Special gardening book ?!

Thats an interesting Question,I think books are a very personal thing buy something that is of interest to you ,if you love roses buy one on roses a book you can go back to for reference time and time again rather than a general book that once half read lies on the shelf gathering dust. .I had one given me a few years ago written by Alan Titchmarsh I tried reading it but never got past the first couple of chapters ,I took it to a charity shop and they took it reluctantly saying they already had 3 on the shelf
I have a couple of hundred gardening books But I doubt you would find many of mine that interesting mostly they deal in detail to a specific species ie Crocus ,Daphne,Hosta and so on,
I dread the thought of having anything written, quote( by the lovely Monty) lol,
unless he writes one about his dog.
I think I will have to leave others to give you sensible suggestions on this one
x

It depends on your preferences ...my favourite book is an RHS one on pruning...unlike BJS I'm a Monty fan lol.... and I have just rewatched around the world in 80 gardens, I bet there's a book to go with the series...happy book choosing..

Many thanks to both of you - food for thought! We're all going to have different likes and dislikes (including presenters) so it should be interesting. I do love seeing real gardens, and was reading "Garden Designers at Home" last night, which started me thinking . . .

I agree with BJS, about specialist books. I use mine for reference all the time.

I have bought/used the books by Dr D Hessayon for many years and enjoyed the content as I find them up to date and informative. Also the lightness of them some gardening books are now so heavy its impossible to use easily. Alan Titchmarsh has copied these books but in my opinion they are poor imitations. I tend to stay away from celebrity gardeners as I think go for the latest trends and can lack real gardening experience which matters.
But lets not forget the internet it is very good for researching articles and information on plants.

The week before Christmas I took about forty gardening books to my Age Concern charity shop. I only kept my big RHS Encyclopaedia of Plants and flowers and a couple of specialist (Clematis, Hosta, Fuchsia) books. I had five different by Geoff Hamilton, my favourite Gardener's World gardener, and books about most plants or aspects of gardening collected over a lot of years. They were taking up so much room when I can just look online and find what I'm looking for in a few minutes most of the time. If not, I only have to ask on here and SOMEONE will know.

I have given three of my gardening books to my daughter, now that she has a rural garden to care for, but really couldn't have one book as a favourite.
My book by Raymond J. Evison on Clematis which tells me anything I need to know about Clems and a really good book on propagating techniques by Carol Klein are often looked at. Oh yes, mustn't forget the RHS encyclopedia of plants and flowers

Yes, my RHS encyclopaedia is much looked at, but some of the names have been altered, I am on a newer edition which is even now out of date.

Thanks for your comments, S'iris, Denise, Thorneyside and Shirley. I certainly do have reference books that I use frequently (the only specialist ones are one on perennial geraniums and 3 on bonsai!). I've ordered "Garden Design: a book of ideas" by Heidi Howcroft from the library, to see if I might buy that.

I brought a James Wong book home from the library.
If you are looking for different original ideas to work from he has them.
I learned from him that all Herbs, with the exception of Mint, should never be watered, they produce stronger and
healthier foliage if they have to struggle in poor, sandy soil.

Good luck, Sheila, with your book hunt.

Apart from the RHS encyclopaedia which I refer to a lot I then am like BJS with lots of books on different species, pruning techniques, propagation and then an RHS book on names.
I need a book to be factual and I guess more scientific with good images. But my brother loves ones on design and famous gardens as he'd never get to see them in the flesh.

enjoy looking and consider the weight of the book. [RHS encyclopaedia not bedtime reading as my legs go to sleep before the rest of me :o) ]

let us know what you get

Thank you Diane, Terra and Seaburn. I bet your brother (Sbg) would love Carol Klein's 'Making a Garden' but it is rather heavy.

I'm sure I'll have a lovely time choosing, and will let you know the outcome.

Agree that there is so much information on the net but still prefer a book to settle down with and loose myself, in a way I would never do with a laptop.
Here again though this is in part is an age thing I was brought up with them.Christmas and Birthday presants were often books, I still have a few given me by parents 70 years ago,lovely thing now is I can look back at Dads handwriting he always wrote something on the first blank page inside.

That's lovely Brian, and I agree completely about preferring to settle down with a book! Of course the internet is great for looking things up, but nothing beats browsing through an inspiring book with beautiful illustrations.

Interesting question. I don't own any gardening books but I listen to my radio garden programs and go to forums/seminars at the Various Botanical Gardens & chatting with GoY members. I have my favorite books of course, but those I consider recreational reading.

As of this past summer I've been steeping myself in the old ways. One of the most interesting aspects of what has come to be called "organic gardening" is companion planting. I found a book by Louise Riotte, GardenWay Publishing, of Pownal, Vt. U. S. A. 1975..in it's 20th printing in 1985, Carrots Love Tomatoes, Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. It is probably out of print but it is a gem. for example I have crabapple trees and apple trees which have been allowed to go to waste, and over the last six years I've been working to get them back to health. I've had a lot of trouble with scab and happened to come across a mention in this book that scab could be controlled by an under-planting of chives! I plan to do just that, this coming spring, in hopes of improving the quality of the apples on my trees. It is done in an encyclopedic format...alphabetcally..from Abysinthum to Yucca! with chapters on Fruits and Nuts and even poisonous plants. I don't know if it could be found in used book stores, or not. On the other hand I've still got my encyclopedias that I routinely check and for fun reading there are always the seed catalogues!

Thanks Lori - that sounds amazing. I also have a book on 'companion planting' but the ethos of that is more to do with 'right plant, right place'. Good luck with the chive planting!

Thank you Paul . . . interesting that you don't buy gardening books. We're all different! I love reading about people's gardens and getting inspiration from their ideas. For your recreational reading, do you mean fiction?

primarily yes, I love a good fiction thriller - Something I can bury myself in until my commuter train stops in my town, I like authors like John Grisham, Ann Tyler, Margaret Attwood, a few others.

If I need to know something gardenwise, I'll either resort to the Internet or ask somebody.

I agree the RHS Encyclopedia in two volumes will last a lifetime.

That's right Linda, and luckily I do have that :)

Oh gosh thats a question that I think is impossible for us to answer, I have loads of gardening books and even though I can look online for my answers, I would not part with any of my books and often have a browse to compare anyway, the seasons and our weather patterns have changed so much over the years so some of the advice has altered greatly as well, which does make a difference to our gardening year, don't think I'll last long enough to revert to my grandads timetable, lol....
I think my RHS books are amongst my favourites but do have to place them on table to read them and lots of markers to place in the pages when looking through, lol....I just had a look and cannot choose a favourite Sheila I keep changing my mind but it was good to while away the time whilst trying to choose.....

Thanks Sue - that's very positive! I'm much the same, and have many favourites including 'Wildside' by Keith Wiley (about naturalistic gardening), and 'The Border Book' by Anna Pavord which is full of great ideas and bought second-hand for £4 years ago :)

Oh I have the border book Sheila, can never achieve the look but I do try, lol....

Too many to mention, but anything by Alan or Adrian Bloom, All books on Conifers, Heathers, Grasses, Acers and hardy geraniums :)

Thanks Bluespruce . . . I'd forgotten about the Bloom family, but will Google their books.

I have now found a second-hand copy of "Bloom's Best Perennials and Grasses" by Adrian Bloom . . . in perfect condition and perfect for me! Thank you all for your interesting comments, and special thanks to Bluespruce for giving me the idea.