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Your Favourite Gardening Book

JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
in The potting shed
Just reading on another thread about a suggested book, so thought it might be worthwhile having a thread of book recommendations.

I'll kick off with Kathleen Browns 'Create a Cottage Garden' Its a delight of a book, its a bit old as are the plants (in it, but its absolutely wonderful, especially for anyone starting a new border or garden, as it gives 'recipes' for a full cottage border, for pretty much every aspect and scenario imaginable, including dimensions and number of plants required which you can obviously scale up or down accordingly. I followed one of the suggested planting schemes in one border, rather annoyingly it is far and away now my favourite border, much more successful than any of my own creations! I often use some of the planting suggestions in other little spots too such as the Himalayan Musk in the apple tree below.
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  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Haven't seen that one before, @Jellyfire - thanks for the recommendation. My favourite gardening book, to read rather than use, is Margery Fish's 'We Made a Garden'. I've read it so many times! From a practical point of view, I found Tim Newbury's 'Ultimate Garden Designer' very useful.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • aureliecelerieraureliecelerier Posts: 157
    Except the old good RHS Encyclopedia, I love "grow for flavor" of James Wong. I learned things from that book that I had never read in any other conventional gardening books.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I like Carol Klein's books. 'Life in a Cottage Garden' and 'Grow your own garden' were both really helpful and good reads.

    Wild card entires to the list though:
    'Letting in the Wild Edges' by Glennie Kindred. I'm not too into the 'hippy' side of the book but I love the folklore and philosophy behind it. I find ethnobotany very interesting.
    'The art of mindful gardening' by Ark Redwood. Another good one for expanding your gardening horizons. 

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • SuesynSuesyn Posts: 664
    Geoff Hamiltons  The Organic Garden Book is the one I always refer to for vegetables,and the RHS A to Z for everything else. Having said that I often read from others in my collection during winter when I can't be doing, only planning. (And isn't the Internet the fount of all knowledge)
  • Jules41Jules41 Posts: 178
    What a great thread Jellyfire. I like Geoff Hamilton's book too. I also have a copy of Mrs Beeton's Garden Management  (a reprint, not an orginal sadly). There's plenty of advice and ideas that are still useful today. But it also has some brilliant bits that make me smile - one clearly needs an army of gardeners to create and maintain some of the designs! Some great garden tools though - wish we could still buy them today.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039

    Anything by Christopher Lloyd, but these are 2 of the best


    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    The Very Small Garden by Martin Baxendale. The first gardening book I ever bought, when I had a very small garden! Ideal for beginners, and owners of small plots, who want to get a little more serious and pack a lot in.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Bob Flowered Q's fruit book (I'm leaving that predictive text uncorrected for your amusement).  "Liquid Gold - the lore and logic of using urine to grow plants.".   "The Little Book of Slugs" from the Centre for Alternative Technology.
  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    I knew this thread would end up costing me money! I want them all now
  • FirecrackerFirecracker Posts: 256
    I do have some of the above. My to hand favourite is Stefan Buczacki The plant care manual. A gift from SWMBO in 1992 !!
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