The Nature-Friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife and People

Many people approach gardening as a constant struggle with the outside world. They're perpetually at war with nature, investing in weed killers and fighting off deer and birds, all in an effort to preserve their garden as a pristine patch of earth. Marlene A. Condon proposes a radically different method: What if, instead of battling the natural world, we invite it into our backyards? The result is the nature-friendly garden, which attracts and meets the needs of common creatures--rabbits, toads, insects, squirrels, owls, and so on--while maintaining a thriving, varied landscape of flowers and plants. And as this thought-provoking guide demonstrates, coexisting with nature doesn't mean turning your yard into a bramble-infested wilderness. The sustainable, low-impact garden described in these pages is a model of environmental balance, fostering species diversity while keeping wildlife damage and invasive plant growth at an acceptable minimum. Best of all, it offers a privileged look at the workings of nature, and its advice on observing wildlife is sure to open up a new and fascinating world for even the most experienced gardener.