Half of this book is given over to an introduction to, and discussion of, wildlife gardening in general and the other half is a directory of the most common or interesting animal that might be found in the garden.
Burton, J. A. and Tipling, D. 2004. Attracting Wildlife to Your Garden. London, New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd. ISBN 1 84330 842 1.
Hardback. 22.5x29.0cm. 192 pages.
This book is a thorough and thoughtful introduction to the subject of wildlife gardening. It is less 'technical' than Chris Baines' book
How to Make a Wildlife Garden, but the inclusion of the 'directory' of garden animals targets the book at a slightly different audience. The first part of the book is split into four sections: 'Planning a Wildlife Friendly Garden'; 'Natural Habitats'; 'Nocturnal Wildlife'; and 'Friend or Foe?'.
The devotion of a whole section to nocturnal wildlife was an unusual and thought provoking angle
The devotion of a whole section to nocturnal wildlife was an unusual and thought provoking angle which had me thinking that I could do more to experience and learn about the wildlife which visits my garden at night.
Like the
book of the same title published by HarperCollins, the second half of this book (the directory of species) includes some European animals not likely to be encountered in a British garden, e.g. the flying squirrel (
Pteronys volans). Although this is not done to the same extent as with the HarperCollins publication, I was again left wondering about the criteria used for the selection of animals for the directory.
The endorsement of the Wildlife Trusts; the experience of the author, John Burton, and skill of the photographer, David Tipling, all contribute to the authoritative quality of this bookThe endorsement of the Wildlife Trusts; the experience of the author, John Burton, and skill of the photographer, David Tipling, all contribute to the authoritative quality of this book. I can highly recommend it to anyone who would like a general introduction to the subject combined with a directory of some of the animals that might be encouraged or encountered in the garden.
