Nicked shamelessly off me website - the reviews are personal opinions and there's at least one that other folk here will vociferously disagree with!!!
First of all, the
RHS Encyclopedias. They are pretty hefty tomes, but have a lot of the basic techniques in enough detail to be useful. A lot of their smaller specialist books are based about the entries in these.
The Encyclopedia of Gardening
New expanded and revised version has just come out, full of the latest AGM cultivars of fruit and vegetables and has also been revised to allow for the pesticides that are now disappearing. I guess if nothing else, the EU will persuade more folk to go organic!
The A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants
Picture book for reference. One I like to have on my knee while listening to Gardenersī Question Time
New Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers
As the A-Z, except this oneīs useful for identification of flowering plants as itīs colour coded and indexed by season. Great if you see something you like but it doesnīt have a label...
Encyclopedia of Herbs and their uses
I got this as part of a set, and have been pleasantly surprised at the number of medicinal plants and herbs we have. But I still wouldnīt have bought it if it hadnīt been free, as my herb growing is limited to potted mint, chives and basil, and sage up the allotment.
Fruit and Vegetable Gardening.
This I love. Itīs mostly text, with when to plant diagrams and cultivar lists and all sorts of information. Itīs also fairly organic. If you want pretty pictures, go for other books. For facts, this is hard to beat.
Day-by-day guides
Now these are my workhorses. I have three - the first of which was published in 1947 and might be found on the web somewhere. I don't use them as much as I used to because I refer to my diary more!
AGL Hellyer: Your garden week by week. Collingridge 1947
Percy Thrower: In your garden Hamlyn, 1976 (originally 1959)
Peter McHoy: The Gardenersī Year Hermes House 1995
I grab them in date order! The Hellyer book is exquisite, both for its rationing years, waste-not, want-not outlook and detail. Percyīs pretty good too. Both of these well known old gardeners spray about an incredible amount of chemicals and fertilisers and of course the veg and flower varieties have changed out of all recognition over the years, but techniques donīt. And there werenīt the labour-saving devices then, either, so they tell you the best way of doing it without having to shell out on strimmers, rotovators, gizmos and gadgets. And they make me laugh, too, given their cultural assumptions!
Allotments and vegetable gardening
Caroline Foley: Practical Allotment Gardening New Holland, RRP Ģ12.99
Not really worth the money, as itīs only got 96 pages. And the allotments look like theyīve been ironed compared with the hilly stony plots we have! Another one for getting with special offers in book clubs or getting for a present. Most of the stuff is in the RHS books, and it doesnīt really tell you what varieties to go for. Some folk love this one, I don't, so YMMV.
Other books
Steven Bradley: Propagation Basics Hamlyn, 2002 Ģ12.99
And another expensive book that is very nice, but again you can find out most of the contents using the RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening. There are a few more detailed sections, but not that many. I find it most useful for the reference section of what is propagated by which technique.
Readerīs Digest Container Gardening for all Seasons RD 2001, Ģ26.99
Now this is a biggish book, with lots of glorious photography but not skimping on text either. Plenty of inspiration, from bog-standard window boxes to planting vegetables in pots and indoor displays. Expensive but this time Iīd say worth it, as it also doubles up as a coffee table book!
Magazines
BBC Gardenersī World. Yes I do read Alan T first. Followed by the `This monthī section. The rest I find variable, the bits on the TV programmes a pain in the bum (ok waste of space) as I think they need to put more real gardening in. Expensive if you pay the full cover price or even the subscription price, but I don't
If you use Tesco Clubcard voucher offers, you can get a year of it for less than Ģ9 instead of the Ģ27.90 it costs for a year (Ģ25.98 with direct debit).
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The Garden. Iīve taken this for years, ever since I discovered RHS Student Membership and buzzed off to my first Chelsea. It was often left unread and thrown out in those years. Then I got a garden and had a mad scrabble trying to locate all my old copies so I could read them. There has been a noticeable shift in the last year to the style more favoured by BBCGW. Pity.
Amateur Gardening. I started getting this from the supermarket on and off last Feb. A few weeks later I realised I was going in on the way to work on the day it came out in order to not miss it. I gave in and subscribed (a lot cheaper too) and now I get it ahead of the newsagent deliveries AND usually on a Saturday morning. Perfect for breakfast reading! Lots of practical advice, the only garden showing off is a weekly amateur garden that is nearly always open under the NGS and isnīt full of ugly bits of concrete or bizarro nouveau sculpture (get off that soapbox right now, girl!)...
I stopped getting it after 3 years as they were taking over the house and I never grew the free flower seeds.
The Journal of the Alpine Garden Society. This one came with membership, and is strictly for looking at and going wow! as far as Iīm concerned. I love alpines, but in a heavily chalk area and a garden hung over by massive sycamores, alpines have to be pretty rugged to survive more than a season here!
I stopped the membership here too because they hiked the price. I joined the HDRA instead.
Kitchen Garden
Another fairly dear mag (Ģ35 a year) but costs less than AG did and I needed something veggy-orientated when I gave up AG. Not bad so far, though I wish they'd get a decent proofreader in!
How to get cut price books
With a bit of hunting about (and sharing gardening book club memberships!) I managed to get most of the latest books for much reduced prices. The most recent, the updated RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening, I got for Ģ5 instead of Ģ35 by joining the Gardenersī Society. Admittedly I then had to buy six more books, which was harder than I thought as I'd bought the ones I wanted on the cheap! Clubbing together isprobably better - then several folk can get the benefit.
Hint: if you do join one of these clubs, keep the flyer with the introductory offer books on. You can also order them later as part of the commitment at a higher price. I just find that the good books only ever seem to appear on the flyers and not the actual monthly selections!
Bob Flowerdewīs Organic Bible
I read this through in a couple of sessions. Itīs a book which sets out to tell the reader about the organic ethos, and how it all links in to give gardens which thrive with the natural world rather than fighting against it. Itīs not an encyclopedia of what to do, that is admirably fulfilled by the next book. But it is a justification of why to be organic in the first place. And itīs a darn good read. Recommended.
HDRA Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
This one is the encyclopedia of what to do! And it does it well. Itīs not just vegetables, itīs the whole picture. And even though there are 416 pages, they still donīt say it all. Just a large chunk. Suitable for those who are starting to go organic as well as a reference for those who have been for years. At a time when available pesticides are disappearing rapidly, this is a timely book.
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