Toby Hemenway Gaia's Garden

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The first edition of Gaias Garden sparked the imagination of Americas home gardeners, introducing permacultures 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 gardeningwhich involves growing a wide range of edible and other useful plantscan take place only on a large, multiacre scale. As Hemenway demonstrates, its fun and easy to create a backyard ecosystem by assembling communities of plants that can work cooperatively and perform a variety of functions, including:Building and maintaining soil fertility and structureCatching and conserving water in the landscapeProviding habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animalsGrowing an edible forest that yields seasonal fruits, nuts, and other foodsThis 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 its established, an ecological garden will reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work thats needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden.