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The Bumblebee Flies Anyway: A year of gardening and (wild)life
Finding herself in a new home in Brighton, Kate Bradbury sets about transforming her decked, barren backyard into a beautiful wildlife garden. She documents the unbuttoning of the earth and the rebirth of the garden, the rewilding of a tiny urban space. On her own she unscrews, saws, and hammers the decking away, she clears the builders' rubble and rubbish beneath it, and she digs and enriches the soil, gradually planting it up with plants she knows will attract wildlife. She erects bird boxes and bee hotels, hangs feeders and grows nectar- and pollen-rich plants, and slowly brings life back to the garden.
But while she's doing this her neighbors continue to pave and deck their gardens. The wildlife she tries to save is further threatened, and she feels she's fighting an uphill battle. Is there any point in gardening for wildlife when everyone else is drowning the land in poison and cement?
Throughout her story, Kate draws on an eclectic and eccentric cast of friends and colleagues, who donate plants and a greenhouse, tolerate her gawping at butterflies at Gay Pride, and accompany her on trips to visit rare bumblebees and nightingales.
But while she's doing this her neighbors continue to pave and deck their gardens. The wildlife she tries to save is further threatened, and she feels she's fighting an uphill battle. Is there any point in gardening for wildlife when everyone else is drowning the land in poison and cement?
Throughout her story, Kate draws on an eclectic and eccentric cast of friends and colleagues, who donate plants and a greenhouse, tolerate her gawping at butterflies at Gay Pride, and accompany her on trips to visit rare bumblebees and nightingales.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 17, 2018
31 people are currently reading
553 people want to read
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June 8, 2018I did not expect a book about wildlife gardening to make me cry. This is extraordinary: the tale of a woman, a decked, concreted, crappy patch of worthless city garden, and her mission to bring it back to life by attracting bees, birds, insects and wild plants. It's not the usual gardening writing when everyone plans stuff and has magic perfect soil and twenty acres and an unlimited budget. This is the kind of gardening you do when you're drunk, or you decide to randomly scatter seed like a rebel and then have no idea what you grew, with plants that die and mistakes and looking like a scratty mess. No spoilers but when a particular kind of bee finally arrived I basically broke down into sobs.
What's devastating, and not in a happy-cry way, is what this book tells us about the eradication of Britain's insects, and thus birds. The endless decking and concreting and planting of things that have no wildlife value, the fencing and cutting back and weedkiller, the destruction of life around us. It's a cry of rage and despair at what we're doing to our environment and most of us don't even know we're doing it.
I'm writing this looking at a huge mass of ivy on the back fence. There's a wren nesting in there, I'm pretty sure. Or it was, because yesterday next door paid a man with a petrol chainsaw to cut down all the ivy spilling over *their* stretch of back fence. It was messy, you see, and the fence must be neat, and to hell with the ivy, and the things it hides, the insects that feed the birds. Cut down the nettles, root up the weeds, pull up the plants the bees love, eliminate anything that isn't ordered, then sit back and wonder why you never see butterflies these days except cabbage whites, what a nuisance, better spray the brassicas with poison.
A polemic and a lament and a song of praise in one. Highly recommended.
What's devastating, and not in a happy-cry way, is what this book tells us about the eradication of Britain's insects, and thus birds. The endless decking and concreting and planting of things that have no wildlife value, the fencing and cutting back and weedkiller, the destruction of life around us. It's a cry of rage and despair at what we're doing to our environment and most of us don't even know we're doing it.
I'm writing this looking at a huge mass of ivy on the back fence. There's a wren nesting in there, I'm pretty sure. Or it was, because yesterday next door paid a man with a petrol chainsaw to cut down all the ivy spilling over *their* stretch of back fence. It was messy, you see, and the fence must be neat, and to hell with the ivy, and the things it hides, the insects that feed the birds. Cut down the nettles, root up the weeds, pull up the plants the bees love, eliminate anything that isn't ordered, then sit back and wonder why you never see butterflies these days except cabbage whites, what a nuisance, better spray the brassicas with poison.
A polemic and a lament and a song of praise in one. Highly recommended.
November 24, 2019
My partner half-jokes that when we retire and finally buy a house in a much cheaper area, he'll pour concrete over the yards. No mowing, he says.
Just two days ago some inspectors came through our work compound and said, these dried-out succulents are a fire hazard. We'll have to come through and pave over everything. What about the ground squirrels, the little lizards that sun themselves on the sidewalk, the sparrows that live in the bushlike tree outside our building? Fuck them, I guess. I can only hope our organization is cheap enough to think that hiring in the pavers will cost too much money, and that the rains might come and let the succulents grow again so this tiny habitat can continue to live.
Is "earth will outlive us, nature is stronger than we are in the long term" really a hopeful thing to say? Can't we help it, and ourselves, along? Or are we so deep into our own stupid heads and hubris and "need" for quiet and sterility that we and our food animals and our pets are the only things that deserve to exist?
This beautifully-written memoir by a woman who rehabilitates a tiny, ruined "deck and paving stone" patch of yard into a garden is inspiring and moving. There's another way, she says. We can live and thrive alongside insects, frogs, birds, foxes.
But we've done so much to make that difficult or impossible. Over the last few decades we've carved open spaces into fenced lots that non-flying animals can't move between to find food. We've planted flowers and shrubs that bees can't use. We've chopped down trees and bushes that birds need for nesting. We've eliminated butterfly habitats and complain that all we're seeing is cabbage moths. This book is an elegy as much as it is a signpost to a hopeful future.
From my current vantage point of having never owned my own little patch of land, I can still do things like beach cleanup, and can still love the world's little creatures when I see them. But it's pretty easy to feel despair when there's way more pavement and fake grass than park and green space in sight, road traffic noise much more a constant than birdsong, McMansions and luxury condos and strip malls all that can be seen for miles around.
Just two days ago some inspectors came through our work compound and said, these dried-out succulents are a fire hazard. We'll have to come through and pave over everything. What about the ground squirrels, the little lizards that sun themselves on the sidewalk, the sparrows that live in the bushlike tree outside our building? Fuck them, I guess. I can only hope our organization is cheap enough to think that hiring in the pavers will cost too much money, and that the rains might come and let the succulents grow again so this tiny habitat can continue to live.
Is "earth will outlive us, nature is stronger than we are in the long term" really a hopeful thing to say? Can't we help it, and ourselves, along? Or are we so deep into our own stupid heads and hubris and "need" for quiet and sterility that we and our food animals and our pets are the only things that deserve to exist?
This beautifully-written memoir by a woman who rehabilitates a tiny, ruined "deck and paving stone" patch of yard into a garden is inspiring and moving. There's another way, she says. We can live and thrive alongside insects, frogs, birds, foxes.
But we've done so much to make that difficult or impossible. Over the last few decades we've carved open spaces into fenced lots that non-flying animals can't move between to find food. We've planted flowers and shrubs that bees can't use. We've chopped down trees and bushes that birds need for nesting. We've eliminated butterfly habitats and complain that all we're seeing is cabbage moths. This book is an elegy as much as it is a signpost to a hopeful future.
From my current vantage point of having never owned my own little patch of land, I can still do things like beach cleanup, and can still love the world's little creatures when I see them. But it's pretty easy to feel despair when there's way more pavement and fake grass than park and green space in sight, road traffic noise much more a constant than birdsong, McMansions and luxury condos and strip malls all that can be seen for miles around.
January 29, 2023
The sweet melancholic voice with a Brummie lilt drew me to this book on Audible. I thought it would make for a good little background listening on small-scale wildlife. But it was so much more. Kate Bradbury is an indisputably talented writer who brings poetry to her daily documentation of nature in the back garden. She harks back to lost worlds and forwards to fragile futures.
An unexpected bombshell tragedy in her family in the middle of the book crumbles her world and shakes everything up. It was here that I really started to feel emotionally invested in Bradbury’s experiences. This is a book as carefully assembled as the bee hotels it describes, and you don’t have to be into gardening to read it (I’m certainly a failing beginner). By zooming into the detail, Bradbury opens up a massive new world.
“Two thousand birds waking up… The birds don’t hang around, but immediately disappear, a trail of smoke weaving into the distant sky, notes spilling off a sheet of music.”
An unexpected bombshell tragedy in her family in the middle of the book crumbles her world and shakes everything up. It was here that I really started to feel emotionally invested in Bradbury’s experiences. This is a book as carefully assembled as the bee hotels it describes, and you don’t have to be into gardening to read it (I’m certainly a failing beginner). By zooming into the detail, Bradbury opens up a massive new world.
“Two thousand birds waking up… The birds don’t hang around, but immediately disappear, a trail of smoke weaving into the distant sky, notes spilling off a sheet of music.”
October 8, 2019
Moving to a new home in Brighton was a little bit daunting for Kate Bradbury, but it was the right time in her life to do it. The only problem was that space outside her back door was a barren and lifeless decked yard. The decking wasn’t in that great a condition either, so one day she decided that the whole lot had to come out and ventured out with her screwdriver.
Removing it took a little while and it revealed the stuff that had been left underneath that needed clearing, but in the end, it is gone and she has a blank canvas to create her own garden. As she wrestles the man-made elements away, her neighbours are in the process of covering their gardens with hard landscaping. Enriching the long covered soil means that she is finally able to put plants in that are going to attract insects and other wildlife. Bird boxes and feeders and bee hotels start to have the desired effect, turning a lifeless place into one that gives her pleasure every day.
This book proves what you can do if you don’t cover your outdoor spaces with decking or paving and think of your garden in wildlife terms and have the vision to change things for the better. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone did this? Wouldn’t solve all the problems that we have, but would go a little way to redressing the balance. Overall I thought it was an enjoyable book, Bradbury is a reasonable writer but what comes across in this is her enthusiasm for her six-legged friends who find her garden an oasis in the modern concrete jungle.
Removing it took a little while and it revealed the stuff that had been left underneath that needed clearing, but in the end, it is gone and she has a blank canvas to create her own garden. As she wrestles the man-made elements away, her neighbours are in the process of covering their gardens with hard landscaping. Enriching the long covered soil means that she is finally able to put plants in that are going to attract insects and other wildlife. Bird boxes and feeders and bee hotels start to have the desired effect, turning a lifeless place into one that gives her pleasure every day.
This book proves what you can do if you don’t cover your outdoor spaces with decking or paving and think of your garden in wildlife terms and have the vision to change things for the better. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone did this? Wouldn’t solve all the problems that we have, but would go a little way to redressing the balance. Overall I thought it was an enjoyable book, Bradbury is a reasonable writer but what comes across in this is her enthusiasm for her six-legged friends who find her garden an oasis in the modern concrete jungle.
July 23, 2020
The reading of this book couldn’t have been better planned as I continue to add wildflowers and water bowls and dried leaves to corners of my back yard while my next door neighbour just finished razing everything in her back yard and is preparing it for a built-in pool and concrete pad to the fence line 🙄😡😫
August 7, 2018
This beautiful book took me out into nature and back to my childhood. I wept for all that I had lost and forgotten, all it led me to find and remember and all that which it helped me see for the first time. There is so much love in these wonderful words, not just for wildlife but for family. Kate Bradbury has a wonderful vision for the future - of all the gardens in Britain joining hands to nurture new life. I am fully inspired to do my bit to make that come true. And to pass on all that which my grandparents taught me about nature to my daughter so that she may pass it on in turn. Wildlife is disappearing, but that which is left is going unseen. Bradbury opens our eyes, and her heart.
September 29, 2018
When I heard that The Bumblebee Flies Anyway was about reclaiming a decked over garden for the wildlife, I thought this is my kind of gardening book. When we moved into our house, the small garden (front and back) had been covered in concrete paving and gravel, not a bit of green in sight except for the occasional resilient dandelion. Why do people hate living things so much?
When Kate Bradbury moves to Brighton her budget is tight but she manages to find a basement flat with a small patch of garden. She sets about removing the decking and installing her bee hotels, planting species that will attract wildlife back into her garden. On either side, the gardens are all the same, barely any sign of life, does urban wildife stand any chance of finding her?
She talks about the different species who call Brighton home, how modern lifestyles and the ever increasing need for housing has made life difficult for wildlife. There are a vast variety of different bee species and I learned a bit about our resident solitary bees that are nesting the the holes left by a satellite dish. We thought they'd abandoned it but now I know they will stay in there over winter and emerge in spring.
Whilst Kate wants to give over her whole garden to wildlife, she also highlights how even little things can help. A small pond will attract frogs soon enough. A few climbing plants or shrubs can give small birds privacy. A hotel made out of hollow stalks and a few bee-friendly flowers will soon get helpful bees hanging out to pollinate your veg.
I loved the gardening and wildlife bits, but like most nature memoirs these days, there is a large portion about personal tragedy. Kate's mother suffers a stroke, and the change in the woman is heartbreaking. Yet it's not really what I wanted to read about when I picked this book up.
When Kate Bradbury moves to Brighton her budget is tight but she manages to find a basement flat with a small patch of garden. She sets about removing the decking and installing her bee hotels, planting species that will attract wildlife back into her garden. On either side, the gardens are all the same, barely any sign of life, does urban wildife stand any chance of finding her?
She talks about the different species who call Brighton home, how modern lifestyles and the ever increasing need for housing has made life difficult for wildlife. There are a vast variety of different bee species and I learned a bit about our resident solitary bees that are nesting the the holes left by a satellite dish. We thought they'd abandoned it but now I know they will stay in there over winter and emerge in spring.
Whilst Kate wants to give over her whole garden to wildlife, she also highlights how even little things can help. A small pond will attract frogs soon enough. A few climbing plants or shrubs can give small birds privacy. A hotel made out of hollow stalks and a few bee-friendly flowers will soon get helpful bees hanging out to pollinate your veg.
I loved the gardening and wildlife bits, but like most nature memoirs these days, there is a large portion about personal tragedy. Kate's mother suffers a stroke, and the change in the woman is heartbreaking. Yet it's not really what I wanted to read about when I picked this book up.
November 12, 2019
A beautifully written and profoundly sad book about working on a garden. A story of love for nature and gardening, and for garden fauna of various kinds. Much recommended (although tw for serious parental illness apply).
June 18, 2018
The first thing I noticed about this book is that Kate has a very unique writing style. This reads like a diary, almost, with a lot of run-on sentences and half-formed thoughts. It's beautiful to read, once you get used to it. Her descriptions of the garden are extremely evocative, from the sunless, unloved little concrete box she buys, to the life-filled, colourful garden she creates - it feels as if you can see it at each stage. I wish there had been pictures, but in a way, I can see why there aren't, as the beauty of the garden lies in its heart and its soul, not in any particular photo.
I loved reading about the patience and frustrations of planting the garden from scratch - as a beginner gardener myself, it's very difficult waiting for results when you know you may have to wait years to see things grow! I've been growing a honeysuckle for three years, and this is the first year it's had more than one flower on it, so I particularly warmed to Kate's attempt to cultivate her honeysuckle cuttings.
I also found the description of the bird-life that she saw to be very informative - I had no idea about a lot of the habits she described, so that was lovely. A lot of her reminiscences about her childhood experience of nature are bittersweet, and there's a real sadness in the way she discusses the decline of spaces for wildlife, and the decline of the wildlife itself. You can tell that she feels this passionately (though I couldn't understand why, if city life depresses her so much, she didn't move to the countryside).
Unfortunately, the second half of the book was extraordinarily uncomfortable and disappointing to me. Like in H is for Hawk, I picked up this book to read about nature, not about grief and pain. While I have every sympathy for Kate and her family dealing with her mother's illness, and it is beautifully discussed, this is not something I would ever choose to read about, and quite frankly, it ruined the book for me. There is no warning in the description or blurb about this. So if, like me, you have a low tolerance for peering at other people's misery, be warned that this is not a happy book, and it is not about Kate's garden at all after her mother's aneurysm.
So, three stars from me, purely because it made me want to get out into the garden and appreciate my plants and wildlife more. But overall, I would not recommend this unless people know what they are getting - if that's your cup of tea, you may well love it. But it isn't mine.
I loved reading about the patience and frustrations of planting the garden from scratch - as a beginner gardener myself, it's very difficult waiting for results when you know you may have to wait years to see things grow! I've been growing a honeysuckle for three years, and this is the first year it's had more than one flower on it, so I particularly warmed to Kate's attempt to cultivate her honeysuckle cuttings.
I also found the description of the bird-life that she saw to be very informative - I had no idea about a lot of the habits she described, so that was lovely. A lot of her reminiscences about her childhood experience of nature are bittersweet, and there's a real sadness in the way she discusses the decline of spaces for wildlife, and the decline of the wildlife itself. You can tell that she feels this passionately (though I couldn't understand why, if city life depresses her so much, she didn't move to the countryside).
Unfortunately, the second half of the book was extraordinarily uncomfortable and disappointing to me. Like in H is for Hawk, I picked up this book to read about nature, not about grief and pain. While I have every sympathy for Kate and her family dealing with her mother's illness, and it is beautifully discussed, this is not something I would ever choose to read about, and quite frankly, it ruined the book for me. There is no warning in the description or blurb about this. So if, like me, you have a low tolerance for peering at other people's misery, be warned that this is not a happy book, and it is not about Kate's garden at all after her mother's aneurysm.
So, three stars from me, purely because it made me want to get out into the garden and appreciate my plants and wildlife more. But overall, I would not recommend this unless people know what they are getting - if that's your cup of tea, you may well love it. But it isn't mine.
June 24, 2021
Не трябваше да игнорирам предупредителните знаци, че тази книжка не е най-леката и стопляща сърцето.
Корицата и това, че е едва 6 часа и нещо, ме накараха да предположа, че ще слушам за това как една жена възстановява обратно до живот изоставена и оставена да умре малка градинка в града. Нищо плашещо, напротив звучи като пълна идилия. И, технически, книгата е точно това, но с добавен багаж от реалния живот до степен, че направо може те смаже.
Много меланхолично и носталгично започна. Казах си, че това просто е стилът на авторката. После нещата загрубяха като заговори затова как унищожаваме всеки ден малко по малко и последните места в града, които подпомагат дивата природа и животни да живеят и развиват (вече никога няма да се цупя на неподкастрени храсти и градини). И накрая, последната бомба, бяха нещата от живота, които знам, че са неизбежни, ама не ти е до тях в книга с такова невинно изражение.
Не съм фен на мемоари с цел да изкараш извън теб болката. Просто не съм, тъй като така я прехвърляш на другите и по принцип няма лошо ако ясно предупредиш. Обикновено този тип книги не предупреждават. А и всеки път авторите се опитват да завършат по положителен начин, но не им се получава, защото и те не вярват, че нещата ще завършат положителни ни за нас, ни за природата.
Почнах книгата, за да се потопя в света на природата и да се отделя от реалността, а я приключих толкова отчаяна, че не е истина. :/ Е, поне научих някои интересни факти, което предполагам не е лошо, но нямах желание да поемам чуждия damage точно сега.
Корицата и това, че е едва 6 часа и нещо, ме накараха да предположа, че ще слушам за това как една жена възстановява обратно до живот изоставена и оставена да умре малка градинка в града. Нищо плашещо, напротив звучи като пълна идилия. И, технически, книгата е точно това, но с добавен багаж от реалния живот до степен, че направо може те смаже.
Много меланхолично и носталгично започна. Казах си, че това просто е стилът на авторката. После нещата загрубяха като заговори затова как унищожаваме всеки ден малко по малко и последните места в града, които подпомагат дивата природа и животни да живеят и развиват (вече никога няма да се цупя на неподкастрени храсти и градини). И накрая, последната бомба, бяха нещата от живота, които знам, че са неизбежни, ама не ти е до тях в книга с такова невинно изражение.
Не съм фен на мемоари с цел да изкараш извън теб болката. Просто не съм, тъй като така я прехвърляш на другите и по принцип няма лошо ако ясно предупредиш. Обикновено този тип книги не предупреждават. А и всеки път авторите се опитват да завършат по положителен начин, но не им се получава, защото и те не вярват, че нещата ще завършат положителни ни за нас, ни за природата.
Почнах книгата, за да се потопя в света на природата и да се отделя от реалността, а я приключих толкова отчаяна, че не е истина. :/ Е, поне научих някои интересни факти, което предполагам не е лошо, но нямах желание да поемам чуждия damage точно сега.
September 4, 2018
This was given to our book group to read and review as an ‘extra’ in addition to one of our monthly titles. On seeing the title and initial strap-line I was dubious as to whether it was ‘my thing’ and assumed I would be wading through the pages for the sake of book group, rather than because I really wanted to.
How wrong was I?! This book is utterly charming and I was captivated from the start. The book is written, or reads anyway, like a diary or journal and this makes the reader feel very engaged with Kate and her story of rescuing a small urban garden from the clutches of modern day convenience and concrete and letting nature - and herself - breathe, feel rejuvenated and alive.
I couldn’t wait to turn the pages and travel through the months to find out how the sparrows, starlings and bees fared. Kate, her garden, the wildlife, birds, bees and plants all felt like friends at the end. The book is very inspirational and makes one realise how important it is to reduce the endless urbanisation of our green and pleasant land.
How wrong was I?! This book is utterly charming and I was captivated from the start. The book is written, or reads anyway, like a diary or journal and this makes the reader feel very engaged with Kate and her story of rescuing a small urban garden from the clutches of modern day convenience and concrete and letting nature - and herself - breathe, feel rejuvenated and alive.
I couldn’t wait to turn the pages and travel through the months to find out how the sparrows, starlings and bees fared. Kate, her garden, the wildlife, birds, bees and plants all felt like friends at the end. The book is very inspirational and makes one realise how important it is to reduce the endless urbanisation of our green and pleasant land.
August 22, 2018
The 'Bumblebee Flies Anyway' brings both hope and a warning. It highlights the follies of 'easy gardening' by illustrating the negative affect that a sterile environment can have on us and also the benefits that accrue when a garden is brought back to life by, for example, the removal of decking.
As the book progresses we see the natural beauty that ensues when 'easy gardens' are replaced with plants suited to native wildlife. It shows us the damage that can so easily be done, often through ignorance, and gives a wonderful example of how each one of us can help to restore habitats for wildlife which can become life-affirming for people, too.
This book opened my eyes to what we can easily see in our own gardens. I would love to see an illustrated version of this book.
As the book progresses we see the natural beauty that ensues when 'easy gardens' are replaced with plants suited to native wildlife. It shows us the damage that can so easily be done, often through ignorance, and gives a wonderful example of how each one of us can help to restore habitats for wildlife which can become life-affirming for people, too.
This book opened my eyes to what we can easily see in our own gardens. I would love to see an illustrated version of this book.
July 24, 2018
What an inspiring book! Telling the tale of an unloved garden being nursed back to health, mainly for the bees, birds and butterflies to enjoy, we are taken through the process with all its ups and downs. Interwoven with this is a personal story. The author has a passion for gardening and for all the creatures that rely on it. She takes their welfare very seriously and goes to great lengths to nurture them. She is particularly interested in bees and I found it fascinating. I didn't realise there were so many different types. I always thought my garden was creature friendly, but I have learned I could be doing so much more. A joy to read. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.
July 24, 2018
Wonderful description of the all the elements that make up why gardening is so important, especially the plants and animals that make a garden alive. As someone who plants nettles in full sunshine to get more butterflies in her tiny garden, I felt like I was reading a book from a nature loving soul-mate. Wonderful book that will open your eyes to the things that matter.
Best read sitting in your garden/in the park/next to your window box
Best read sitting in your garden/in the park/next to your window box
May 21, 2019
Absolutely wonderful book about the pleasures of not only helping but allowing nature to thrive around you. There are parts of this book that will stick with me forever I think. The passage on the neighbours hedge being stripped back is utterly heartbreaking and is a testament not only to the authors love of nature but her talent as a writer. Definitely recommended reading. Even better, the audio version is read by Kate herself and is such a pleasure.
February 3, 2023
This is a beautiful book, a love letter to nature and gardening. Yes, it's sad, weaving the tragedy of a natural world in decline with the tragedies of human life. But there is hope. There is life.
This book makes me want to be outside. It makes me want to be in the garden (even in the middle of January). It makes you feel you can help give life to natural things. If you're considering reading it - do!
This book makes me want to be outside. It makes me want to be in the garden (even in the middle of January). It makes you feel you can help give life to natural things. If you're considering reading it - do!
January 23, 2019
Inspirational, educational, uplifting, sad, thought-provoking. Brilliant!
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September 25, 2020Now I want to rip even more tiles out of my garden than I already have.
September 24, 2022
Spoiler alert: there are happy endings.
I feel I need to say this as this was a more melancholic book than I had anticipated, even being realistic about 'the state of nature' in the UK. I went into this straight from a book about personality disorder, suicidal thoughts and addiction and might not have right then had I appreciated how fragile Kate Bradbury was at the time she is writing about as the central core of the book - making a new garden. That said, I felt that it did exemplify points made in the previous book about nature not being a miracle cure for mental illness. Kate opens the book in sadness - the end of a relationship triggering a move to a new area, and later there's a serious family crisis. She cries... a lot (I'd say that's better than some of the other things people do to cope with sadness and stress but though she also mentions 'too much drinking' a couple of times) It's interesting to contrast her bleak, often resentful, way of thinking with what she does, because she does crack on and make a garden from an unpromising area previously covered in rotten and slimy decking without being able to throw money at it - her mood is up, down and sideways.
She interweaves this story with recollections of her earlier life, her relationship with gardening and nature. Many similar-ish books talk of a connection from a young age but her personal history was different and I feel her honest accounts of being unhappy about the birdsong her granny tries to let in and sabotaging her father's efforts to share a fox encounter are very worthwhile contributions to our understanding of human-natural world relationships.
It's quite a slim volume but there's so much to unpack.
I feel I need to say this as this was a more melancholic book than I had anticipated, even being realistic about 'the state of nature' in the UK. I went into this straight from a book about personality disorder, suicidal thoughts and addiction and might not have right then had I appreciated how fragile Kate Bradbury was at the time she is writing about as the central core of the book - making a new garden. That said, I felt that it did exemplify points made in the previous book about nature not being a miracle cure for mental illness. Kate opens the book in sadness - the end of a relationship triggering a move to a new area, and later there's a serious family crisis. She cries... a lot (I'd say that's better than some of the other things people do to cope with sadness and stress but though she also mentions 'too much drinking' a couple of times) It's interesting to contrast her bleak, often resentful, way of thinking with what she does, because she does crack on and make a garden from an unpromising area previously covered in rotten and slimy decking without being able to throw money at it - her mood is up, down and sideways.
She interweaves this story with recollections of her earlier life, her relationship with gardening and nature. Many similar-ish books talk of a connection from a young age but her personal history was different and I feel her honest accounts of being unhappy about the birdsong her granny tries to let in and sabotaging her father's efforts to share a fox encounter are very worthwhile contributions to our understanding of human-natural world relationships.
It's quite a slim volume but there's so much to unpack.
June 28, 2020
I loved this book even though it fell apart and lost it's momentum towards the end. This however was understandable because of the author's need to spend time with her brain injured mother [aneurism] and to report that exhausting part of her life accurately.
It brought back to me all the years I was able to keep a British garden and provide some of the plants needed for wildlife - partly because I am not naturally a tidy gardener - and now I feel glad that I did the right thing. However times have moved on and more housing has been built and more pesticides have been used and the situation is dire and this book can do something to correct the situation without giving everyone a lecture.
This raison d'aitre is still of use in New Zealand even though some of the species are limited or different. I was on the point of constructing a Bee Hotel and am surprised to find there are 28 types of bees here . I am glad I do not have to deconstruct a deck or cart rubble through my house and that I can fairly easily provide plants and trees that will support native wildlife as well as the immigrants. Maybe this book should be read by those who are attempting to get Ms Pigneguy to remove all the plants from her berm on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
It brought back to me all the years I was able to keep a British garden and provide some of the plants needed for wildlife - partly because I am not naturally a tidy gardener - and now I feel glad that I did the right thing. However times have moved on and more housing has been built and more pesticides have been used and the situation is dire and this book can do something to correct the situation without giving everyone a lecture.
This raison d'aitre is still of use in New Zealand even though some of the species are limited or different. I was on the point of constructing a Bee Hotel and am surprised to find there are 28 types of bees here . I am glad I do not have to deconstruct a deck or cart rubble through my house and that I can fairly easily provide plants and trees that will support native wildlife as well as the immigrants. Maybe this book should be read by those who are attempting to get Ms Pigneguy to remove all the plants from her berm on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
April 10, 2023
leuke memoires van iemand die een stukje tuin van niks probeert te veranderen in een tuin-waardige tuin. Ondanks alles wat er in het leven gebeurt, is tuinieren helend. Prachtige beschrijvingen en een fijne stijl.
Een klein stom dingetje: waarom staat er een kaartje voorin als alle straatnamen die worden genoemd niet op dat kaartje voorkomen?
Een klein stom dingetje: waarom staat er een kaartje voorin als alle straatnamen die worden genoemd niet op dat kaartje voorkomen?
July 26, 2021
Wonderful.
September 19, 2019
What a wonderful little book! As a keen gardener and wildlife lover, I'm probably the target audience I'm sure for a book written by someone who looks on their garden as more than an 'outdoor living room' or as a space to be ignored or paved over as is the trend nowadays, but this gem of a book perfectly explains just how important a little green space is to the owner and to the wildlife of the local area. From a tiny bee moving into a bee hotel, to the flock of sparrows enjoying the safety of a buddleia bush, this book left me itching to get even more involved with my garden and to do more to attract more wildlife.
Her memories of gardens she has spent time in over the years, especially with her family, are wonderfully told and had me remembering special times I have spent with grandparents and my parents who thankfully have always been fans of green spaces.
As a passionate amateur garden I totally 'got' this book - it understands just how you feel about your little patch of the world and the despair you feel when you see trees and shrubs being destroyed in the neighbourhood and surrounding areas. Through gardening it allows you to look back fondly at times spent out there, but also has you looking forward in ways you can help to attract more bees, birds and bugs to your garden. I recently saw this author present a piece on Gardeners World and her enthusiasm for bees especially had me wanting to rush out and buy a bee hotel or two, and that enthusiasm is clear for all to see in this book.
She looks back on tough times too, especially with her mother becoming unwell, and shows the importance of a garden on helping them both cope during that time. It's a great distraction to sit out there with a cup of tea and toast and just to watch and see what is going on and let your mind wander!
It's also fascinating to read the impact of humans are having on the ways of wildlife - habitats being destroyed and species disappearing and has just made me more determined to do my little bit, and hopefully it will encourage new gardeners to do the same and make people realise that whether they have a windowbox or a garden, there are things that can be done to help native wildlife.
I adored this book and highly recommend it as a memoir and as a book full of ideas and inspiration to help us all do our bit!
Her memories of gardens she has spent time in over the years, especially with her family, are wonderfully told and had me remembering special times I have spent with grandparents and my parents who thankfully have always been fans of green spaces.
As a passionate amateur garden I totally 'got' this book - it understands just how you feel about your little patch of the world and the despair you feel when you see trees and shrubs being destroyed in the neighbourhood and surrounding areas. Through gardening it allows you to look back fondly at times spent out there, but also has you looking forward in ways you can help to attract more bees, birds and bugs to your garden. I recently saw this author present a piece on Gardeners World and her enthusiasm for bees especially had me wanting to rush out and buy a bee hotel or two, and that enthusiasm is clear for all to see in this book.
She looks back on tough times too, especially with her mother becoming unwell, and shows the importance of a garden on helping them both cope during that time. It's a great distraction to sit out there with a cup of tea and toast and just to watch and see what is going on and let your mind wander!
It's also fascinating to read the impact of humans are having on the ways of wildlife - habitats being destroyed and species disappearing and has just made me more determined to do my little bit, and hopefully it will encourage new gardeners to do the same and make people realise that whether they have a windowbox or a garden, there are things that can be done to help native wildlife.
I adored this book and highly recommend it as a memoir and as a book full of ideas and inspiration to help us all do our bit!
September 24, 2020
I adored this book. I listened to this as an audio book borrowed from my local library during (for me) the hardest part of the lockdown. The book is wonderfully narrated and I'd recommend the audio version if you're able to get a hold of it!
This is equal parts biography and nature diary, and discuss the imminent crisis in the UK of dwindling native species due to lack of or destruction of habitat. The book discusses at length how most British gardens are now either smaller, buried under concrete or artificial turf or entirely non existent due to being used as housing space. With the destruction of so much of the countryside already, gardens were the last bastion of wildlife.
I should probably stop here to make the distinction between perfectly manicured lawns and what are referred to as wildlife gardens. Wildlife gardens are a wonderful way to encourage nature and wildlife into your garden, native species and wild grasses and bushes can all help to bring insects of all types back into your garden which can then in turn encourage birds, squirrels and all manner of insectivores into your garden.
It's very easy to see habitat lose and extinction as a more global issue but the truth is that even in Britain we are losing, or have lost, some of our most vital species as we grow more and more urbanised. This is such an important book as it helps break down what we are losing and how we can, in our own way help to fight back against it. It's also wonderfully human as we also learn about the authors own connection to nature as she grows up, and her career since. I also love any woman that use her platform to extoll the virtues of wasps. As someone who is incredible wasp-phobic it's also important to note that these are also important pollinators in their own right and are just as important to the eco system as anything else.
This is such an important book and the passion and drive for the safety of our native species and wild areas shines through. Absolutely vital for if you want to look deeper into ecological issues.
This is equal parts biography and nature diary, and discuss the imminent crisis in the UK of dwindling native species due to lack of or destruction of habitat. The book discusses at length how most British gardens are now either smaller, buried under concrete or artificial turf or entirely non existent due to being used as housing space. With the destruction of so much of the countryside already, gardens were the last bastion of wildlife.
I should probably stop here to make the distinction between perfectly manicured lawns and what are referred to as wildlife gardens. Wildlife gardens are a wonderful way to encourage nature and wildlife into your garden, native species and wild grasses and bushes can all help to bring insects of all types back into your garden which can then in turn encourage birds, squirrels and all manner of insectivores into your garden.
It's very easy to see habitat lose and extinction as a more global issue but the truth is that even in Britain we are losing, or have lost, some of our most vital species as we grow more and more urbanised. This is such an important book as it helps break down what we are losing and how we can, in our own way help to fight back against it. It's also wonderfully human as we also learn about the authors own connection to nature as she grows up, and her career since. I also love any woman that use her platform to extoll the virtues of wasps. As someone who is incredible wasp-phobic it's also important to note that these are also important pollinators in their own right and are just as important to the eco system as anything else.
This is such an important book and the passion and drive for the safety of our native species and wild areas shines through. Absolutely vital for if you want to look deeper into ecological issues.
April 19, 2022
This book had a real and personal impact on me. It opens with the author aged 35, deciding to settle in Brighton/Hove after the end of a relationship. She arrives on the train from London with her bicycle and cycles around looking at unpromising basement flats with a view to buying one. Immediately, in my mind's eye I was in Brighton with my daughter Rosie as she cycles round the streets, along the prom and to the pier; sometimes looking for flats! The author even goes running, as Rosie does! Then the author looks back to her childhood garden in 1980s Birmingham, and in every detail of content and layout it's identical to my childhood garden in 1960s Stockport: a broken-stoned patio, rockery, long lawn, flower borders, garden path, an old air raid shelter, vegetable patch and brambles at the bottom, the large greenhouse in poor repair containing a huge grape vine and lots of tomato plants, giving off that distinctive smell. Then the author takes a trip to Uist, to look for a rare Hebridean bee species and I happened to be in Uist in 2021. More generally, I did find this book inspiring (if a little repetitive in places): the way she transformed a tiny, unpromising patch of derelict garden into a haven for plants, birds, bees and insects; her passionate and convincing arguments against modern ways with gardens (decking, paving over, fences). With retirement and lockdown, I'd already started to look around me and pay more attention to trees, plants, flowers, birds, bees and insects. This book has definitely pushed me even more in that direction, and I think it will have a lasting impact. I even got my husband to make me a bee hotel!!
May 26, 2019
Currently I seem to be reading much on the outdoors and this was a little gem - grabbed spontaneously at my favourite Bookshop and read over the last couple of days to curb my withdrawal symptoms at poorly Scottish Weather keeping me out of my garden due to cold and damp causing a serious flare-up of my Arthritis.
Whether you are an avid nature seeker, part time flower enthusiast, garden addict ( myself included this year especially ), looking for something different to give your children to read or read to them ( please note the Author does describe " coming out as gay " to her Mum - in case this is a subject you are not yet ready to discuss ).
It is not a perfect book - sadly I feel this writing was written to help ease her after her Mother suffering a deeply traumatic health scare - like many of this type of book and I did think at one point " oh, here we go. Not again " but this little book soldiered on past this to redeem itself and I really enjoyed the flashbacks to the gardens of her childhood.
So much that I photographed a couple of paragraphs to use to demonstrate the importance of access of " green space, in a beneficial health capacity for all ", to use in a group I am in which is trying to gain funding to regenerate our local Park. This fact alone will keep this as a lasting favourite - over and above being a light re-read to bring me solace in years to come on dark Winter days when the ground is too hard to work and the wind so fast it would sneak through a hundred layers, thus confining my itching fingers to remain soil-less.
Whether you are an avid nature seeker, part time flower enthusiast, garden addict ( myself included this year especially ), looking for something different to give your children to read or read to them ( please note the Author does describe " coming out as gay " to her Mum - in case this is a subject you are not yet ready to discuss ).
It is not a perfect book - sadly I feel this writing was written to help ease her after her Mother suffering a deeply traumatic health scare - like many of this type of book and I did think at one point " oh, here we go. Not again " but this little book soldiered on past this to redeem itself and I really enjoyed the flashbacks to the gardens of her childhood.
So much that I photographed a couple of paragraphs to use to demonstrate the importance of access of " green space, in a beneficial health capacity for all ", to use in a group I am in which is trying to gain funding to regenerate our local Park. This fact alone will keep this as a lasting favourite - over and above being a light re-read to bring me solace in years to come on dark Winter days when the ground is too hard to work and the wind so fast it would sneak through a hundred layers, thus confining my itching fingers to remain soil-less.
March 4, 2024
This lovely book is so much more than a gardening book or an entomology book. Kate Bradbury pours her heart and soul into the garden and it spills over into her urban adventures watching Peregrines, saving bumblebees and trying to create a home for herself and wildlife centered around the nature of her back garden.
During a tumultuous time in her life, with her mother suffering through a health crisis, Bradbury soldiers on focused on bringing back to life a backyard garden previously covered by an old deck. She puts up bee hotels, plants a variety of flowers and vegetables and tries to tempt the neighborhood House Sparrows to visit.
In a time of environmental crises on the planet, the passion and desperation with which she goes about her reclamation project blazes a path forward and answers the question “What can one person do?” when facing the overwhelming issues of climate change, species extinction etc… Kate Bradbury’s answer is small, direct and empowering. This book shines a light of hope in a dark and troubled world.
During a tumultuous time in her life, with her mother suffering through a health crisis, Bradbury soldiers on focused on bringing back to life a backyard garden previously covered by an old deck. She puts up bee hotels, plants a variety of flowers and vegetables and tries to tempt the neighborhood House Sparrows to visit.
In a time of environmental crises on the planet, the passion and desperation with which she goes about her reclamation project blazes a path forward and answers the question “What can one person do?” when facing the overwhelming issues of climate change, species extinction etc… Kate Bradbury’s answer is small, direct and empowering. This book shines a light of hope in a dark and troubled world.
September 11, 2022
A very soothing — and in the last third also very moving — memoir from garden writer Kate Bradbury, in which she takes the reader along on her journey into creating a wildlife garden and a new life for herself.
The book really nurtured my conviction that we all can and should do our (small) part in caring for wildlife and respecting its place in the world. In addition, Bradbury’s memories of her childhood took me back to my own, when I spent the summers on the countryside in my grandmother’s cottage — the nostalgia hit me hard and I liked it.
‘The Bumblebee Flies Anyway’ would’ve been quite the banger for me if it offered even more (historical and statistical) information about the plants, insects and birds Bradbury encountered, as well as more information about how and why terraced gardens became the norm in lots of cities, as this is something the author claims she’s fighting against with passion.
The book really nurtured my conviction that we all can and should do our (small) part in caring for wildlife and respecting its place in the world. In addition, Bradbury’s memories of her childhood took me back to my own, when I spent the summers on the countryside in my grandmother’s cottage — the nostalgia hit me hard and I liked it.
‘The Bumblebee Flies Anyway’ would’ve been quite the banger for me if it offered even more (historical and statistical) information about the plants, insects and birds Bradbury encountered, as well as more information about how and why terraced gardens became the norm in lots of cities, as this is something the author claims she’s fighting against with passion.
July 18, 2021
This was a fantastic book.
I am a total sucker for a nature journal/gardening/outdoors title, and this did not disappoint.
Kate Bradbury has a relaxed, easy writing style which makes her a pleasure to read. She is humorous and informative without being patronising or condescending.
I loved hearing about the transformation of her garden into a pure haven for local wildlife. Her passion for creatures great and small is evident in her desperation to get them "homed" in her small green space.
Kate also ventures into telling us about her mum being critically ill, and the respite her garden provided when the situation was getting too difficult to bear after days of limbo and waiting. This section of the book is written tenderly and with great respect.
A beautifully written treat of a book. I'm definitely off to explore Bradbury's other titles.
I am a total sucker for a nature journal/gardening/outdoors title, and this did not disappoint.
Kate Bradbury has a relaxed, easy writing style which makes her a pleasure to read. She is humorous and informative without being patronising or condescending.
I loved hearing about the transformation of her garden into a pure haven for local wildlife. Her passion for creatures great and small is evident in her desperation to get them "homed" in her small green space.
Kate also ventures into telling us about her mum being critically ill, and the respite her garden provided when the situation was getting too difficult to bear after days of limbo and waiting. This section of the book is written tenderly and with great respect.
A beautifully written treat of a book. I'm definitely off to explore Bradbury's other titles.
May 9, 2019
Beautiful, heartfelt book about building something new from an unpromising start, mending a broken heart, and a deep love for family, gardening and wildlife. Building her garden from scratch, Kate renews herself, and her love song to gardening and wildlife is intertwined with a tale of a horrendous event within her family. This book is deeply moving, and both a memoir of a difficult personal time, and a real education about the small but important changes we can all make in our gardens and outside spaces. Set in my hometown of Brighton, it feels extra relevant, and has filled me with inspiration for my own garden.
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