A new clutch of titles have been added to Gardener’s Guide collection, covering everything from looking after your soil to choosing the right plants to make a hedge.
Written by experts with decades of experience, this series by The Crowood Press may not be coffee table book pretty but it’s fast becoming an important resource for practical gardening advice.
(I was given books in return for a fair review.)
A Gardener’s Guide to Soil by Susie Holmes and Neil Bragg (rrp £16) takes us right back to basics. Soil is, as we are told, “a gardener’s most precious resource” and looking after it correctly will help our gardens to thrive.
The first step is knowing exactly what type of soil you have and the book outlines the different sorts and how to test your plot. Correctly identifying your subsoil is also important as it will have a bearing on deep rooted things such as trees.
The comprehensive look at the subject covers the chemicals within the soil and why they are important, what lives in the ground from worms to useful bacteria – the tea bag test will show the level of biological activity – and how to improve your soil.
Plenty of photos and highlighted ‘key messages’ make what could be a dry subject easy to read.
A Gardener’s Guide to Biological Pest Control by Julian Ives (RRP £16.99) examines how we can use Nature to beat the pests that attack our crops and flowers.
It’s now widely acknowledged that using chemicals to tackle aphids and other pests is only a short-term solution as insects soon adapt to withstand these products. More worryingly, chemicals are indescriminate and will kill beneficial insects along with pests, and have been linked to the decline in the number of bees.
Of course, growing plants well and in the right place will make them less susceptible to attack, while making sure there are plenty of things, such as nettles, will encourage lacewings, ladybirds and other ‘good’ bugs into our gardens.
“Some plants that may not be on a gardener’s first-choice list can also provide useful habitats or staging posts for predators and parasites of insect pests.”
Knowing your enemy is key and there’s help to make sure you correctly identify what’s crawling on your plants.
Detailed information on how to tackle everything from lawn pests, such as chafer grubs and leatherjackets, through to red spider mite, is accompanied by useful pictures and instructions how on best to use the many biological controls now available.
Woven in are interesting facts: I hadn’t realised there are 26 species of ladybird in the UK or that the whitefly that infests brassicas is different to that found in greenhouses.
Producing your own plants be it from seed or cuttings is a cheap way to garden and A Gardener’s Guide to Propagation Techniques by Nikki Barker (RRP £16.99) is a step-by-step guide to how to succeed.
Starting with the equipment needed, including the best light levels and temperature, it compares different growing mediums, containers and watering methods.
The bulk of the book is taken up with a detailed look at the main methods of plant propagation: seed, cuttings – softwood, semi-ripe, hardwood, root and leaf – layering, division , grafting, and how to propagate from bulbs.
Each section has a long list of possible candidates with guidance on the best route to success be it the need to soak seed before sowing or adding bottom heat and misting to improve the chances of a semi-ripe cutting of daphne thriving.
Information after care completes what is a thorough examination of this important gardening skill.
Divisions and boundaries made of plants are often so much nicer than a manmade wall or fence but get them wrong and they can cause huge problems.
A Gardener’s Guide to Hedges and Living Boundaries by Roger Hirons (RRP £16.99) shows the pitfalls of wrong plant choice or poor preparation and how to avoid them.
“Forging ahead and relying on good luck goes against the ethos of this book,” we’re told.
Different sorts of boundaries examined include mounds or bunds, trellis covered in climbers and traditional hedges.
We learn about the hypotenuse technique for screening eyesores, the difference between shrubs and wall shrubs, and the 20 most common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Hedges are a long term committment and getting it right from the start will avoid costly errors.
All the titles are published by The Crowood Press.
Top picture: Roundhill cottage garden in spring from A Gardener’s Guide to Soil. Photograph copyright Louise Adams.
You can read more of my gardening and garden-related book reviews here.
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