The Natural History of a Garden

Colin Spedding thought that he knew what went on in his garden until he really started to look. He was aware that he had jackdaws in the chimney, wasps in the roof space and three species of woodpecker nesting in trees. One day, he invited into his garden a class of local schoolchildren for whom he devised cunning methods of locating small mammals, insects, and even tiny pond crustaceans. Over the years he opened the door on a new world, one that had been there all the time but he had simply not seen. To see wildlife in your garden you have to know what is there, what it looks like, and what it might be doing at any given time. The book opens with advice on how to hone observational skills so you recognize not just the insects but also their predators, and take note of the diversity of pollinators from the familiar honey-bees to the low-temperature bumble-bees and late-night moths. After plants and animals there follow similarly detailed studies of soil, seasonal change, ecology, water and garden visitors. The book?s principles apply to gardens anywhere in the world although the species and events observed will obviously vary with the garden?s location.

The Natural History of a Garden will enhance the garden naturalist's awareness with its strange-but-true facts, extraordinary statistics and fascinating revelations into how a garden works.

Author: Colin Spedding and Geoffrey Spedding
Publisher: Timber Press
Extra Details: Hardback 7 x 10 inches tall.256 Pages. Illustrated with Colour Photos.NEW.