BOOK REVIEWS

Planting for
Birds, Bees &
Farm Stock

Jan Conning
RD 6, Tauranga
$NZ34.95

AN impetuous plunge into a lifestyle block can skittle dreams and dent the bank balance beyond recognition. Here then are some pointers to the recipe for success. Whether the holding is 60 acres, like the author's, or a sixth that size, realising a rural idyll demands enthusiasm, tenacity and patience.

Judging by her self-published account, Jan Conning has these qualities in abundance. When Jan and her husband Bill bought an untamed Bay of Plenty block it already supported a wealth of wildlife. The book describes the steps they took to enhance this habitat, particularly for birdlife, by planting and nurturing suitable trees and what they learnt as they forged on.

Planting for Birds, Bees and Farm Stock reads more like a neighbourly chat over the boundary fence than a 10-acre block primer. However, if the author has found something successful — whether tree type, tips on raiding ducklings or weedmat brand — she lets you know about it.

At 95-pages, it's relatively brief, but you'll come away with a dose of vitality peppered with practical hints. A useful introduction for new rural recruits and enough "how-to" to absorb the rest of us.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 139, 2004, Page 28
(reproduced in Horticulture in New Zealand:
Journal of the Royal NZ Institute of Horticulture 2005, 8(1): 18)

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH