The Accidental Garden

Shortlisted for Wainwright Prizefor Nature Writing 2025

We consider our gardens private dominions, where we create the worlds we desire. But they are also occupied by myriad other organisms, each with their own life to lead.

In the everyday of Richard Mabey's Norfolk garden, nature is an equal partner, a 'gardener' able to reorganise itself. Ants sow cowslip seeds in parched grass; a self-seeded rose springs from gravel. Amid disordered seasons and climate change, things fall apart and new ecological marvels take form - a metaphor for the Earth itself. This is Mabey at his finest: maverick, closely observant and with an unquenchable sense of wonder.