The Accidental Garden

A WATERSTONES BEST NATURE WRITING BOOK OF 2024 PICKA BBC WILDLIFE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 'Delightful ... Mabey is the doyen of UK nature writing' New Statesman'A crusade in defence of a natural world under threat' Telegraph 'An enchanting, meditative account of a garden and its lives' Noreen Masud, author of A Flat PlaceWe consider our gardens private dominions, where we create the worlds we desire. But they are also occupied by myriad other organisms, each with their own life to lead. In the everyday of Richard Mabey's Norfolk garden, nature is an equal partner, a 'gardener' able to reorganise itself. Ants sow cowslip seeds in parched grass; a self-seeded rose springs from gravel. Amid disordered seasons and climate change, things fall apart and new ecological marvels take form - a metaphor for the Earth itself. This is Mabey at his finest: maverick, closely observant and with an unquenchable sense of wonder.