Rating: 
Summary: Fresh look at an old subject....
Review: I've been organic gardening since the 1960s and I find GAIA'S GARDEN--A GUIDE TO HOME-SCALE PERMACULTURE contains much useful information for the gardener who wants to work with Mother Nature instead of against her. In his book, Toby Hemingway says "permaculture is a set of techniques and principles for designing sustainable human settlements." Permaculture uses organic gardening principles to deal with big as well as little problems. Permaculture is involved with the local rose and the ecosystem within which the local rose lives. Most of the ideas Hemenway suggests have been "out there" for some time, but Hemingway combines and organizes this cumulative knowledge into a coherent approach. While I don't agree with everything Hemenway suggests, I think most of his ideas are worth trying. Hemenway seems to have acquired much of his hands-on experience in semi-arid areas on the West Coast, so some of his "live and let-live" tactics may not work on the more lush East Coast. For example, Hemenway appears to be opposed to fighting certain kinds of invasive plants, some of them exotic (i.e. not native), but to me the whole purpose of my garden is to have something that does not look like the rest of the surrounding area--whatever that is--so, I will never give up the effort to keep certain plants OUT. On the other hand, I have discovered I can tolerate some "wildness" in my patch, and have given over certain parts of the yard to natural vegetation (as long as it does not include, poison ivy, bindweed, prickle vine..you get the picture) which the National Wildlife Federation would approve as bird-friendly. Hemenway's "plan" is geared to the 1/4 acre lot, so folks in the suburbs with more space than me may be able to accomodate more of his ideas. However, I think some of his ideas can be adapted to a smaller space. One thing I really like about this book is his novel approach to laying out beds. No raised boxes or perennial borders here. He goes for keyholes, spirals, wreaths, and all sorts of novel shapes. And they work. I've laid out beds to fit my space and the result is some oddly designed garden areas that are beautiful (my whole yard is a collection of garden beds, I have NO grass). I particularly support the building of swales to retain ground moisture, and using leftover woody material to build "Hugelkultur" compost heaps. Whenever we replace fence material, trim bushes or trees, or create other woody waste, we bury it at the back of the garden. I also throw newspapers, paper towels (7th Generation of course), and other biodegradable paper into the compost bin. And speaking of compost, adding it directly to the bed is a good idea. Just slip it under the existing mulch, or grab a shovelful of mulch to toss over it. This way the garden gets the full benefit of the decomposing material, not the area around the compost bin. This is a wonderful book filled with wonderful ideas that hold the key to saving our world.
Rating:
Summary: the best gardening book ever
Review: If I had to be reduced to one gardening book, it would be this one. It is a totally naturalistic and wholistic approach that works. After reading the chapter on soil and sheet mulching, I transformed one whole section of my yard from sand into 4 inches of dark topsoil over the winter. There is a basic introduction to many permaculture and natural farming concepts as well as water harvesting and garden design. This should be your first gardening book - but it won't be your last because the ideas you will be exposed to here will send you looking for more information in the various disciplines of creating living ecosystems. Happy gardening!
Rating: 
Summary: inadequate on invasives
Review: The author says, You can't fight invasives, so don't bother trying. And don't worry about planting invasives such as bamboo, just keep an eye on them so they don't get out of hand. Invasives are one of the leading causes of species extinction. If the philosophy of the book is to help the biosphere through local action, this glib attitude toward invasives is counterproductive. I would still recomend the book, since it is concise and combines a handful of techniques into a powerful synthesis, but don't just accept the author's view of exotic species before checking out a book on native gardening for your region. I think it is still possible to employ these permaculture ideas while favoring the natives and keeping a close watch on invasives, which can wreak havoc on the neighborhood long after you're gone.
Rating:
Summary: inadequate on invasives
Review: The author says, You can't fight invasives, so don't bother trying. And don't worry about planting invasives such as bamboo, just keep an eye on them so they don't get out of hand. Invasives are one of the leading causes of species extinction. If the philosophy of the book is to help the biosphere through local action, this glib attitude toward invasives is counterproductive. I would still recomend the book, since it is concise and combines a handful of techniques into a powerful synthesis, but don't just accept the author's view of exotic species before checking out a book on native gardening for your region. I think it is still possible to employ these permaculture ideas while favoring the natives and keeping a close watch on invasives, which can wreak havoc on the neighborhood long after you're gone.
Rating:
Summary: Not comprehensive, but great nonetheless
Review: The comment about it being inadequate on invasives has a point, but then again I wouldn't take this book as a be-all, end-all on designing your garden. It's really a jumping off point in integrating not just your plants, but your soil and water use to be as efficient and sustainable as possible. It gets you thinking about the web of relationships between pests, beneficial insects, soil bacteria, worms, plants, and so on. You will want to learn more about individual plant species from another book. If you live in the West, there's the Sunset book of course, and if you happen to live in CA, or another mediterranean climate, there's the East Bay Municipal Utility District garden book that is really quite spectatular.
But I digress. This book is well worth a read if you are new to permaculture or not. I read mine all the time to get ideas. I have a small yard so I can't use every idea in the book, but I can use some and really it's not just about gardening. It's about living more sustainably, which is something we can all try to do more of. I can honestly say this book changed my life.
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Summary: accessible permaculture to homescale gardeners
Review: This book does a great job of summarizing the concepts in Mollison's "Permaculture." It also contains good tables on plants for various purposes and a good resource list. But it has a very BIG flaw! Hemenway is supposedly telling us how to design a permaculture space at the home scale, yet nowhere can I find that he has any concern for his neighbors. He thinks only of his OWN yard and ignores the fact that at such a small scale, what you plant to protect YOUR yard may have serious consequences for your NEIGHBOR's yard. Please THINK and TALK to your neighbors at the design stage, BEFORE you block their sun or views. I know from hard experience. I live in a passive solar house and my neighbor to the south planted a row of Ponderosa pines along his north boundary to protect against wind. When those trees get larger, they will block my view of the mountains, but more importantly, they will block the sun from my passive solar house and most of my property ALL winter! Please remember that permaculture means not only relating to the land and food animals, but, just as importantly, to your neigbors!! Designing for all is MUCH more complex than Hemenway lets on!
Rating:
Summary: Frustratingly Inconsistent!
Review: This book does a great job of summarizing the concepts in Mollison's "Permaculture." It also contains good tables on plants for various purposes and a good resource list. But it has a very BIG flaw! Hemenway is supposedly telling us how to design a permaculture space at the home scale, yet nowhere can I find that he has any concern for his neighbors. He thinks only of his OWN yard and ignores the fact that at such a small scale, what you plant to protect YOUR yard may have serious consequences for your NEIGHBOR's yard. Please THINK and TALK to your neighbors at the design stage, BEFORE you block their sun or views. I know from hard experience. I live in a passive solar house and my neighbor to the south planted a row of Ponderosa pines along his north boundary to protect against wind. When those trees get larger, they will block my view of the mountains, but more importantly, they will block the sun from my passive solar house and most of my property ALL winter! Please remember that permaculture means not only relating to the land and food animals, but, just as importantly, to your neigbors!! Designing for all is MUCH more complex than Hemenway lets on!
Rating:
Summary: What an inspiring book!
Review: This book gives a wonderful introduction to permaculture. I had absolutely no idea what it was before reading the book. A one-sentence definition is worse than none. It is exciting to read about how the various parts of a garden interconnect. I love the various shapes he suggest, such as keyhole gardens. I especially liked the way he guides you through the process of creating guilds. And it is good to know I can use all those plants I had to eliminate when planning a traditional garden. That is one of the nicest features of these gardens. I have to admit the title is offputting. I thought this was some New Age system. Fortunately I read the reviews at this site, so that when I saw the book, I decided to give it a try. It is a very, down-to-earth, convincing book. Nothing New Age about it. I am excited and want to get started using some of these ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Gardening for Joy
Review: This book has brought some fantastic ideas into my garden. The book presents some new ideas that have opened up some wonderful possibilities in my whole yard. I deeply enjoyed that the book neither addresses only those with vast horticultural degrees nor speaks only to novices. The author succinctly makes his point and backs it with interesting and insightful expamples. I have been gardening organically for over 25 years and can handle most problems with a bit of effort. This book has changed my view and greatly decreased the amount of time needed to maintain my garden. Rather than responding to the problems as they occur, it gives ingenious ways to head them off or to turn them into positives. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs new ideas for their garden, regardless of size.
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Summary: North American first Regional Permaculture Book
Review: this is a amazing book for the backyard gardener viewpoint, it takes your garden and ties it total ecosystem that it is interconnected to. throughout the book there are a number of shaded highlights that explain the workings of permaculture systems, what is permaculture and practical ways of designing and putting together a garden with permaculture principles. this is a very useful practical book that will help turn your garden into a living ecosystem that interconnects to the surrounding world. It helps you make decision on the use of local native plants in your garden and also helps in the selection of other useful plants that could be grown in your region. It stresses the use periennal plants and plant guilds that grow well together. The book represent the first truly Permaculture Book written for United States growing regions and climates. This is already a popular book here in Santa Barbara Ca, where there is a great interest in learning how to use Permaculture in your own back yard and life. It helps to practically explain why a permaculture designed garden is a living natural system not just a garden. The way your garden design unfolds from using the book is truly exciting as you see that a biodiversity of plants planted for insects food and animals can exist in your own back yard.The use of water and other resources in your landscape is explain so you can see how they interconnect. Yes this book is explains all this and more so beautifully and simply.
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