The Green Witchs Garden: Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

The Green Witchs Garden: Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space Reviews

• 
  Alicia Bayer

  This book is excellent for the Wiccan aspect of it, just good for the garden aspect. It's illustrated with lovely drawings but not photos, and the plant information is somewhat incomplete. There is also no herbal health info, or sparse info. Herbs are listed with their traditional magical properties, not health (or very incomplete -- for instance, the description of elder does not mention the well known antiviral benefits of elderberries and hawthorn's benefit for the heart is not mentioned). There is a ton of other great information though, with lots of wonderful ideas. This is a great book for inspiration more than the how-to at times. For instance, I love the idea of making herbal wands and wreaths and there's a paragraph telling how to, but there are no photos or illustrations. The book excels at all of the Wiccan information, though, and those who want to focus on that with their gardens will absolutely love it.
  
  I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
• 
  Rigel

  For a baby witch such as myself I think that this book does a good job at introducing green witchery. The author spends more time explaining how to curate and maintain a garden that's geared towards your goals than she does explaining the different uses of plants and such.
• 
  Cozy Reviews

  his is a wonderful guide to creating a garden . The author has thoughtfully included all elements of gardening here including building onto your practice. It is beautifully illustrated and has outstanding gardening tips throughout. This is a book to buy a hard copy of and refer to when building your own magical garden. This book will teach you how to cultivate your garden, maintain it, keep it healthy and relate your plants to your practice. A wonderful read I look forward to adding a hard copy to my library . Very well done to the author.
  
  Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.
• 
  Damiana

  I’ll save you some suspense, this book is excellent and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in magical gardening.
  
  The author is very clear from the beginning that this is a book about Green Witchcraft, that it is not all encompassing for every gardening zone or herbal fact, it is not a step-by-step guide. Rather, it encourages readers to try, gives ideas, and is an inspiration. I fully agree – I felt very inspired while reading it.
  
  This book touches on nearly every aspect of modern magical gardening from the traditional organic garden to guerilla gardening to indoor planting including terrariums. If you’re able to stick a plant or seeds in some dirt, then this book will likely have something you are able to do and include the magical processes around it.
  
  As far as the witchcraft aspect of the book, I thought it was just as good and upfront about its limits as the gardening side. Its neo-Pagan in bent in order to be as accessible and open as the author can be. As a Heathen, I enjoyed the references here and there to my practice (mention of the Butzemann, Freyr, wassail, and more). As an animist I loved the discussion of plant spirits and guardian spirits of the land.
  While some of it might feel basic to the well versed witch, as someone who has practiced over 2 decades, I found some fantastic inspiration in these pages to add to my craft. The Releasing a Tool Ritual and the creation of a personal Garden Oracle were both unique, heart felt, and lovely ideas.
  
  I will be grabbing a hard copy of this book for my 2022 garden planning and work.
• 
  Caroline

  This book might* be scented, I've never smelled a book like this before! I always know when I've left it open nearby. This is a lovely book to read for someone that doesn't get much done in her backyard due to feeling overwhelmed by the work, and instead finds herself watching ants scramble for community cover, spider wasps dragging spider carcasses, and noticing the smallest oddities. Let the rewilding begin.
  p. 70
  "Succulents are good for reminding you that moderation in all things and a balanced approach are both very important. A succulent is designed by nature to conserve water in its fleshy parts, allowing it to deal with extended dry periods. If you have difficulty with overflowing emotional responses to situations or events, perhaps working with succulents could be beneficial. Feeling your emotions is valuable; being able to function clearly because you are overwhelmed by emotion, or feeling drained because you feel so deeply, is a hindrance. Protecting your emotional self is a form of self-defense and protection. Meditate, reach out to the plant spirit, and ask for its guidance in how to balance your responses and deepest feelings in a beneficial safe way."
  
  *it's subtle and I have not read any other reviews yet.
• 
  Sarah Ryan (sarahs_reads)

  First off, I went into reading this a little biased. I have read and currently own every single of Arin Murphy-Hiscock's books.
  
  Two things I'm very passionate about are nature and the history and teachings of a green witch! I knew, the moment I saw this book was to be published, that it would be an auto purchase. To be honest, I ordered myself a copy last night after devouring this entire book in one sitting.
  
  Bravo, Arin!!! Her teachings help continue my path, education, and journey towards becoming a more in-depth witch and one with nature!!!
  
  FIVE STARS!
• 
  Leah

  I got so many good ideas for my garden next year! I would love a printed copy of the book for the pictures alone. I’m not a garden enthusiast, but I feel like this is a good starting point for me because I would like to feel connected to the earth.
• 
  Drew Austen

  4.5
• 
  sarah rogan

  was a cute read for taurus season
• 
  ace

  A free copy of the book was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
  
  I’ve always been a big fan of Murphy-Hiscock’s work and this book is no exception. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in green witchcraft and who’s interested in deepening their understanding of how to utilize plants in their personal practice.
• 
  Nicole

  Great resource for the beginner gardener or witch
• 
  Autumn

  Since this is The Green Witch's Garden, this book obviously isn't for everyone, but, even though I am not a witch, I found this very useful. There's a lot of information on gardening and it can be very overwhelming. From a practical standpoint, there was information that is really good to start with when it comes to gardening. It was more helpful for a beginner than a lot of the gardening books I have perused in the past. Trying to figure out what to grow and how to proceed can be difficult - like I said, the information out there can be overwhelming. One of my favorite parts of the book was the chapter on choosing what to grow. While there are witchy reasons in that section, many of the ideas are very nice and a lot of the basic "witchcraft" is a more hands on, natural approach to everything, anyway, without spellwork or anything that is specifically witchcraft. Knowing the history of who has been labeled a witch throughout history, this makes sense, but that's part of why this book worked as a practical guide for a relative newby, too.
  From what I can tell, any beginner information that is lacking for the witch side of things can be found in the author's books and there are plenty of other resources listed within the text. Those resources include information specifically for gardening/farming and for a deeper dive into magic/magical uses.
• 
  The Starry Library

  The Green Witch’s Garden is a guide on how to infuse witchcraft with gardening. For those with a green thumb, this book will simply teach you how to forge a magical connection with your garden. For those already attuned to the craft, this book will help you to get started in the wonderful world of gardening.
  
  Chapters include insightful instructions on how to set intentions while gardening, how to consecrate gardening tools, how to establish an astrological and moon garden, symbolism and meanings of various plants/flowers, divination with your garden, how to perform seasonal rituals and spells with your garden and many more useful tips.
  
  This book will encourage you to make your garden a place of nourishment, mindfulness, and intuition. Even if you are not a green witch, this guide will help you to forge a deeper connection to nature so that answers you seek and information you need to know might just appear in your sacred garden. Have a pen and notebook handy, because there are many practical and helpful tips scattered like seeds throughout this easy-to-use manual.
  
  Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free advanced reader copy via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.
• 
  Trang

  The book is in wicca collection. Even though I'm not that into magical things, I have a thing or two for fantasy childhood dreams, so this topic kinda piqued my interests. Besides, I believe helpful understanding of herbs can help with some preventive methods. After all, mother nature is very powerful.
  
  The book list down popular items in terms of fruit, herbs, trees, etc; features and how to grow them. Arin describes the garden as a serene place to do spiritual meditation, which I find very calm and comfortable to read. What I like about wicca, does not necessarily mean I agree with all of them, is the religion is very nature-oriented. It tends to follow the natural cycle of the year, such as what to do for gardening seasonally.
  
  She did also mentioned about blessings, rituals, some magical spells. My normal people may find it weird but I actually like to read them. The blessing prayers mean goodwill, so what's the harm. Chant a little lucky spell with the hope for better, or for the health of your loved ones, or such. They're no different from warm-hearted greetings from friends to friends.
  
  In general, I find it a good read for even those who are not interested in wicca but natural healing. Read away folks.
• 
  McKenzie

  Honestly, I’m notorious in my family for having a little bit of a black thumb and I’m trying to change that. I am interested in herbs and their traditional magical properties and I love harvesting them from my mother’s garden and using them in cooking. However, since I don’t live with my mother, learning how to not kill the green things is a goal for me. That’s where this book comes in, to give me a lot of little tips and tricks so that I am not constantly killing the plant babies.
  
  It has a lot of information on the growing and the designing of a garden. I love the idea of the moon garden, but then also the elements garden with different plants corresponding to their different moon phases or elements. I would love to have a moon garden when I eventually have a home of my own. However, as usual my favorite part of this was the cooking section.
  
  Recipes for jam and herb butter are easy enough for most practitioners, but I’m personally more interested in trying my hand at the savory shortbread cookies. The vegetable soup recipe also looks good, if a bit standard. I’ve made some of the recipes from her other books and they’ve turned out to be delicious so hopefully these will be as well.
  
  Overall, I would recommend this for fans of her other books. They make a really great collection for anyone just starting out on their path or starting gardening. There are a lot of really great ideas in here to get people started or to use as the base inspiration for something more complicated. I look forward to getting a copy of this for my shelf in the not so distant future.
• 
  Sunnie

  One does not need to be a witch, nor profess to any magical aspirations, to gain useful knowledge about plants and gardens from Arin Murphy-Hiscock’s book, “The Green Witch’s Garden.” As I read I found myself excitedly making lists of plants to use in my container garden next Spring, and devising a plot layout for those various plants. I learned which plants/herbs/flowering shrubs do well together or should have a bit of distant between them. Although I knew what birds I wanted to attract, I discovered beneficial insects and their unique effects for my garden patch. This book contains several good recipes and instructions for drying herbs to prepare bouquet garni to add in. All in all I would rate this book as quite useful and presented in simplistic terms. At some point in the future I will seek out other titles by this author.
• 
  anh thư

  To be honest, I picked this up because the hardcopy is very pretty. And although I didn't expect much in terms of the content, it's actually alright.
  
  The book includes a lot of different topics: descriptions of various types of gardens, plant correspondances (indoors and outdoors), tips on creating a gardening journal, a few recipes for cooking with your homegrown produce, etc. It's just that everything is covered rather superficially, like suggestions in passing.
  
  The information also feels very generic. I would have enjoyed learning about the author's personal experience and anecdotes with their plants (they only share one briefly), seeing sketches of their own garden layouts, or even photos of their gardening journal..
  
  It's a good starting point if you're looking for new ways to work with your garden. Very short read too!
  
  
• 
  Karen

  The Green Witch’s Garden is really beneficial if you are looking for ways to make gardening a more spiritual act. There are helpful rituals spelled out for you to connect to your land and set about to honor the space. This book is more focused on magic and less on gardening itself. The author admits in the introduction that the book is not meant to be a step-by-step guide. This book is meant to inspire and offer spiritual insight from an experienced green witch. Setting intentions is so important for magic, so this is something new witches may want to add to their library. The author also takes time to explain the different types of gardens that witches may want to incorporate into their space.
• 
  Kim

  “The way of the Green Witch is the path of the naturalist, the herbalist, and the healer.”
  
  
  I am still coming to terms with figuring out which type of witch I am. I think the above quote kind of describes me to a T, but I prefer the term Naturalist Witch.
  
  Going into this book I was really hoping for a guide explaining different types of plants and their useful properties\ magical properties. While there was a small section on this the majority was more about how to incorporate your daily garden tools, and moon cycles into daily life. While it was pretty interesting it wasn’t what I had hoped for.
  
  There are a few recipes in here that I would like to try and I will definitely be using the chapter describing what plants to choose when gardening.
  
  I’ll be keeping this one on my shelf.
• 
  Erica

  I think this is a great 101 book about gardening with intention and bringing the mundane into your magick. Overall this is a reference guide about all things gardening, but it is just a jumping off point. Towards the end Murphy-Hiscock gets more into exercises and recipes that you can follow, which added a bit more to the book. As someone who has helped in the family garden most of my childhood, and now has a garden of my own, a lot of the introductory information was just a refresher for me; But I think this would be a great book for someone who is a bit witchy but doesn't even know where to start with gardening.
• 
  Tiffany

  Thank you NetGalley and Adams Media for my e-ARC of THE GREEN WITCH’S GARDEN.
  
  This is the 3rd book I have read by this author and I am loving these. THE GREEN WITCH’S GARDEN gives so many practical tips not only on what types of plants to grow and for what reason, but also tools you need. There are sections on both indoor and outdoor gardens, as well as different types of gardens to create. I am personally very interested in planting a moon garden or an astrological garden. I thought it would be all about herbs, but she also covers flowers, fruits and vegetables. I plan to buy a physical copy of this book to have as a reference I can grab whenever I need to.
• 
  Charlotte

  This book is a practical and magical guide to planting a garden, connecting with the earth, and learning the properties of plants. It offers so many incites into herbs and their meanings, and how they can be integrated into a witch's practice.
  
  Magical intentions aside, The Green Witch's Garden would also prove handy to anyone looking to build a garden and learn about different plants and seasons. It's the kind of book you want for reference on your shelves, and one I'd love to buy when available.
• 
  Kelley

  This might be my favorite witchy gardening book so far, and I think that is nicely reflected in the fact that I not only requested an advanced copy of it, but I also bought my own physical copy and was given a second copy as a gift recently! This book is beautiful. It has this sort of old fashioned feeling to it, complete with beautiful illustrations, yet at the same time incorporates some modern design styles that really complement the whole vibe. It's the kind of book that I just want to keep picking up and paging through because it feels nice in my hands and the content is so inviting and inspiring and pretty to look at.
  
  The Green Witch's Garden is the kind of witchy gardening guidebook I have been needing. I love plants. I love looking around my home and seeing all the nature. I love the idea of being able to grow all my own herbs and vegetables that I can use in my kitchen, and I also love the idea of planting a garden with intention. I am delighted to report that this book provides guidance all the way from planning to planting to journaling about your garden! There are so many ideas in here, not only for how to design your garden in pretty and meaningful arrangements, but how to consider things like the soil, the. seasons, the moon cycle, your local climate, and your personal skills. This is the book I will be referencing for all of my gardening plans from now on!
• 
  Lacy

  I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
  
  First off, this book is beautiful inside and out. The illustrations are so pretty. There is so much information packed into this little 200 page book. I think this would be a great book for anyone, beginners and the more experienced. The size is convenient for a frequent reference. The first time through the book I already had some ideas for things that I want to do. I feel like I'll use this book often.
• 
  Elizabeth

  Disclaimer: I received this book via a Goodreads giveaway
  
  I enjoyed this book! I liked all of the gardening tips and ways to make your garden an outlet for your craft and magic. I haven't gotten a chance to put the tips to use because I live in an apartment, but I will definitely have this book by my side when I get the chance to start my own magical garden space!
• 
  Liselotte

  A really beautiful book, fully in colour and it was really cute. I just feel a bit iffy about the heavy use of other people's blogposts and it would've been a lot better if the book mentioned whether plants are toxic to animals, as most of us do have pets. Other than that, a cute edition to my collection.