The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife

by Nancy Lawson, Kitty Hendrix (Read by)

Overview

An eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, The Humane Gardener "does the important work of speaking for the trees—and the bees, butterflies, and other living creatures that need healthy ecosystems" (BookPage). Master naturalist Nancy Lawson uses engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the United States, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists to demonstrate how and why to welcome wildlife to our backyards and how we can apply the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces.

Detailed chapters address:

● Planting for wildlife by choosing native species

● Providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies

● Creating safe zones in the garden

● Encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden

● And much more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798228641983
Publisher:	Tantor
Publication date:	09/30/2025
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nancy Lawson is the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife. A columnist for All Animals magazine, she founded Humane Gardener, an outreach initiative dedicated to animal-friendly landscaping methods. Her book and garden have been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, and other media outlets.

Kitty Hendrix has been an actor/singer nearly all of her life, appearing on stage, in film and television, and on concert stages on both the East and West coasts. She has originated nearly thirty leading roles and sung on stages such as Carnegie Hall and Symphony Hall, Boston. She has been an owner/producer of two theater companies and also owned a successful interior design firm. In 2013 Kitty recorded her first audiobook. She was hooked. With wide vocal and emotional range, she is known to have a voice with "gravitas" and can express deep emotional power. She enjoys immersing herself in the POV of the author and the many diverse characters she has portrayed. She is as comfortable performing historical biographies as she is cozy mysteries and thrillers. Kitty has recorded over 100 audiobooks, mostly with major publishers and in nearly every genre. She has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards, been nominated for an Audie (with a title that she self-produced) and been recognized for her narration by Jo Reed of Behind The Mic, AudioFile Magazine, and Library Journal.

Table of Contents

Author's Note 9

Introduction 11

1 A New Kind of Dream Home: Plant Native Plants 19

More than mere decoration, plants are the foundation of any humane garden.

2 The Beauty of Letting Go: Let Nature Guide Your Garden 49

Partnering with plants and animals brings a world of discoveries.

3 Is Your Yard Family-Friendly? Provide Baby Food and Nesting Sites 73

Birds, bees, and butterflies require special habitat for their young.

4 Safety Zones: Create Sanctuary in a Treacherous World 113

Wild Animals face hidden hazards in our yards and gardens.

5 A Harvest for All: Share the Bounty Through Peaceful Coexistence 139

Animals aren't out to get us, but the "pest"-control industry would have us believe otherwise.

6 The Gift that Keeps On Giving: Encourage Life in the Decay 179

When trees die, the world springs anew-if you let it.

Getting Started 205

Plants Mentioned in This Book 211

Notes 216

Selected Bibliography 221

Acknowledgments 223

Image Credits 224

Editorial Reviews

"This gorgeously written, well-argued title will help backyard gardeners see all creatures, from insects to elk, as visitors to be welcomed rather than pests to be removed….Highly recommended for gardeners at all levels in all regions.” - Library Journal starred review

"In The Humane Gardener, Lawson does the important work of speaking for the trees-and the bees, butterflies and other living creatures that need healthy ecosystems. It’s telling that Lawson opts to use gendered pronouns when referencing animals: Her goal is to show us the wisdom of living in harmony with, and dissolving boundaries between, our habitations and the diverse wildlife that surrounds us….With luxe, matte pages and plentiful full-color photographs, this book is as much a beautiful object as a passionate and well-researched rallying cry." - BookPage

"With this guidebook in hand, learn how to landscape in harmony with nature - and how to attract and keep different, beneficial species in your outdoor spaces." - Fresno Bee

"From Nancy Lawson, a columnist at the Humane Society's All Animals magazine, comes this important, insightful and beautifully produced book that sets out to explain why it's hard to call yourself a truly accomplished gardener without paying special mind to your plants and the beneficial creatures that help them grow. With chapters dedicated to topics like choosing the right native species for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, the main takeaway of this is: a garden teeming with, not devoid of, critters is ultimately a healthier and more harmonious one.”
- Mother Nature Network

"Give Lawson a lot of credit for writing a very important book that everyone with a container gardener to a postage stamp yard to a large piece of property should read,” says The Plain Dealer. “Lawson’s passionate plea to be humane includes practical and low-cost solutions to enable us to cohabit peacefully with wildlife in our yards.”
- Gardenista

"Anyone with a yard, a balcony, or even a windowsill can help support the planet’s plant and animal species. Even a tiny garden attracts wildlife and pollinators and peacefully resolves inter-ecosystem conflict….[The Humane Gardener] breaks down exactly how to select native species, optimally cohabitate with “pests,” encourage natural processes and evolution in the garden, and provide habitats capable of sheltering butterflies, birds, bees, and baby animals." - sierraclub.com

"The Humane Gardener is a dreamy book with ribs of steel. Evoking native plants by color and fragrance, as the author Nancy Lawson does, conveys a palpable sense of beauty. But when describing cruelty to wildlife, Lawson doesn’t mince words….With her eloquent and engaging plea, Lawson makes the important case for compassionate treatment of the backyard wildlife with which we share our increasingly diminishing natural world.” - The Blazing Star

"Each year opossums, often seen as nasty nuisances, helpfully ingest thousands of disease causing ticks. That’s just on of the good-to-know facts in Nancy Lawson’s book, The Humane Gardener, which reveals how you can make your private green patch a safe haven for all creatures." -O: The Oprah Magazine

"[W]e give Lawson a lot of credit for writing a very important book that everyone with a container gardener to a postage stamp yard to a large piece of property should read….Lawson's passionate plea to be humane includes practical and low cost solutions to enable us to cohabitate peacefully with wildlife in our yards." -The Plain Dealer

"The Humane Gardener defies casual note taking, because, along with its compelling argument for welcoming wildlife, it is packed to the gills with relevant facts and fascinating arguments….Humane gardeners are fortunate to have a spokeswoman as eloquent as Lawson."
- Wild Ones Journal

"What in the world could be inhumane about gardening? Plenty, it turns out, thanks to this beautifully produced and incredibly important book by Nancy Lawson: The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife. The Humane Gardener makes a persuasive case for rethinking conventional knowledge about what a garden or yard should look like and how we should care for it....I highly recommend this book to any and all gardeners. It might challenge your assumptions about what constitutes a “pest,” but what is gardening without challenges."
- Eco-Lit Books

From the Publisher