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

Journalist Mabey (Flora Britannica) explores the meadows, woods, and gardens outside his home in Norfolk, England, in this charming mosaic of plant descriptions, ecological musings, and personal reflections. In 2003, Mabey moved with his partner to a 16th-century farmhouse on two acres with the idea of taking a hands-off approach to gardening and thereby granting “a degree of self-determination to the plot and its inhabitants.” Lyrical meditations ensue: Mabey offers a portrait of a landscape that proves resilient in the face of a warming world, and each habitat on his property offers its own insights, including the meadow with flowers that remind him of the Ukrainian flag and the woods that “always beckon you in.” Along the way, Mabey ponders things that have preoccupied him across his career, wondering, for example, if it’s ethical to celebrate beauty when climate change is destroying it and considering whether there’s “a form of beauty in nature outside human taste and judgement.” Mabey’s descriptions are moving—in one garden bed, he endeavors to cultivate nonnative plants that remind him of his travels in the Mediterranean: “I wanted the shrubs to spread their wings, and the ground plants to set their seed. Which they duly did.” Gardeners with a literary bent will be pleased. (July)