The Natural Gardener

John Harris, head gardener at Tresillian Estate in Cornwall, imparts his abundance of horticulture knowledge, specifically focusing on how to garden using the moon’s cycles.
Humans and the world around us have been governed by the waxing and waning of the moon since the planet came into being. Over the centuries different civilizations have embraced these natural cycles, and so lunar gardening has been around for as long as man has pulled food from the soil; once practiced by the Incas and Native Americans, this tried and trusted method has been largely forgotten.

John Harris, head gardener at Tresillian Estate in Cornwall, has been using Moon Gardening for over forty years. The methods he uses can be implemented anywhere. You do not need fancy tools, expensive seeds, or substantial acreage; instead, you simply need time, patience, and care to create breath-taking results. This is gardening at its most natural and organic.

The Natural Gardener charts John’s story from a rudderless young lad in a Cornish village to being charged with the salvation of the long-neglected gardens at Tresillian. As he shares how to follow the simple principles of moon gardening, he imparts his abundance of horticultural knowledge from years spent working in harmony with the soil, providing a timely link back to nature and the reassuring regularity of the seasons.

Author Biography

John Harris has been a professional gardener since he started his working life in 1966. He got his first spade when he was ten, his first allotment when he was eleven, and his first job on a Cornish estate when he was fifteen. He is the author of Moon Gardening (2002), a work widely regarded as the world authority on the subject. At seventy-four, Harris still works full time as head of gardening team at Tresillian, and lives on the estate with his wife Olive.