RHS Companion to Wildlife Gardening
Chris Baines · Frances Lincoln, 2023
The practical wildlife-gardening reference, by the man who largely invented the discipline in Britain — first published as <em>How to Make a Wildlife Garden</em> in 1985.
The main genuinely new content in the 2023 revision is a rewritten final chapter on rewilding and nature recovery. Everything else is a refresh. If you have the earlier edition, save your £25.
What's actually in it
- Organised by habitat type — each section explains the ecological role of that habitat, then how to recreate it at garden scale.
- Woodland and woodland-edge planting; hedgerows; water — wildlife ponds and wetland; wildflower meadows and grassland.
- Plant selection — which species help wildlife and which to avoid; propagation; wildlife identification; growing food alongside wildlife.
- Nest and habitat boxes; pesticides; the native versus non-native debate; and the case for leaving messy areas alone.
- New in this edition: a completely rewritten final chapter on rewilding and nature recovery, focused on community action.
What it actually says
Specifics from inside the book — so you can judge whether it's telling you anything you don't already know.
- The historical case for garden habitat, in one figure: 98% of Britain's wildflower meadows have been destroyed, and half of the ancient lowland woods.
- He names plants he thinks aren't worth it — sycamore as of little use to wildlife, Herb Robert as invasive, water primrose (Ludwigia) as dangerously so. Worth knowing that the sycamore position is contested: it supports very large aphid populations that in turn feed birds and hoverflies.
- Two specific kitchen-garden observations: copper-leaved lettuce seems unattractive to birds, and climbing French beans are better protected from slugs than dwarf ones.
- Native wildflower lists ordered by flower colour, so you can slot them into an existing border rather than starting a separate meadow — plus per-habitat plant lists for woodland edge, hedgerow, meadow and pond.
Buy it if
You want to build a wildlife pond or sow a meadow and need someone to tell you how, not just why.
Don't buy it if
Anyone wanting a photo-led project book you can flick through. This is text-heavy — the copy-to-picture ratio errs firmly toward copy.
Where it falls short
The layout still retains a whiff of the 1980s despite revision. It includes wildlife identification but is not and does not replace a field guide. And one substantive criticism worth surfacing, from Kate Bradbury — a serious authority on this subject — is that Baines still recommends killing large white butterflies, which sits awkwardly against the book's own conservation argument. We'd rather flag that than pretend it isn't there.
Who wrote it
Baines studied horticulture and landscape architecture at Wye College and later taught landscape architecture at postgraduate level. In 1985 he built the first wildlife garden ever allowed at Chelsea Flower Show — the RHS was so unfamiliar with the idea that his award was inscribed "for his WILDFIRE garden". This book is the direct descendant of the one he published that year. He co-founded the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, has been a vice-president of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts for thirty-five years, and won the RSPB Medal. He effectively invented this subject in Britain, which is both the reason to read him and the reason to check how much has been re-verified since 1985.
Where it was written
British natives, British habitats, RHS research, UK conservation policy. No US-centricity whatsoever.
The facts
- AuthorChris Baines
- PublisherFrances Lincoln
- Published2023
- Edition2nd edition, fully revised
- FormatHardback, 272 pages
- ISBN-13
9780711281288 - LevelBeginner to improver
Checked against publisher listings, UK retailers and library records in August 2026. If any of this is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.
Where to get it
Buying secondhand? Match the ISBN above — several books on this shelf have editions that look identical but aren't.