About the Author

David Squire is an experienced gardening writer and editor. Having contributed to numerous gardening magazines he is the author of more than 80 gardening and plant-related books including four titles in the Home Gardener's Specialist Guide series. David trained as a horticulturist at the Hertfordshire College of Agriculture and at the Royal Horticultural Society, where he was awarded the Wisley Diploma in Horticulture. He was awarded an N.K. Gould Memorial Prize for his collection of herbarium specimens of native British plants which, in 2005, was accepted by the Booth Museum of Natural History to become library and museum exhibits. He has a passionate interest in the uses of native plants, whether for eating and survival, or for their historical roles in medicine, folklore and customs.