annieb123's Review of Recycling in the Garden

by Angela Youngman

People are becoming more aware of the environment and their impact on it. Over the past decades we have become an increasingly consumerist based society. From a world in which recycling was common, single use became the norm. This throwaway society is unsustainable.

Sustainable gardening results in the creation of an environmentally friendly area in which natural predators thrive and soils are naturally replenished.

Discover innovative and simple ways of recycling everything from water to materials in the garden. Practical examples show recycling in action turning unwanted items into useful features such as bottle edging, footpaths made from tyres, garden forks into table lamps, broken pottery to mosaics and tree roots into lush garden stumperies.

Recycling, reusing and upcycling in the garden can make a difference helping you save money by using less water, making your own compost, choosing energy efficient equipment and by giving everyday items a totally new function.

Instead of a throwaway society, we are increasingly looking at ways of reducing our use of increasingly scarce resources, turning plastic into paths, using solar energy and conserving water. Natural recycling of plant material and sustainable gardening is increasingly popular. This book helps search for creative ideas that can conserve resources, and save you money.

Water is no longer cheap, so the book suggests many ways that you can re-use water and get free rainwater.

The book helps you with places you may not think of looking for free and cheap material, such as reclamation yards, factories, restaurants and hospitals.

Let your imagination run free without needing much skill and without breaking the bank.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Recycling in the Garden is a well written practical guide with ideas how to reuse and upcycle items in the garden by Angela Youngman. Due out 30th January 2023 from Pen & Sword on their White Owl imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a whimsical and fun guide full of projects for upcycling and recycling items in (and for) the garden. The author has also included useful information about resources such as water and energy and how to divert and conserve the resources to which we already have access. There are projects and ideas from small (bamboo insect hotels readers can recreate in about 10 minutes with items already likely on hand) to very large (recycled earth-pit dug greenhouse with recycled glass and materials). Not all the included photos are things which most readers will adopt at first glance. I can't imaging there are many gardeners, no matter how much they're also motor enthusiasts, who will want to turn an old scrapped auto into a raised bed garden!

There's a comprehensive index, as well as an abbreviated links and resources list included in the back of the book.

Four and a half stars. Full of useful and clear photos and good ideas. This would be a good choice for public or school library acquisition, allotment groups, community gardens, smallholders, and suburban gardeners.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

23 December, 2022: Started reading

23 December, 2022: Finished reading

23 December, 2022: Reviewed