Gardening Naturally

Laurie Perron, Sarah Quesnel-Langlois, J. C. Sutcliffe

• Publisher: Ambrosia
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781487010249
• eBook ISBN: 9781487010256
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Horticulture
• Index: Biological Sciences

Ecological gardening with ease and simplicity.

Gardening Naturally offers a wealth of information and practical advice for growing indoor and outdoor plants based on sustainability, a rejection of artificial chemicals, and respect for biodiversity and the natural world. From advice on planning your garden and dealing with disease, insects, and the arrival of cold weather, to tips for starting your own compost, repotting effectively, and choosing which local and native flowers to best attract pollinators, Gardening Naturally will interest anyone who wants to add flowers, edibles, and greenery to their daily life, no matter the size of their balcony or the extent of their garden.

Laurie Perron

With a degree in horticulture and landscape gardening, I’ve been working in the botanical field since 2004. After numerous experiences, I founded Jungle Fleur in 2014. This gave me a balance between my computer mouse and my shovel, and allowed me to grow and harvest over the seasons.

Sarah Quesnel-­Langlois

I am an artisan and photographer with an enthusiasm for botany. Since 2018, I have collaborated on a variety of projects with Jungle Fleur as a horticulturalist and stylist, thus combining my greatest passions in life.

Our vision

With Gardening Naturally, our aims are to help you discover the world of plants from an ecological point of view and to teach you to garden simply and according to your needs and your space.

Gardening is a positive action we can take for the planet and its inhabitants. Growing plants that are natural to our geographical area and consuming locally grown food help reduce our ecological footprint. And plants are crucial to our existence: They regulate the world’s temperature; provide oxygen; and feed and protect humans, animals, and insects. Considered from this perspective, every bit of gardening helps — whether it’s growing a few herbs on a balcony, cultivating a large edible garden to feed yourself over the summer, planting a tree, or simply learning more about the subject.

This book is an invitation to rethink how we grow gardens, vegetable beds, and houseplants. It is based on the principle of natural gardening without the use of chemicals — something that is very much at the heart of our values. It is in this spirit that we offer our advice and recommendations, which we have tried to keep both simple and accessible.

We hope this book will not only help fill your everyday life with blooms, but also encourage you to eat more pesticide-free produce and green your living areas. But more than that, we hope we will awaken your gardener’s soul and make you want to plunge your hands into the earth. Into healthy earth.

Our story

As partners in Jungle Fleur, we are both passionate about botany, from photosynthesis to harvest. We promote a different and contemporary approach to horticulture, with a particular bias toward the ethical production of local flowers.

The idea for Jungle Fleur germinated back in 2014, in the form of a small shop in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood. Now converted into an online store, Jungle Fleur offers seasonal flowers (fresh and dried), leafy plants, related products, and workshops. We create simple, organic bouquets in harmony with our environmental and aesthetic values.

Our seasonal flowers are grown in a small garden not far from our shop in Montreal. This proximity gives us more control over how we grow, eliminates the use of chemical products and preservatives, reduces transport-related pollution, and avoids the use of plastic packaging. We also follow ecological practices, such as making our own compost, collecting rainwater, and using environmentally friendly fertilizers. Above all, gardening locally allows us to devote ourselves fully to what we love most: having our hands in the soil, watching our garden change, and being in awe of the diversity of nature.

Laurie and Sarah

Botany, that complex science that illuminates the lives of plants and flowers, has been growing in popularity over the last few years. This is essential to us, because a room without plants, a parking lot without trees, or a new urban development without greenery are all lifeless. But vegetation is not just aesthetic; it’s also incredibly useful.

We all need to be close to nature, to surround ourselves with greenery and natural spaces to promote well-being. Plants have the power to reawaken childhood memories, bring joy, soothe, fascinate, and inspire. With climate change, threats to biodiversity,✽ and the increase in endangered species, this growing int...

Table of contents

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