The first edition of Gaiais Garden sparked the
imagination of Americais home gardeners, introducing
permacultureis central message: Working with Nature, not
against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and
forgiving gardens. This extensively revised and expanded
second edition broadens the reach and depth of the
permaculture approach for urban and suburban growers.
Many people mistakenly think that ecological
gardeningowhich involves growing a wide range of edible
and other useful plantsocan take place only on a large,
multiacre scale. As Hemenway demonstrates, itis fun and
easy to create a ibackyard ecosystemi by assembling
communities of plants that can work cooperatively and
perform a variety of functions, including: * Building
and maintaining soil fertility and structure * Catching
and conserving water in the landscape * Providing
habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals *
Growing an edible iforesti that yields seasonal fruits,
nuts, and other foods This revised and updated edition
also features a new chapter on urban permaculture,
designed especially for people in cities and suburbs who
have very limited growing space.Whatever size yard or
garden you have to work with, you can apply basic
permaculture principles to make it more diverse, more
natural, more productive, and more beautiful. Best of
all, once itis established, an ecological garden will
reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work thatis
needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden. |
|