Page 10 - ALG Issue 1 2022

book reviews
The Woodchip Handbook: A Complete Guide for Farmers, Gardeners and Landscapers
Ben Raskin
ISBN: 9781645020486 Chelsea Green Publishing
More and more plotholders are realising that mulching and no-dig growing help to keep their soil and crops healthy. Here at the National Allotment Society, we get many queries about the use of woodchip in these systems. This book explores and unlocks the tremendous potential of woodchip to enhance soil health and plant growth. Author Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture and Agroforestry at the Soil Association, draws on his extensive practical experience using woodchip and provides the latest research from around the world, as well as presenting inspiring case studies from innovative farmers:
• As a natural mulch for weed suppression, temperature buffering, and water conservation
• As a growing medium for propagating plants
• As a decomposing source of warmth for hotbeds in the greenhouse or hoop house
• As a carbon-rich compost ingredient that supports beneficial fungi and microorganisms
• As a powerful soil health booster, when applied as small-sized ramial chipped wood
• As an ideal substrate for growing many kinds of edible or medicinal mushrooms
• As a sustainable, versatile, and durable material for footpaths and ornamental landscaping
Shed Heaven
Anna Groves
ISBN: 9781911657019 National Trust Books
These beautiful, bizarre and inspiring structures are as individual as their owners. Whilst the shed, traditionally, has been commandeered
as the horticulturalist’s HQ, it’s not limited to gardens and Shed Heaven captures the essence of these shelters within the National Trust’s extensive repertoire of buildings. They lurk in the shadow of grand country houses; they brave the elements on the tops of cliffs; they
have inspired famous writers and housed everything from beehives to birdwatchers. A Victorian coastal shed in Cornwall is where the Reverend Hawker went to write verse, and smoke opium. It’s also the smallest building cared for by the National Trust. George Bernard Shaw’s shed could be rotated throughout the day to make the most of the sun, while sculptor Barbara Hepworth used hers for napping in. Rather than a place in which to create, many of these sheds are the creation.
Royal Gardens of the World
Mark Lane ISBN: 9780857838018 Octopus Publishing Group
A sumptuous
exploration of 21
of the world’s
most celebrated
royal gardens,
from the formal splendour of
Versailles to the organic, sustainable Highgrove.
In mainland Europe you can journey from the formal splendour of Het Loo in the Netherlands and Fontainebleau in France to the Baroque World Heritage Site of the Royal Palace of Caserta in Southern Italy. Further afield still, lies the Taj Mahal in India and the Peterhof Palace in Russia.
Each featured garden will include the history, plantings and evolution of the garden as well as plant portraits of key plants and information about the design and layout of each. Countries included are: England, Scotland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, India, Bali and Japan.
10 Allotment and Leisure Gardener