BRING NATURE BACK TO YOUR GARDEN

Even if you have a miniscule garden, don’t be without this book! (Review by Caroline Smart)

Replacing their first edition of this publication, which won a University of KwaZulu-Natal Book Prize, the Eastern & Northern Edition of Bring Nature Back to your Garden by Charles & Julia Botha is a fascinating, interesting and highly informative book that you will still feel inclined to pick up and browse through long after you have read it from cover to cover.

The book is dedicated to “all those environmentally-friendly gardeners, past, present and future who have made, and will make, a difference to urban conservation by working with nature rather than against it”.

Drawings and amusing illustrations add to the appeal. Most of these were drawn by the late Eve Gibbs but other images have been produced by Patricia Buchanan, Tessa Dean, David Filer, Molly Gray, Kate Grieve, Jennifer Johnston Davidson, Pat Johnstone, Penny Nicholson, Rosemary Pearman, Janet Snyman, Jeanette Stead, Chatelaine Tayler, Carol ten Have, Joan Walker and Judy Wheeler as well as considerable input from botanical artist Elsa Pooley.

Charles and Julia Botha live in Durban and have also produced Bring Butterflies Back to your Garden and Buyisela Imvelo Engadini for isiZulu speakers. They are longstanding members of BirdLife SA and serve on several conservation-oriented trusts and organisations. In recognition of their work in preserving and restoring South Africa’s natural heritage, they received the President’s Special Award from the Wildlife and Environment Society in 2003.

Passionate in their objectives, they write so that the even the most inexperienced gardener can understand what they mean. Here are a few examples:

Page 18: “It is a false perception that lots of birds are attracted to lawns; they are merely more visible in the open space that it creates.”

Page 35: “For aphids, it’s a “woman’s world”; some females don’t even need males to give birth to live young. It may take only about four days for a young aphid to mature and start producing its own offspring.”

Page 59: Re Chameleons: “One of nature’s greatest marvels, these fascinating little predatory reptiles used to be quite common in gardens. Now, like so many other creatures, they have fallen victim to habitat destruction, while poisons have also taken a heavy toll.”

There’s a useful list of the new names for birds – for instance, a Fiscal Shrike is now a Common Fiscal, Grey Lourie is a Grey Go-away-bird while a Knysna Lourie is a Knysna Turaco and a Spotted Dikkop is a Spotted Thick-knee! Personally, I consider the old names sounded far more respectable!

A diary at the back of the book allows you to document the date you planted a particular tree, bush or plant and another section gives an index of what to plant for specific areas or to attract birds, butterflies, moths or fruit bats.

Bring Nature back to your Garden (Eastern & Northern Edition) retails at R165 with proceeds going to the Flora and Fauna Publications Trust and other botanical conservation organisations. ISBN No 9 780620 482288 – Caroline Smart