The Circular Garden: Grow More with Less – rewilding garden ideas
- Jane Westoby
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
For week 11 on The Blooming Garden Podcast, I’m joined by Jim and Sonja from The Edible Gardeners, whose new book The Circular Garden offers a radically simple approach to gardening—one that’s deeply rooted in nature and full of practical ideas for growing more with less.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the pressure to "get everything right" in the garden—or weighed down by the cost and waste involved in conventional growing—this conversation is a breath of fresh air.
What Is a Circular Garden?
Jim and Sonja describe their garden as “non-consumerist”—it’s not about buying your way to success, but about working with what you have. That includes rethinking what counts as waste, making the most of what your garden already gives you, and learning to let nature carry some of the load. Garden rewilding doesn't need to be complicated.
“Our book is about using the resources you already have—you don’t need to buy more stuff to have a thriving garden.”
Resilience Through Timing and Variety
One of the big takeaways from the episode is how adjusting your planting strategy can prevent disease and pest problems—no chemicals needed.
Here are some of Jim and Sonja’s practical tips:
Plant potatoes earlier so they mature before blight strikes
Grow disease-resistant varieties (especially for garlic and chillies)
Sow carrots later in summer to avoid carrot root fly
Choose fast-maturing crops that beat the pest cycle
“Timing and variety are your best tools for natural pest control.”
Reframing Weeds & Rewilding Your Garden
Forget the endless weeding. Jim and Sonja invite us to see weeds as part of the system—not something to constantly battle.
Let some weeds stay in flower borders for wildlife value
Use meadows and mow less frequently to support pollinators
Learn to identify young weeds early in veg beds and hoe them quickly
And yes—you can even eat some of them!
“Weeds are food—for wildlife, for pollinators, even for us. It’s just a mindset shift.”
Hedge Trimmings Aren’t Waste
Rather than exporting nutrients in brown bins, The Edible Gardeners recommend keeping hedge trimmings on site and putting them to use:
Shred them into mulch or compost
Use whole branches to build paths or bug hotels
Store twigs as carbon-rich brown material for composting
Let leaves drop naturally to create leaf mould mulch
“You’re throwing away nutrients and carbon if you bin your hedge cuttings.”
Composting Without the Overwhelm
Forget all the rules—good compost just needs:
A mix of greens and browns
Moisture (don’t let it dry out!)
A bit of patience
You can speed it up by chopping materials small and turning regularly—but slow compost is still good compost.
“You don’t need to turn it every day. It just takes time—and that’s okay.”
Water Management That Works
The Edible Gardeners don’t water their outdoor beds at all—and their results speak for themselves. Here’s their three-step system:
Add organic matter regularly to improve water retention
Mulch early to trap winter moisture (grass clippings work great)
Harvest every drop from roofs and outbuildings into water butts
“We don’t water the garden—just the greenhouse. It’s about building the soil.”
Natural Pest Control, Not Pesticides
Instead of spraying, Jim and Sonja manage pests by:
Manually removing slugs and sawfly larvae
Leaving some pests as food for birds and amphibians
Creating balance through habitat, not eradication
“You don’t want zero pests—you want just enough to feed the predators.”
Every Garden Is Habitat
From dark skies to open soil, from ponds to hedges—every part of the garden can support wildlife. You don’t need a “wildlife corner.” The whole garden is the wildlife space.
“Don’t concrete everything. Don’t light it up at night. Just leave it be—and nature will move in.”
About the Book
The Circular Garden is a beautifully written, practical guide to growing with nature—not against it. With chapters on planting strategies, composting, pests, habitat, and even preserving harvests, it’s a resource for anyone looking to garden with less cost, less waste, and far less stress.
👉 Order the book directly from The Edible Gardeners website(It’s not available on Amazon—and for good reason.)
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