Gardening for Birdwatchers

This new book brings together the expertise of garden designers Ian and Barley Wilson (Natural Gardens) with that of the British Trust for Ornithology to produce the definitive guide for improving your garden for birds and other wildlife.The well-illustrated text, complete with planting plans, gets to grips with the techniques that underpin successful wildlife-gardening, highlighting those varieties of plants that have particular wildlife benefits and explaining how best to manage your garden for wildlife. With sections on different garden features (e.g. lawns, ponds, shady corners and sunny borders), this book should enable you to enhance the wildlife value of your own garden.The book contains a wealth of information, all of it based on sound scientific research, enabling you to tackle some of the myths and misconceptions about gardening for wildlife.Heading up the BTO's Garden BirdWatch Team, Mike Toms is one of Britain's leading experts on garden birds. He is a strong advocate of citizen science' and has developed a reputation for popularising the science of garden birds and engaging people with the wildlife around them. Author of the Garden BirdWatch Book and a regular contributor to BBC Wildlife and other publications, his knowledge of garden birds (and other garden wildlife) has helped to make Gardening for Birdwatchers an authoritative and highly readable book.Natural Gardens, formed over 10 years ago by garden and landscape designer Barley Wilson and ecological consultant Ian Wilson, brings a fresh approach to garden design. By working with nature rather than against it, they produce a natural form to a garden which is pleasing and beautiful to people and provides much-needed living space for wildlife. The main focus of their work is garden design and creation, with further expertise in ponds, streams, meadows, woodlands and other natural habitats. Ian and Barley live in North Norfolk and work throughout East Anglia. Ian & Barley bring their skills to Gardening for Birdwatchers, providing planting schemes that can be incorporated into other gardens. This new book is particularly able to benefit from the BTO's national surveys and to offer a definitive guide to current thinking. - J.W.B., IBIS - The Journal of the British Ornithologists' Union Reading the book has made me re-evaluate my own garden, and the bird visitors will certainly benefit. - J.W.B., IBIS - The Journal of the British Ornithologists' Union