John Walker (5) (1962–)

This is the fourth, and so far final, book in John Walker's "Digging Deep" series, based on magazine articles he wrote for a number of years. The aim of the series is to look back at the state of "earth-friendly", organic gardening and the horticultural trade that is often at odds with it. This is done against the backdrop of climate change effects, advertiser driven media and good old fashioned weather influences on gardeners.

The articles in the book cover a number of topics, including the organic-vs-non-organic food debate, the damage the peat free composts inflict on the eco-system, the amount of oil we use (directly and indirectly) in our gardens, and how we (and the gardening trade) should get more "water wise" to help deal with droughts.

John says that his aim was to challenge people and rattle a few cages, and apparently some of these articles did just that when published originally in the magazines. I don't know how much cage rattling this book will manage: the people who had cages that needed rattling aren't likely to be its main purchasers or readers (though it might do some of them and us good if they did!).

John doesn't limit himself to poking sticks at the horticultural trade and "conventional" gardeners: he's happy to take aim at what would be thought of as "green" friendly groups as well with diatribes against effectiveness of "community gardening" and the amount of fossil oil organic gardeners can still consume. For those of us that can stop and think rather than raging back, these might be useful things to contemplate.

One complaint I do have is that John occasionally seems to support science and then in another article pokes fun of it. This "cherry picking" of the results of scientific investigations undermines some of his arguments and is more reminiscent of the antics of "climate deniers". For example whilst the FSA report on nutritional content of organic versus non-organic food leaves him reaching for "feelings" that the scientists wouldn't be able to measure, he later objects to pro-peat garden writers ignoring the science behind climate changing effects of peat extraction.

Aside from that, it is a useful little book of articles and anecdotes from the front lines of organic gardening in the war of attrition with "conventional", costly, planet damaging horticulture. Something greener gardeners should at least read, if not have on their bookshelves to refer to and show to less green gardening friends. Just don't expect to agree with it all. Where would the fun be in that, eh?… (más)

This is the third book in John Walker's "Digging Deep" series, based on articles he has written over the years for magazines focused on what he calls "earth friendly gardening". That is looking at the ecological impacts horticulture has and how we, as gardeners, can reduce this.

Some of the articles provide practical pointers, whilst others are effectively rants at the horticultural trade, gardening magazines, general media and sometimes us gardeners about things we do. The articles are reprinted more or less "as is" from the original magazine articles, which means some of them may seem a little dated (they stretch back to 2009). However its remarkable how many points are still valid 7 years later - either a sign of good thinking and writing from John or (more worryingly) a lack of progress on green issues in horticulture.

There's some really useful material, ideas and quotable sections in these books, and its useful to have the material gathered together (and hopefully provide John with some funding to carry on his work in the future!). However don't expect this book to tell you anything new if you're already well versed in the greener side of gardening - for you its more a resource book and something to show your less ecologically minded allotment neighbours!… (más)

The second edition of John Walker's Weeds book is a great resource for gardeners looking for advice on tackling weeds in their gardens and allotments. Whilst a large part of the audience will be existing organic growers (or "earth-friendly" as John often calls them), the book will be useful to any gardener wanting hints and tips of dealing with weeds. The book works from the usual premise that a weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place and also aims to show how they can be controlled without constantly reaching for a synthetic weedkiller spray bottle.

The book explains how different sorts of weeds propagate and grow, and how these differences lead to different ways of tackling them. One of its best aspects are a set of descriptions of common UK weeds with clear colour photographs, common and botanical names, indications of the level of ease of control and a list of recommended control methods. There is advice on sheet mulching, composting, hoe use, soaker bins, forking/grubbing out, mowing (both for weed control in lawns and also as a way of dealing with pernicious weeds in large newly acquired plots) and targeted watering. John makes good arguments for using no-dig lasagne beds and also how you can use weeds to both your advantage and that of locally wildlife.

On the whole there's a wealth of good advice and much of it ties in with my experiences as an amateur organic gardener. My only real complaint that I raised with John was his description of couch as "shallow rooted" which it definitely isn't on our very sandy allotment. Aside from that minor quibble I found it to be a really good book that should be on every gardener's bookshelf, or better yet in their shed ready for quick reference use whilst on the plot.… (más)

Some years ago I started to write a book for a now defunct charity on how we gardeners could "green up" our act. I never finished the book, and really its just as well as John Walker has done a far, far better job with his 2011 book, "How to Create an Eco Garden: The Practical Guide to Greener, Planet-friendly Gardening". This is the book I would have liked to have written but didn't!

The text covers all aspects of environmentally friendly gardening, some of which will be familiar to gardeners from other horticultural texts, and some of which are things that most will not necessarily have considered before. For example as well as a few chapters on compost making and soil cultivation, there are, amongst many others, sections on low impact tool choosing, encouraging wildlife and biodiversity on your plot, minimising food miles, eco-friendly container gardening and choosing sustainable hard landscaping materials. These are the sort of topic that may make you think, "Wait, why do I go to the garden centre or DIY store to buy cheap tools from China or stone extracted from quarries in goodness knows where?" And thinking is one of the first and most important steps that people can make on any green journey in their lives. So much we do that is ecologically unsound we do without thinking, without considering the potential impact on the planet, its creatures and our fellow humans.

Even for those of us that consider we tread the greener path in our gardening there are new ideas and different takes on existing, well known approaches. For example, many people will have heard about "3 sisters" companion planting for sweetcorn, beans and squashes. Yet John uses a different example of sweetcorn, verbena and buckwheat, which has the advantage of flowers attracting lots of pollinators and other beneficial insects.

The book itself is well written as one would expect from John Walker, and beautifully illustrated with hundreds of full colour photographs throughout the work by Colin Leftley. John includes some "green prints" - ideas on how one can make changes to any new or existing garden that you have to make it more wild life friendly, organic and low impact. What's nice is that the example illustrations don't assume you've got several acres to work with - the drawings and plans show the sort of small, urban gardens that so many of us have to work with. Of course if you have got a country estate you can still implement these ideas; you just get to do it on a much grander scale!

This book has rapidly gone on my list of vital gardening books. With climate change, extreme weather events and energy price/availability issues, the information held within these pages is something that we need more people to read, understand and act on. We need to strive to make our gardens as green as we can, in both senses of the word "green", and this book will be a great aid to help us achieve that.… (más)