The Accidental Garden: Gardens, Wilderness and the Space In Between

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'Part memoir, part naturescape and part gardening book ... there is also something much rarer in this book: wisdom. What a treat' The Times'Delightful ... Mabey is the doyen of UK nature writing' New Statesman'Our greatest nature writer' New ScientistWe regard gardens as our personal dominions, where we can create whatever worlds we desire. But they are also occupied by myriads of other organisms, all with their own lives to lead. The conflict between these two power bases, Richard Mabey suggests, is a microcosm of what is happening in the larger world. In this provocative book, rooted in the daily dramas of his own Norfolk garden, Mabey offers a different scenario, where nature becomes an equal partner, a 'gardener' itself. Against a background of disordered seasons he watches his 'accidental' garden reorganising itself. Ants sow cowslip seeds in the parched grass. Moorhens take to nesting in trees. A spectacular self-seeded rose springs up in the gravel. The garden becomes a place of cultural and ecological fusion, and perhaps a metaphor for the troubled planet. This is vintage Mabey, maverick, intensely observed, and written with an unquenchable sense of wonder.

Reviews

'Absolutely enchanting ... With wisdom, wit, erudition and modesty, Mabey explores the edgeland between cultivation and wildness' - Isabella Tree, author

'A calming reflection on the enduring resilience of nature ... a discursive, philosophical memoir about everything from the human desire to shape nature to what Mabey calls the ambiguous experience of gardening in the midst of an environmental emergency' - Financial Times

'Delightful ... The Accidental Garden provides an overview of Mabey's evolved thinking over a lifetime ... Richard Mabey is the doyen of UK nature writing' - New Statesman

'Inspirational ... meditative ... an advocate for a new non-domineering understanding of the relationship between human beings and the rest of the natural world' - Spectator

'This is part memoir, part naturescape and part gardening book. ... there is also something much rarer in this book: wisdom. What a treat' - The Times

Author Bio

Richard Mabey is one of our greatest nature writers. His books include the bestselling plant bible Flora Britannica, Food for Free, Turned Out Nice Again, Weeds: The Story of Outlaw Plants and Nature Cure. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and lives in Norfolk.