Garden Wildlife on Trial

Are the creatures that visit and live in your garden friends or foes? How can you discourage the bad and nurture the good? And how does each animal fit into the essential garden ecosystem? You ll find the answers in the verdicts, evidence and treatments presented in this innovative new book. Including more than 50 common garden residents from squirrels to starlings, from ladybirds to leatherjackets, and from frogs to flea beetles it tells you how to encourage the forces for good and explains how best to deter or get rid of (ideally organically) those that bring damage, disease or even death to your precious plants. And vitally, it pieces together the key links in the garden food chain and shows how to maintain nature s delicate balance on your plot. As well as the key gardening information you need, you ll discover here the extraordinary ways in which garden wildlife is adapted for success, how to encourage vital pollinators and how to plan planting and cultivation to pre-empt problems. You ll see how to use pesticides safely if you must, and there are hints and tips on the best ways to deal with cats and dogs, chickens and geese in the garden. So whether you want your garden to be a haven for hedgehogs and honeybees, to have fewer slugs and snails, or to be know all the pros and cons of crows and cabbage white caterpillars, then these are the verdicts you need. Garden Wildlife on Trial is the sequel and companion volume to Ruth Binney’s successful Weeds on Trial published in 2019 (ISBN 9781910821275). AUTHOR: Ruth Binney has been fascinated by the natural world since childhood, and is an experienced gardening writer. She holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and has been involved in countless publications during her career as an editor. She is a best-selling author of numerous books on the countryside, country folklore and mythology, homemaking and cooking, and made frequent broadcasts on BBC radio. She lives in Yeovil.