence of clover, for instance, indicates a lack of nitrogen that might be corrected by planting legumes). He also offers innovative ideas to get around the need for harmful pesticides and chemicals, suggesting that gardeners might lure slugs and snails away from crops with “sacrificial” lettuce or marigold plants, which the mollusks prefer. Readers will learn much from Walton’s original and more holistic approach to gardening. (Apr.)