BOOK REVIEWS

Beyond Organics
Gardening for the Future

Helen Cushing
ABC Books
$NZ35.00
Reviewed by Gordon Roberts

AUSSIE horticulturalist and garden writer Helen Cushing has a singular aim - "to place gardeners and environmentalists on common ground", starting with the belief that "small is beautiful and that the contribution of each garden to the wider environment should be as rich and positive as we can help it to be".

Cushing points the way to transforming your garden into one that is low maintenance, low water and ecologically sound, with advice on climate, soil and which plants to choose, notably ones that will be happy in your garden, not those that crave what your soil or climate lacks.

Inevitably, she takes a few pot-shots along the way, among them: "Gardening books and the gardening media will always tell you to fertilise. Remember they have to fill their pages and their airtime with advice or they are out of a job."

For the conventional gardener, a challenging, thought-provoking read.

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