The No-Work Garden

This book is about deciding what you want and identifying the least labour-intensive way of achieving it. Back-breaking digging may not be necessary. Plan before you proceed and you can use nature and common-sense to garden throughout the seasons. * You can have show quality fruit and veg, or you can have smaller crops and less perfect fruit. * You can have a bowling-green lawn or somewhere less perfect for the children to play. Allow sweeping curves and less edging. * Rich ecological systems with wildlife interest prevent laborious work in spraying crops with pesticides for effective fruiting. Organised to cope with both the tiny backyard as well as the quarter acre of land, this book is divided into chapters on LABOUR-SAVING TECHNIQUES, MOWING, WEED CONTROL, DIGGING, HOUSE PLANTS, THE FLOWER GARDEN, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, WILDLIFE AND LESS HARD WORK THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

Table of Contents:
Why make hard work?; ways to save work; make mowing easier; effortless weed control; no more digging; don't waste time killing house plants; saving effort in flower gardens; don't kill your plants with kindness; pick more fruit for least work; grow more vegetables for least work; encouraging wildlife (and getting it to do the work); making gardening easier throughout the year.

About the Author :
Bob Flowerdew has gardened organically for over 20 years and is Britain's foremost authority on organic gardening methods. He is constantly experimenting with new species and ways of labour-saving now that his back is beginning to hurt! He broadcasts on radio and television and lectures widely across the country.

Review :
Anyone wanting a fantastic garden to relax in and enjoy with hardly any work involved should read this book. Famed for his organic practices, Bob Flowerdew freely admits to wanting more time to loaf around in his garden and luckily for him most organic practices are not labour-intensive thereby gaining the gardener the best of both worlds. A no-dig philosophy sounds great to the spade-shirker but it works. Apply a yearly mulch and let the worms do the work and you will notice the improvement the following season with results way beyond your expectations for such a little outlay. Don't mow the lawn so short and so often and you will find it stays greener in even the hottest of weather. Group your houseplants together for beneficial results and less watering. After chapters on saving energy on these, Bob reaches his favourite topic of fruit and vegetable production, explaining how to produce what you need rather than producing to impress the neighbours. A combination of sound commonsense, wildlife friendly cultivation and crops to eat make this the perfect gift for the overworked or lazy gardener who would like a better garden but hasn't the time or energy.