The garden publishing world is rather like an over-planted border, so stuffed full of titles you wonder that there’s room, or even need, for anything else. However, I’ve recently received two titles that seem to have found a patch of bare earth.
Unlike their glossy counterparts, both are independently published, giving them a price tag that puts them comfortably in the stocking filler or small gift category.
A Plant for Each Week of the Year, by Louise Sims, is published by The 3Growbags Blog, a site run by sisters Caroline, Laura and Elaine.
I was sent copies of both books in return for a fair review.
Based upon a column Louise writes for the site, it’s a weekly look at what’s starring in her own plot from the crimson flowers of Parrotia persica in early January through to a wallflower that reliably flowers for her in December.
Don’t expect detailed cultivation notes, although Louise does explain where she grows each plant mentioned. Rather this is a book for inspiring, for suggesting unusual members of otherwise well-known families.
These include the rather beautiful Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’, the striking Digitalis ferruginea, the rusty foxglove, and Bergenia emeiensis, whose white flowers are “about as far as one can get from the murky purple-pink offerings most commonly seen in spring”.
Indeed, it’s the all too often quiet months of winter and spring rather than flower-filled summer that are most interesting.
The style is conversational, giving a feeling of walking Louise’s garden with her, and offers snippets of useful information, such as when to prune abutilon and vitex.
Every plant mentioned has an illustrative photograph that helps to explain its appeal.
The perfect book for dipping into, it’s already given me some new ideas for my ‘what to buy next’ plant list.
‘I Want to Like My Garden’ by Rachel McCartain, who runs the PlantPlots website, is based upon the idea that you don’t have to be a gardener, in the traditional sense of the word, to have a garden you can love.
Rather, she argues, there’s no such thing as a good or bad gardener just gardens that are either loved or unloved.
While the first flourish, the second group never satisfy because they don’t work for their owner. It may be because they can’t be used in the way that’s needed, the plants aren’t suitable and therefore fail to thrive, or because it simply has no emotional appeal. Solve those problems and you will have a garden that pleases.
The book was born out of her frustration at what seemed to be expected – “all I saw were chores and unfinished jobs” – and feeling out of step with gardening books and programmes that seemed aimed at “expert horticulturalists”.
It takes each of the possible ‘problems’ and suggests ways of tackling them be it where to site a shed or how to choose a path.
Plants are divided like a wardrobe with shrubs and trees forming the unglamorous but essential ‘underwear’ right through to the accessories of bulbs and showy flowers. Putting them together is like planning an outfit.
How to layout a border is explained in terms of ‘boxes’, sized according to the space a plant will occupy after five years.
At times a little wordy, there’s also some repetition in the book, of why you don’t need power tools for example. I was also unconvinced by the blanket dismissal of “all bedding plants” as being bad. Many such as nasturtiums are easy to grow from seed, provide colour for months and are good for pollinators – the idea that gardens “should do good” is a central theme.
That said, I did like the book’s basic message that it’s not necessary to follow a textbook to create a garden. It’s ideal for someone who wants a garden they can enjoy without it becoming a full-time job.
A Plant for Each Week of the Year, by Louise Sims, is published by The 3Growbags priced at £9.99. You can buy it for £7.99 here. (If you buy via this link, I get a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.)
I Want to Like My Garden by Rachel McCartain is published by The Choir Press, priced at £9.99. You can buy it here. (If you buy via this link, I get a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.)
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