In 2003 a MORI poll for the Royal Horticultural Society revealed that an extraordinary number of us are interested in attracting wildlife into our gardens. It also indicated, however, that many of us have no idea how to go about it. Information is sparse, and public opinion seems to suggest that gardens that are plentiful in wildlife are unattractive, expensive to upkeep and hard work to maintain. But this couldn't be further from the truth. In this illuminating book, Ken Thompson explains that encouraging wildlife is actually entirely compatible with ordinary gardening, costs next to nothing and is almost completely effortless. Packed with helpful hints and tips, the book shows us how easy it is to fill our gardens with everything from foxes, frogs and mice to butterflies, ladybirds and literally thousands of fascinating creepy-crawlies. Why should we? Because we'll be promoting the biodiversity of the UK, we'll be reconnecting with nature, getting more from our gardens, and we'll be doing our plants a favour.

I opened my mouth and it came. It wasn't a cry, or even a sob. It came from deep in my soul... It was the sound of a mother helpless to save her child from danger. I asked the same unanswered questions over and again. Where was he? Where was my Damien? On 2 November 1996, sixteen-year-old Damien Nettles went out for the evening in his home town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. CCTV recorded him in a chip shop at 23:40 and on the High Street just after midnight. He has never been seen since. His mother, Valerie, has spent over two decades desperately trying to find out what happened to her son. Arrests have been made, and suspects released without charge. Despite years of research by journalists and a private investigator, Damien's vanishing remains a mystery. In this hugely moving and compelling account, Valerie Nettles tells the full, perplexing story of her son's disappearance. Someone must know what happened to Damien. Will the truth ever emerge from the shadows?

How much do we really know about the species that make up the natural world? All over the world, biodiversity is gravely threatened – by overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change. Yet life on Earth has previously experienced five episodes of mass extinction, and nature has repeatedly proved itself to be a resilient, regenerative force. In this fascinating book, ecologist Dr. Ken Thompson surveys the Earth's biodiversity, its origins and some of the threats it currently faces. Thought-provoking and deeply engaging, Do We Need Pandas? offers a non-technical overview of our ecosystems and expands on the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss. Importantly, it also examines what we should be doing to secure the survival not only of the species with which we share the planet, but of ourselves – and whether we need to be more concerned about ecosystems as a whole than about iconic species such as the orangutan and giant Panda.

“With the twinned calamities of climate change and mass extinction weighing heavier and heavier on my nature-besotted soul, here were concrete, affordable actions that I could take, that anyone could take, to help our wild neighbors thrive in the built human environment. And it all starts with nothing more than a seed. Bringing Nature Home is a miracle: a book that summons butterflies." —Margaret Renkl, The Washington Post As development and habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. In his groundbreaking book Bringing Nature Home, Douglas W. Tallamy reveals the unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife—native insects cannot, or will not, eat alien plants. When native plants disappear, the insects disappear, impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals. Luckily, there is an important and simple step we can all take to help reverse this alarming trend: everyone with access to a patch of earth can make a significant contribution toward sustaining biodiversity by simply choosing native plants. By acting on Douglas Tallamy's practical and achievable recommendations, we can all make a difference.

Work in partnership with nature to nurture your soil for healthy plants and bumper crops - without back-breaking effort! Have you ever wondered how to transform a weedy plot into a thriving vegetable garden? Well now you can! By following the simple steps set out in No Dig, in just a few short hours you can revolutionize your vegetable patch with plants already in the ground from day one! Charles Dowding is on a mission to teach that there is no need to dig over the soil, but by minimizing intervention you are actively boosting soil productivity. In fact, The less you dig, the more you preserve soil structure and nurture the fungal mycelium vital to the health of all plants. This is the essence of the No Dig system that Charles Dowding has perfected over a lifetime growing vegetables. So put your gardening gloves on and get ready to discover: - Guides and calendars of when to sow, grow, and harvest. - Inspiring information and first-hand guidance from the author - “Delve deeper” features look in-depth at the No Dig system and the facts and research that back it up. - The essential role of compost and how to make your own at home. - The importance of soil management, soil ecology, and soil health. Now one of the hottest topics in environmental science, this "wood-wide web" has informed Charles's practice for decades, and he's proven it isn't just trees that benefit - every gardener can harness the power of the wood-wide web. Featuring newly- commissioned step-by-step photography of all stages of growing vegetables and herbs, and all elements of No Dig growing, shot at Charles’s beautiful market garden in Somerset, you too will be able to grow more veg with less time and effort, and in harmony with nature - so join the No Dig revolution today! A must-have volume for followers of Charles Dowding who fervently believe in his approach to low input, high yield gardening, as well as gardeners who want to garden more lightly on the earth, with environmentally friendly techniques like organic and No Dig.

Stinging nettles are, for many of us, nothing more than persistent weeds with a painful sting. But apart from having an important role in the web of life, nettles are an incredibly useful plant to mankind. They have been put to myriad uses by our ancestors, and many of these are still valid today. Already stinging nettle products are growing in popularity in the field of alternative medicine, as their wide range of health benefits becomes better known. This unique book explores the diverse uses of this fascinating plant - in the garden and the kitchen, for their medical and fibrous properties and so on. It is packed with practical suggestions, as well as a guide to the botany of stinging nettles, and how to collect and store them. For example, you will discover how to use nettles to: make a liquid plant fertiliser brew an unusual beer make a dandruff treatment protect beehives flavour an omelette make friendship bracelets repel flies naturally make green or yellow fabric dyes keep yourself warm in the winter and much more ... The many health benefits of taking nettles in various forms include relief from: hay fever and other allergies; acne and other skin conditions; arthritis and rheumatism; asthma; stress; high blood pressure; depression; enlarged prostate gland. The book also features Digital Nettle Art!

Most conventional gardening books concentrate on how and when to carry out horticultural tasks such as pruning, seed sowing and taking cuttings. Science and the Garden, Third Edition is unique in explaining in straightforward terms some of the science that underlies these practices. It is principally a book of 'Why' – Why are plants green? Why do some plants only flower in the autumn? Why do lateral buds begin to grow when the terminal bud is removed by pruning? Why are some plants successful as weeds? Why does climate variability and change mean change for gardeners? But it also goes on to deal with the 'How', providing rationale behind the practical advice. The coverage is wide-ranging and comprehensive and includes: the diversity, structure, functioning and reproduction of garden plants; nomenclature and classification; genetics and plant breeding; soil properties and soil management; environmental factors affecting growth and development; methods of propagation; size and form; colour, scent and sound; climate; environmental change; protected cultivation; pest, disease and weed diversity and control; post-harvest management and storage; garden ecology and conservation; sustainable horticulture; gardens and human health and wellbeing; and gardens for science. This expanded and fully updated Third Edition of Science and the Garden includes two completely new chapters on important topics: Climate and Other Environmental Changes Health, Wellbeing and Socio-cultural Benefits Many of the other chapters have been completely re-written or extensively revised and expanded, often with new authors and/or illustrators, and the remainder have all been carefully updated and re-edited. Published in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society, reproduced in full colour throughout, carefully edited and beautifully produced, this new edition remains a key text for students of horticulture and will also appeal to amateur and professional gardeners wishing to know more about the fascinating science behind the plants and practices that are the everyday currency of gardening.

The first book ever on the much maligned nettles of the world presents a story of these followers of mankind and his cattle throughout history. This study centres on the most abundant and sub-cosmopolitan common stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), but also deals with other nettles throughout the world. Tropical tormentors rich in species include the notorious nettle trees with their formidable stings which fascinated the Europeans after their discovery by botanists on the round-the-world trips of exploration in the 17-19th centuries. Many people on their travels will have met the nettle trees of the Indo-Malay region and other stinging nettles in North and South America, India, etc., which sting and have beautiful flowers but are called nettles; these are also dealt with. The first microscopists and their descriptions of the beautiful stinging hair; the uncovering of the mechanism of its action and the more recent elucidation of the toxins causing the characteristic symptoms is a fascinating one and takes up 3 chapters. The book includes the 100 major scientific works published on the common stinging nettle and never brought to the notice of the general public before. The author spent six years studying the ecology of the nettle patch, its invertebrate herbivores (mainly insects) and vertebrate herbivores (cattle, deer, etc.,) and their interactions with other plants: its secret life is recorded in line drawings and photographs (1000+ individual items). It was not possible to publish these in colour but they are in full colour on a CD-ROM (300 dpi) at the back of the book. Covered also are nettle folklore, fibre use in World War I & II, as a food, fodder, herbal medicine, growth as a competitor plant, habitats, sex (unique exploding stamens), breeding systems, variation, evolution etc.!! Some the world's most beautiful butterflies would not exist without nettles.

A recipe-complemented guide to edible plants that can be found in the British countryside shares essential facts about conservation, safety, legal concerns and necessary tools and includes additional information about seasonal growth cycles and cooking strategies. By the author of Mushrooms.

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel An Instant USA Today & Indie Bestseller An Oprah Daily Top 25 Fantasy Book of 2022 A Vulture Best Fantasy Novel of 2022 An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022 A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure. *The very special hardcover edition features a gold foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.* This isn't the kind of fairy tale where the princess marries a prince. It's the one where she kills him. Marra — a shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter — is relieved not to be married off for the sake of her parents’ throne. Her older sister wasn’t so fortunate though, and her royal husband is as abusive as he is powerful. From the safety of the convent, Marra wonders who will come to her sister’s rescue and put a stop to this. But after years of watching their families and kingdoms pretend all is well, Marra realizes if any hero is coming, it will have to be Marra herself. If Marra can complete three impossible tasks, a witch will grant her the tools she needs. But, as is the way in stories of princes and the impossible, these tasks are only the beginning of Marra’s strange and enchanting journey to save her sister and topple a throne. “Wholly entertaining."—Buzzfeed “A modern classic.”—Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of Every Heart A Doorway “Pure delight. T. Kingfisher uses the bones of fairy tale to create something entirely her own.”—Emily Tesh, award-winning author of Silver in the Wood Also by T. Kingfisher Thornhedge A Sorceress Comes to Call What Moves the Dead What Feasts at Night A House with Good Bones At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.