Garden Allies

When we try to tame nature, we usually come out on the losing end, as this delightful book attests. Gardeners will learn to work with, instead of against nature. Embracing helpful insects and plans and simply accepting that all plants and creatures have a place in our world. According an old farming saying, you plant one third of your crop for the insects, one third for the animals and one third for yourself. Accompanied with delightful drawings and snippets of lore, this is a must read for every gardener

What a lovely illustrated book to sing praise for the tiny helpers in the garden! Thoughtfully laid out and filled with interesting information and ideas about how to celebrate the diversity that makes a healthy landscape. As a Master Gardener I can see this book being very popular for anyone with a passion for getting their hands dirty and digging into the makings of a beautiful garden. Thank you for the advanced copy of this book from Timber Press. I'll definitely be grabbing a physical copy at the bookstore.

Oh my! I loved this book! The cover is so appealing... it drew my attention immediately and I thought this would be a modern, unique and interesting book about the often misunderstood creatures in the outdoors! I was right. It is an excellent collection of information that is accessible and enjoyable for a range of readers. One does not need a strong interest in nature to gain something from the read. It is however necessary to want to read about facts and science. A good read all together.

This book was very informative and the illustrations are charming! I’ll definitely put some information I learned to use in my garden this year!

This book is very helpful for gardeners who want to learn more about insects and other critters that can help enhance a garden. I found it to be a little too in-depth for my level, but it was still neat to look through.

This is a very beautiful book and is very useful to people who are into gardening and interesting insects. The book is full of information and lots of pictures that breaks the writing up.

Thank you NetGalley for letting read this book.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy! I am so glad I was able to get an advance look at this book- I have many family members (including myself) who are very into gardening. I will definitely be picking up a few copies for Christmas gifts after publication!

1. Loveeeeed the drawings. So pretty!
2. A lot of great information. I have a 4-year-old son who is currently very interested in (and also terrified of) bugs, so it's really great to have more information to give him that may make insects less scary for him!
3. I am a fungus nerd- huge kudos for including that info!

What a fantastic book! This is a great companion book for any level of gardener... novice to experienced and any level of reader! It's easy to understand description of the insects, birds and other animals that you may find in your garden... the ones that you want to have in your garden! Your gardening allies!
The chapters are laid out so you can easily reference specifically to the kind of creature you're looking up. There's very helpful glossary included in the back to help you find the definitions you may need. You can even find a "recommended resources" section if you would like additional information. And, of course, an index to help find everything from within the pages.
I rounded up to 5 stars but feel it is a 4.5 star book. The only thing that I wish that was included is actual pictures instead of drawings. That would make this a solid 5 star book. I do recommend this one to any gardener!


Thanks very much to Timber Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this great book!

This is an extremely thorough book about all manner of creatures that benefit your garden. Some may surprise you, as even moths, ants and slugs are presented as having some benefits in the garden (though there are ways given to control them as well). At over 300 pages, it's in depth and informative. Black and white illustrations depict each type of species, with blue highlights in the interior to add visual interest. It's rather text-heavy and science-heavy, which can be a good thing or a bad depending on how much information you want and how much you just want the facts. All in all, it's an excellent primer.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

What a delightful book of wonderful species that inhabit our gardens! While the book is an overall summary for gardeners to get a grasp on what all is out there in the garden, it is still rather detailed and gives you just the right amount of information to let you take it to the next level in your reading!

A great and very readable guide to all of the wonderful variety of small critters that may come to visit and assist your garden!

This book is very helpful to know what bugs and other wildlife are in the garden. The author's note that even bugs that are harmful at some stages are beneficial at others. So much information in one book!

Garden Allies is a good little book about identifying friends of the garden. This book handily describes different bugs and wildlife, what their benefits are, and if they transition from pest to partner, or back again. It's also illustrated, and was a good distraction from my war against the invasive spotted lanternfly.

Garden Allies is a beautifully written and illustrated holistic guide to the things which help maintain garden health and build soil, capably written and curated by Frédérique Lavoipierre. Due out 28th Sept 2021 from Workman on their Timber Press imprint, it's 320 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is such a peaceful and interesting book and quite inspiring. It's clearly and simply written by someone who knows what she's talking about and as a keen (and experienced) gardener, I learned more than I expected. The essays are grouped thematically into chapters: life beneath our feet (microbes, earthworms, micro-/macro-arthropods) fungi, winged insects, predators & parasites, beetles, common garden insects, ground insects & pathogens/galls, and birds & other vertebrates. The essays are full of interesting details of the appearance and characteristics of the subjects as well as how they interact with other species. The descriptions include appearance, common and scientific names, and garden roles they perform for us.

Although there's no photography in the volume, the illustrations by Craig Latker are beautifully wrought and enhance the text perfectly. Different organisms are easy to identify and the pointillist (dot sketched) drawings are really quite detailed.

Five stars. This would make a super choice for public library acquisition, gardening groups, home gardeners, and winter nonfiction reading.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

"Garden Allies" talks about the different types of insects and animals that you might find in a garden. It's not really a practical, how-to gardening guide since the focus wasn't really on the garden but on the animals that you might find there (and elsewhere). The author talked about various categories of animals and wrote a few pages about each category (like worms, bees, wasps, flies, etc.). It covered things like nesting habits, what they eat, social behavior, and why gardeners might appreciate having them in the garden. Each section ended with profile-type information: their official names, what they look like, etc. Black and white drawings of the mentioned critters were sometimes included, but I didn't find them particularly helpful in terms of insect identification. Overall, I'd recommend this book to those interested in learning more about garden animals.

From the gorgeous cover to the remarkable information and illustrations to the glossary, Garden Allies is a glorious book for gardeners of all abilities and non-gardeners alike who simply enjoy reading about it. It is bursting with details on biodiversity and how to attract pollinators and beneficial critters to your garden. Rather than immediately reaching for the pesticides, take a breath and remember that most garden predators have predators. Balance is necessary. Living things are symbiotic. When you kill "pests" you also kill beneficials. As the author says, make enemies your allies! I love that.

The author draws on her wealth of knowledge to discuss biological control, her case against pesticides unless absolutely necessary, fertile soil, mycorrhizal funi, pollinators, observing insects/birds/amphibians/reptiles and creating a happy oasis for yourself and nature. She reminds us that the world needs insects, especially herbivores, which are essential to life. And where would we be without flowers which form fruit? Each section contains useful information on distribution, appearance, popular names and so on.

My favourite sections are those about various bees and the benefits of honey (one of my favourites is lip balm!), differences between moths and butterflies, parasitoids, shellac origin, snails and the Lyme disease bacterium killer.

My sincere thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this incredible book! I enjoyed learning more and re-visiting topics I hadn't thought of for ages.

This is a well written book about the insects and organisms in our garden, and how they work and play a great part in our successes (of failures).
The book is very readable, and flows from chapter to chapter with great ease. There are black and white hand drawn illustration which I enjoyed very much. This book reall opened my eyes to the benefit of working with nature.

An excellent little guide to why it's better to get along with nature rather than to try to control it. All the little bugs and critters that you can find in your garden, if you just put away the pesticides/insecticides. The author aptly presents her information in a clearly and easily understandable manner. Cute illustrations. This one will go on my gardening shelf for referring to over and over again!

Excellent gardening companion book that helps you get to know the bugs and animals that live in your garden. Comprehensive descriptions, tons of facts about their behavior and how to live alongside so many incredible little insects. You don't have to use pesticides to keep a good balance!

Thanks Netgalley and Timber Press for the chance to review this book.
As someone that loves gardening this was such a little treat! To be honest I hadn’t really thought about all the allies in the garden it was an eye opener! Craig Latker’s illustrations are lovely and really brought the book to life.
Frederique Lavoipierre’s writing style is such a treat!
I’m so happy I got to read this!

This book is a great resources and a great addition to any library's gardening section. I have a read a few books that tackle this topic and I found this particular volume to do a great job of giving a balance of fact and application. I really enjoyed the design and illustrations as well. I think it does a great job of selling the notion that it's worth it manage garden pests this way. I will definitely be using it come spring!