The Garden Jungle cover art

The Garden Jungle

or Gardening to Save the Planet

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Garden Jungle

By: Dave Goulson
Narrated by: Dave Goulson
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.99

Buy Now for $21.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

**
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**


The Garden Jungle
is about the wildlife that lives right under our noses, in our gardens and parks, between the gaps in the pavement, and in the soil beneath our feet. Wherever you are right now, the chances are that there are worms, woodlice, centipedes, flies, silverfish, wasps, beetles, mice, shrews and much, much more, quietly living within just a few paces of you.

Dave Goulson gives us an insight into the fascinating and sometimes weird lives of these creatures, taking us burrowing into the compost heap, digging under the lawn and diving into the garden pond. He explains how our lives and ultimately the fate of humankind are inextricably intertwined with that of earwigs, bees, lacewings and hoverflies, unappreciated heroes of the natural world.

The Garden Jungle is at times an immensely serious book, exploring the environmental harm inadvertently done by gardeners who buy intensively reared plants in disposable plastic pots, sprayed with pesticides and grown in peat cut from the ground. Goulson argues that gardens could become places where we can reconnect with nature and rediscover where food comes from. With just a few small changes, our gardens could become a vast network of tiny nature reserves, where humans and wildlife can thrive together in harmony rather than conflict.

For anyone who has a garden, and cares about our planet, this book is essential reading.

Ecosystems & Habitats Gardening & Horticulture Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Gardening

Critic Reviews

[Goulson] is master of intriguing details of a world beyond our kenThe Garden Jungle is an eye-opening book… [and Goulson’s] enthusiasm is infectious. This is a man you’d just love to visit your garden and show you its invisible wonders, teach you how to nurture them.
This book will teach you a great deal about the creatures who live right outside your door and are waiting for you to get to know them. It is a constant revelation.
Like a top-notch wildlife documentary, The Garden Jungle draws us in with fascinating details of the natural world and, at the same time, delivers a wake-up call… I doubt that many will finish reading this important book without making a few changes to their gardening or way of life.
An upbeat book about the wonders of the ecosystem in every garden.
Woodlice, earthworms, earwigs: a seething Serengeti lurks in many a back garden. Apiologist Dave Goulson’s wonderful book encourages such richness by delivering solid science on garden wilding... Goulson demonstrates that the domestic nature reserve is the first step towards saving the planet.
Well-informed…persuasive… [and] a call to arms…Garden Jungle may be back-garden in scale, but the wider context is agricultural and horticultural practices worldwide… Twelve diverse chapters highlight what is happening and how we can contribute to positive change.
Packed with remarkable details…the book shows how anyone lucky enough to have a garden or an allotment can transform it into a refuge for threatened flora and fauna… this is an excellent guide to green gardening.
An exquisite, compelling and quietly evangelical book about how gardeners can play their part in saving the planet… We need writers such as Goulson and this is a book that should be read by every gardener in the country.
Goulson is the kind of humorous, knowledgeable and bubblingly enthusiastic teacher anyone would want… He brilliantly communicates his delight at the biological miracles right under our noses in our own back gardens… The Garden Jungle is funny, combative and full of…ideas.
You put the book down and change your habits… an essential in every garden bookshop.
All stars
Most relevant
This was everything I expected it to be. Well researched, insightful and inspired. A relaxing and beneficial book

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Have listened to all 3 of Dave Goulson's books - wish his others were available on Audible.
His narration is beautiful - he's wonderful to listen to. But this book is so beautifully written! His Silent Earth is a book you HAVE to read/listen to if you have any care for the earth and its future. But this book is an easy listen, with almost poetic stories about the world around him, and the little creatures who inhabit it.
I have chronic insomnia and listen to books to help me doze, and relax, and this book and its narration are a wonderful, soothing (but incredibly informative) listen. Enjoy!

LOVED it! Dave Goulson needs to release more!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Loved this book. Bill Mollison is indeed both genius and mad hippy. Did feel a fierce rallying spirit rise when biodynamics was debunked.

Loved it so much I’ve bought four paperback copies as Christmas gifts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listened to this book 3x and will continue to jump back in again and again. Great content and amazing narration.

Love this Book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.