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Five years after her first book, Kate Bradbury has a new, slightly bigger garden two miles away.
Kate's garden hosts red mason bees, bumblebees, house sparrows and dragonflies. Hedgehogs, hoverflies and lots more birds regularly visit. The entire frog population of Brighton and Hove seem to breed in her small pond each spring. And now, toads are here, too. On summer evenings, Kate watches bats flit above her, and everything seems alright with the world for a moment.
But she knows habitat loss remains a massive issue in gardens, the wider countryside, and worldwide, and there's another, far bigger threat: climate change. Temperature increases are starting to bite, and she worries our wildlife will be unable to cope with the new normal.
In her uplifting new book, Kate writes passionately about how her climate-change anxiety pushes her to look for positive ways to keep going in a changing world. As in her first book, she invites you into her life, sharing stories of her mum's ongoing recovery, old and new relationship drama, her intense love for her new rescue dog, and a few parties, festivals and hangovers are thrown into the mix.
One Garden Against the World is a call to arms to all of us – gardeners, communities and individuals – to do more for wildlife and the climate. Climate change and biodiversity loss go hand in hand, but if we work together, it's not too late to make a difference.
Kate Bradbury is an award-winning author and journalist, specialising in wildlife gardening. She edits the wildlife pages of BBC Gardeners' World Magazine and regularly writes articles for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian, RHS magazine The Garden and BBC Wildlife and BBC Countryfile magazines. In 2015 she became the first Butterfly Ambassador for conservation charity Butterfly Conservation, and she writes a quarterly column for its magazine, Butterfly. Kate regularly talks at events and festivals and appears on radio including BBC Gardeners' Question Time and the popular RHS gardening podcast. She also makes wildlife gardening videos for gardenersworld.com. She lives and breathes wildlife gardening and is currently transforming a tired north-facing patio garden into a wildlife oasis, where she hopes to attract a wealth of creatures including frogs, toads, newts, birds, beetles, hedgehogs, butterflies, not to mention her very favourite, and first love: bees.
"The greatest existential crisis we face distilled into the crucible of a tiny piece of paradise."
– Chris Packham
"Heartfelt and impassioned. an invitation to a deeper relationship with the world around us, and proof of what might be achieved if we became true custodians of our nearby nature."
– Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley
"This beautiful book is both thoughtful meditation and practical guide. Through Kate's journey of trial and error and her highs and lows, we learn how every one of us can transform whatever space we have, no matter how small, into an oasis for wildlife and a positive force for the planet. This book is a cure for eco-anxiety and a testament to the power of community. It's an inspiring, empowering call to arms and a comforting companion on the road to a better world."
– Isabella Tree, author of Wilding
"Inside Kate's wild garden lies the key to a gentle revolution. This beautiful story recognises the power we have to support our wildlife and climate through the humble act of cherishing our gardens. Each leaf, flower and animal that makes its home within Kate's wild sanctuary is a symbol of hope and resilience. This book is empowering, it's joyous [...] and it's very important. I loved every page!"
– Megan McCubbin, author of Back to Nature
"Kate Bradbury shows how a single determined person has the power to change things and how tiny actions combine to make a big difference. She is defending our beautiful planet and its wildlife, one caterpillar at a time."
– Pam Ayres, poet
"A wonderful vision of a world where every garden is nature-friendly and brims with life."
– Dave Goulson, author of Silent Earth
"If you ever doubted that you can help change the world, read this book. Part passionate call to arms, part intimate nature diary, One Garden Against the World shows how the actions we take in our gardens, allotments, balconies or window boxes can both nurture vital habitats and wildlife and offer a source of solace and hope. Lyrical and compelling, Bradbury makes a powerful case that, as the climate and nature emergencies deepen, gardening is not just a personal passion but a political necessity."
– Caroline Lucas, Member of Parliament
"Written with Kate's signature purpose and passion, this beautiful, inspirational book shows us how we can channel our fears for the future into the here and now, into our gardens, our communities, and our nearby wild. Pulling no punches but bursting with love and hope, One Garden Against the World is a timely call for us to cherish and protect that which we love."
– Brigit Strawbridge Howard, author of Dancing with Bees
"This book spills joy all the way through. It made me want to do more of the little things that bring me closer to nature. I want to build a pond. I want to look for frogs. I want to continue trying to connect the land with the people. It is a joyful and justifiably accusatory memoir of hope set in an atmosphere where intimacy can often be lost in the sea of overwhelming helplessness."
– Jasmine Isa Qureshi, journalist, poet and ecologist
"One Garden Against the World is a brilliantly subversive, deeply humane, angry and passionate book. Kate Bradbury's skill is to weave such huge forces with an enviable lightness of touch."
– Hugh Warwick, author of Cull of the Wild
"Like everything Kate Bradbury does, this book is a heartfelt cry for the wild creatures with whom we are privileged to share our lives. More than anything else, One Garden Against the World shows us what a deeply thoughtful, compassionate and committed conservationist Kate is."
– Nick Acheson, author of The Meaning of Geese
"An empowering reminder that we can all make a difference. Absolutely vital."
– Hannah Bourne-Taylor, author of Fledgling
