Collins Wildlife Gardener

The Collins Wildlife Gardener offers lots of useful information about how to transform a garden into a habitat for wildlife. Beginning with an interesting discussion about what ‘wildlife gardening’ actually is, this is followed by a chapter looking at how to attract wildlife to a garden, which includes tables detailing what plants to grow to attract butterflies and moths and advice on attracting groups from birds to fungi. There is a section on managing wildlife habitats, which discusses flower beds, hedges, trees, shrubberies, lawns and vegetable plots and throughout the book there are lots of specific lists to guide the reader in choosing what species to plant or habitats to create for their desired results. The book is very well pitched, offering advice to both those wanting to create the optimum wildlife habitat from their garden and also providing guidance to those with small gardens who wish to make simple changes to improve it. This is a lovely book with some superb pictures making it a great ‘coffee table’ book to flick through. However, more importantly, it is also a very interesting and useful read, providing lots of detailed information on how to transform a garden into a wildlife-friendly area.

Book reviewed by Sarah Eglington