This book is an amazing naturalists account of all the many birds, plants, and mammals that are to be found at different times of the year and in all the many places, in and around farms, gardens, woodlands and environments both familiar, and unfamiliar. As familiar as a cup of tea and similarly as heartening, Monty Don is something of a gardening legend. The details about the decline and increase of certain birds, bugs and four legged creatures kept me wondering what it was like in the US. Divided into sections, each one headed by the main subject of the piece, I really like the style of writing that is often nostalgic. Wildlife is not something that we watch happening in remote and exotic parts of the world on our screens, but right here in our own back yards and the more that we encourage it and learn to live with it, the more rewarding it becomes.

Monty has a lovely writing style that makes this book very enjoyable as well as a great learning tool for gardeners. After lending this to a couple of people who I know will love it, I will keep it as a source of reference about animals and plants. It could only have been improved by having more illustrations or photos of the various plants and animals mentioned, I found myself googling many as I read the book. If, in our own modest back yards, we can help preserve and treasure our natural world then we will make the world a better place — not just for ourselves but for every living creature. Whether you live in the countryside or the town, Monty's observations and insights are relevant to each and every one of us.There are full page colour photos for each season included in the book and Monty's descriptions and anecdotes are more than enough to bring to life the magic he sees and observes as a outdoors man submerged in nature.

Best Christmas Releases* -- While some gardeners appear bent on suppressing nature, Monty Don loves and works with it. I love this book, it takes you on an amazing journey through the natural year learning about all the creatures and plants that inhabit a garden and farmland through the course of one year. The chunky dark orange hardboard cover with colourful dust-jacket opens to 422 matte finish pages, split over the months of the year within the 4 seasons (image below refers).I found out so much about him and the knowledge he has about not only about gardening but the creatures and birds that visit was amazing. Already 400 pages in paperback, I suppose a possibly 1,200 page doorstopper if pictures were included might not have been possible though.

If in our own modest back yards we can help preserve and treasure our natural world then we will make the world a better place - not just for ourselves but for every living creature". This was slightly different to his usual flower/plant based books, about his gardening endeavours at Longmeadow. And I loved every page; I learned something new from just about every page, which at my age is no mean thing. I have used the calendar months because these fit in with the rhythm of my gardening year ~ I always begin each January with a sense of hope and optimism because the garden is starting to wake up after the slow descent down to the end of the year. I grew to enjoy his no nonsense criticism of human practices that have destroyed so much of the natural world.Dedicated to ‘Nigel, 2008-2020’, it pensively follows with the opening lines of ‘Afterwards’, by Thomas Hardy. His previous books include the Sunday Times bestseller Nigel, The Jewel Garden, Paradise Gardens and Japanese Gardens with Derry Moore , which was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Awards. Best Christmas Releases* --While some gardeners appear bent on suppressing nature, Monty Don loves and works with it. My Garden World is Monty Don's personal journey through the natural year, month by month, season by season, observed from the immediate world around him.

This book is personal, selective, and based on my own particular interests rather than trying to be a reference book of any kind. A handful of full colour plates are included in small batches, including the very last one of that special one the book is dedicated to, succeeding in bringing a tear to the eye of many a reader, I think, as potentially will the closing chapter😢 coming just before the short but sweet ½ page of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I'm not comfortable with his ambivalence about huntin' and shootin', but then I don't own a large estate in Shropshire and a farm on the Welsh hills.Overall this is an easy book to dip in and out of as well as one you can throw yourself into for a lengthier session of quiet escapism. There are also some lovely pictures of the garden and the farm as well as Nigel including the last one ever taken.