RSPB Handbook of Garden Wildlife

Gardens cumulatively make up a huge habitat in the UK and for those of us lucky enough to have a garden they have the potential to host all sorts of amazing wildlife. This book is a remarkably comprehensive guide to almost everything that might share a space with humans. It covers much, much more than just birds. Species account for our feathered friends cover less than a fifth of the book. Mammals are covered in a good level of detail (although Red Squirrels are in every sense displaced by their grey cousin, and Pine Marten doesn’t feature). It’s fantastic to see that over half the book is taken up covering invertebrates and plants – the latter covering both native flora as well as popular cultivated plants.

If you have a garden and want to make it better for wildlife there are all sorts of tips here – ponds and nest box design, calendars of what-to-do-when and even activities for children.

Given the incredibly broad range of topics covered by this book it seems likely that getting interested in one of the species groups like fungi, beetles, or amphibians will likely lead to further research online or in more specific books. Even a bird guide would come in handy. This is a great book and one that should be on the shelves of all green-fingered naturalists – whether you’ve a few acres or a window box!

Book reviewed by Steve Willis