Book Review: Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway

My favorite garden book of the moment—and favorite Xmas gift received this year!— is Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway (2nd edition). I love this book and am SO glad Hemenway did a 2nd edition. I owned the first edition and really like the plant lists, but just didn’t enjoy the text the way I do in this new one. When I would recommend the first book to friends, I must admit I’d say, “The information is great if you can overlook the Western tilt to the plants and the author’s prickly tone..” I’m not sure if I just got used to it or if the text changed that much in tone. But there is lots of new info, the welcome addition of color pictures, and somehow the book seems SO much better overall.

I admit, I’ve a very picky reader of gardening books. OK, I’m prickly too. I like advanced topics, but I still love pictures and illustrations. At the same time, I don’t need to see pretty close-ups of flowers so common in the gardening section of most bookstores. I can see flower close-ups on many wonderful blogs! What I love is systems design.

Systems design sounds so geeky, but for me,  it’s just about seeing the garden, the whole landscape really, holistically.  Once I fell in love with the ideas of permaculture I became less focused on each individual plant and much more interested in the relationships between the plants and groups of plants and trees, and the relationsihips between those groups and the microclimates of my particular site. Not to mention the relationship between the gardeners and the garden landscape. Now that is fascinating!!

I guess it might be the same for interior designers: while you might showcase one piece of furniture, you are  more driven to make the whole room, or house, work together. I moved from apples to orchards in a sense. (But wow, designing landscapes on a systems level—at the one-human & one-shovel level of horsepower— occurs at a glacial pace compared to most gardening I’ve done in the past. I’m learning patience…)

Anyway, this edition of Gaia’s Garden is everything I could wish for in a gardening and/or permaculture book. Bravo Toby Hemenway and Chelsea Green. I was particularly delighted to see photos of permaculture designs that looked beautiful instead of just smart. Beauty is a valuable function too!

The author starts with the principles of permaculture, then applies those principles to a home-scaled environment via examples, explanation, illustrations and photos too. The plant lists are better than ever. Quick—name five plants that produce excellent chicken fodder!  Name five plants that will help your fruit trees stay healthier and more pest-freee! Name five plants you could plant instead of the dreaded suburban “foundation shrubs” that would also provide you with fruit! Name five plants that produce something to eat that will also grow in shade! Refer to this book and you can, no problem.

And luckily, these plants are for temperate climates of the States. Since permaculture originated in Australia, a lot of the previous books on the topic were filled with plants I’ll never encounter unless I move to the tropics. This edition (is this my imagination?) also seems to have made the plant lists less focused on the west/southwest and included more midwestern/eastern plants.

This book is the best introduction to in-the-dirt backyard (and front yard) permaculture for U.S. readers available. Thanks Toby! Even if you already own the fist edition like I did, it’s well worth the money to go buy the second edition. You won’t regret it. I’ve been pouring through the pages ever since I got a copy for Christmas. Ok, sure. I had begged for it. But Santa must have thought I’d been good enough to get me a copy!

(Book info: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, Paperback, 9781603580298, 313pp. Be SURE to get the Second Edition–Publication date May 2009)

What are your favorite gardening books? Or do you know links to lovely permaculture designs online? Share them via the “Comment” link below! Thanks as always for dropping by A Larrapin Garden.