Forest Gardening: Rediscovering Nature and Community in a Post-industrial Age - Softcover

Robert Hart

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1900322021 ISBN 13: 9781900322027

Publisher: Green Books, 1996

Synopsis

Forest gardening is a way of working with Nature which is not only productive and requires minimal maintenance, but creates great environmental benefits. As Herbert Girardet says in his Foreword, "Robert Hart was a rare person . . . For decades he waged a lonely battle for life, patiently writing books and articles and quietly planting trees on his small farm in Shropshire. Robert created a magnificent forest garden which had a profound influence on the way people have cultivated their own land. It was a garden dedicated to human needs for fruit, nuts, vegetables and plant medicines. But it was at the same time a celebration of the myriad interactions of life; for it was based on profound observations, both intuitive and scientific, of how different life forms interact in order to stimulate and support one another."

About this title

Review

"Forest Gardening is a worthy successor which has brought the essence of all his previous writings together... His own back garden has over a hundred different species and variety of plants... Robert Hart has written an invaluable philosophical manual for the practice of Self Sufficiency and the Good Life ahead." - -- Rodney Aitchtey, The Vegetarian

"Robert Hart's tiny forest garden in Shropshire, covering no more than an eighth of an acre, is quite unlike anything I have seen in Britain or elsewhere in Europe. It is almost tropical in its lushness and fertility, and overflows with an abundant and tantalising variety of things to eat... An inspirational, optimistic book." -- Fiona Anderson, Tree News

From the Back Cover

Based on the model of a healthy natural woodland, a forest garden incorporates a wide variety of useful plants, including fruit and nut trees, perennial herbs, and vegetables. Robert Hart's book beautifully describes his decades of experience gardening in the Shropshire countryside. The principles of "backyard permaculture" he has developed can be applied successfully in every temperate zone of North America, helping to transform even a small cottage garden into a diverse and hospitable habitat for songbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Blending history, philosophy, anthropology, and seasoned gardening wisdom in a lucid sequence of essays, Forest Gardening examines the pleasure of "hands off" as well as hands-on gardening. This book offers fresh ways of understanding the relationships between people and growing plants. For gardeners who aspire to create ecological as well as beautiful gardens, Forest Gardening will be an inspiration and a pleasure.|Chelsea Green, America's leading publisher of books for sustainable living, has just published an exciting new book for gardeners. This book includes:
-- Design guidelines for creating a perennial, food-producing garden
-- Recommended plants & varieties
-- A guide to the interaction of trees & ground covers in a healthy & productive landscape

Forest gardening is a way of working alongside nature - an approach that results in great productivity with minimal maintenance, and a method for transforming even a small backyard garden into a diverse and inviting habitat.

About this edition

• Publisher: Green Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1900322021
• ISBN 13: 9781900322027
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 224