Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture - 2nd Edition

This is a lovely book. It's really well written, easy to read, and informative. Although it is written for an American audience, I found the principles it elucidates to be relevant to the UK. There is lots here for me to be able to redesign my small urban garden along permaculture lines.

I love this book! I have only read a portion of this book and the ideas in it are fairly new to me; having been interested in Forest Gardening before, this seems a much more holistic view of how we can utilise the natural world to its and our own mutual advantage. However, I am totally convinced of the merits and principles of this approach. Caution: the book does require a reasonable level of literacy though. Highly recommended!

I was a little put off by the title of this book. It didn't sound like the title of a serious reference book on permaculture. How wrong I was. This book is a wonderful guide. The writing is clear and thoughtful. The pictures and diagrams are inspiring and it has ideas and solutions for all kinds of climates. I can not recommend this highly enough. I'm buying a copy for my father, and have already had two of my friends borrow it. They're buying their own copies so that they can have it around for quick referencing. I believe it is books like this one that will convince people to re-think the way that they garden.

Having already read some about permaculture, I was disappointed that this book had so little new information to offer. It felt quite repetitive where it rather could have used the space to go more into depth. I got some new ideas out of it though, and for the beginner it's probably a very good read. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's already got a clear idea of what permaculture is.

This was great - coming to the subject with no knowledge, I can now bore my friends and am a convert. Gives a good overview of the philosophy, as well as an intro to the science, and at the same time offers practical projects, several of which I have tried. Hugelkultur - who knew? Slightly America focussed eg tips on how to prevent water evaporation from the soil less appropriate for Northern England where the sun rarely shows itself, but really well researched and put together

I have known about and been interested in permaculture for a long time but it had gone on the back burner for a while, whilst life took over - that is until, I read this book - I found the detail fascinating and the whole book was so inspiring that I am now doing my permaculture diploma... What I loved was that the author clearly knows what he's talking about and can offer you real life examples rather than the usual airy fairy concepts you tend to get with permaculture. I would recommend this book to anyone with and interest in permaculture and indeed I have...

A totally fascinating read, packed with informed advice. The only difficulty for me is that some of the ideas need modification for the UK climate, eg mulch materials, so if you in UK you need to supplement it with a British book - but Charles Dowding or Patrick Whitefield more than make up that aspect,

Common sense abound, a rarity these days

Okay, introduction to the topic with lots of great, practical, applicable tips and an enjoyable and inspirational read with lots of ideas

Gaia's Garden is, without a doubt, one of my all-time favorite books. As someone deeply immersed in permaculture and sustainable gardening, I can honestly say this guide has been a game-changer for me. I absolutely love how it empowers gardeners of any skill level to create their own thriving ecosystems, no matter the size of their garden space. Toby Hemenway's passion for permaculture shines through on every page, and his clear, down-to-earth explanations make complex concepts so easy to grasp. The practical tips, beautiful illustrations, and thoughtful design strategies have definitely improved the health and productivity of the gardens I work in. The plant lists in this book are extremely helpful and I have referred back to them countless times. If you’re curious about permaculture, this book is an absolute must. I simply can’t recommend it enough!

Je suis deja paysagist et jardineur, j'aime bien produire la nourriture de mon propre jardin. Ce livre explique (en angalise) les façons de travailer le terre pour produire toute imaginable avec moins de travail. Il explique les methods utilisée dans les endroits sauvage et comment les mimiquer pour ameleoirer le sol. Avec un sol bien vivant, on plante les groupes des plantes qui support un de l'autre pour créer un bon symbiose. Le livre est bien ecrit, il ne utilise pas trop des mots difficile et il n'est pas trop technique, il explique bien les principles et pourquoi on les utilise. Je suis content d'avoir acheter cette livre et je vais experimenter dans le jardin maintenant.

Filled with very useful information and covers a wide range of subjects in the permaculture field.

Clarity and full of useful information - well researched, easy to understand and with practical insights.