Gaia's Garden - Toby Hemenway

The first edition of Gaia’s Garden sparked the imagination of America’s home gardeners, introducing permaculture’s 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.

As Hemenway demonstrates, it’s 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 structure
* Catching and conserving water in the landscape
* Providing habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals
* Growing an edible “forest” that yields seasonal fruits, nuts, and other foods

Once it’s established, an ecological garden will reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work that’s needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden.