Book description
How did plants get to be the way they are? Why do they have pretty
flowers? How different would things have been if the wrong kind of
pollinators had got the upper hand? Why are Latin names so
complicated, and why Latin anyway? Why is a weed-free lawn an
ecological impossibility?
This entertaining book gives the answers to these questions and many
more. It shows how a little botanical knowledge can bring not just
better results but peace of mind, and that losing sleep over such
traditional gardening bogeys as weeds, pests and pruning is not
necessarily the best course.
In this new edition Ken Thompson grabs the opportunity to explain
why any old plant will do for companion planting - but also that it
can do as much harm as good - and why planting by the moon is complete
and utter nonsense.
Ken Thompson
is a plant ecologist. He is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Animal
and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield where he was a key
member of the first of two 'Biodiversity of Urban Gardens' (BUGS)
projects investigating the significance of urban gardens as habitats for
'natural' biodiversity. He has written over one hundred articles for
scientific journals and writes regularly for several gardening
magazines, including
The Garden
and
Gardens Monthly
. He is also the author of the equally charming and critically acclaimed
NO NETTLES REQUIRED: The Truth about Wildlife Gardening.
