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Gardening books?

ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
in The potting shed
Not sure if this is the best part of the forum or not (I'm new here today!).

Whilst I know some stuff sbout gardening I do feel there are probably some basics I have inadvertently skipped.

Are there any punchy books recommended for beginners? By punchy, I mean getting to the point and covering a decent amount of ground to get one up to speed :)

Up till now its just been a case of buying plants I liked, putting them in the ground or in a pot, watering them, reading the label and seeing what happens. Picking up occasional tips from my Mum along the way :)

So yeah, any ideas? Mostly for outdoor gardening, but a bit of indoor wouldn't hurt if it was in there too :) 
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  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 11,450
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/RHS-Garden-When-Youre-Gardening/dp/0241336651/ref=pd_lpo_2?pd_rd_i=0241336651&psc=1
     :)
    There will be plenty of other suggestions l'm sure. 
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,211
    @ChilliBob brilliant that your Mum gave you some advice.
    So difficult though when you are in the the garden and think...what now?
    Can you join your local garden club? They are such a fabulous resource of wisdom especially in the area you are. They know what will grow or not grow well and also move you towards the better book for you to keep for decades.
  • ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
    Thanks, I may do thay at some point, but I don't think it's for me right now. There's so many things, but one thing I think we're both rubbish on (me and my wife) is knowing when to prune, dig something up etc. For example I let my buddleia go mental, I thought it was fantastic, it totally covered an ugly fence and was double the height with wonderful purple flowers. My wife thought it needed a trim he he.

    We did ask my Mum for advice on lavender, which worked out well. I wanted to basically do nothing and see what happens, my wife wanted to dig it out! We cut it back on my Mum's advice and it came back lovely :)

    I suppose soil, nutrients, growing medium, the role of stuff like bark etc is all quite unknown to me, so I'd like more info on that. Unless it's Chillies, then I'm fine he he
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 6,657
    edited April 2022
    pretty much any book by Carol Klein, probably. She's written lots on different types of gardens so you'd need to have a look an see which might be most suited to what you want. Always loads of sound, practical advice.
    “Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first” 
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 10,341
    For a combination of practical stuff like laying paths, creating borders and indeed creating entire gardens from scratch (he starts with a bare plots of grass and transforms them into beautiful gardens).
    The he goes into which plants go where, what combination work together etc etc
    He was also in my opinion the best presenter of Gardeners World there has been.
    The DVD's are cheap and a great relaxing and informative watch
    https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Geoff-Hamilton-Collection-Anniversary-Gardeners/dp/B000R343M6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=241W4I3O9SIA5&keywords=geoff+hamilton&qid=1648886412&s=dvd&sprefix=geoff+hamilton%2Cdvd%2C102&sr=1-1

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 11,450
    Agree about Geoff Hamilton,  l owe him a great debt  :)
  • ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
    Cheers, I'll take a look at Geoff then!

    Any thoughts on the massive Monty Don complete Gardner book? 
  • ChilliBobChilliBob Posts: 98
    raisingirl said:
    pretty much any book by Carol Klein, probably. She's written lots on different types of gardens so you'd need to have a look an see which might be most suited to what you want. Always loads of sound, practical advice.
    I can put a name to the face now! I'll give those a look, thanks :) 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 8,913
    For reference-type books to dip into, the RHS have several. The encyclopedia of gardening is a fairly comprehensive how-to type of book. I have their pruning and training one and the propagation one as well (can't see that on their website though).
    I agree about Geoff Hamilton - I learned most of my gardening from him on GW as a beginner.
    I like Monty Don's books too for general reading but I find them somehow less useful as "how to". I also like Christopher Lloyd's books, and Beth Chatto's, in the same vein - more inspiration than instruction.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,373
    Only on sites like Amazon these days, 'Food From Your Garden' by Readers Digest is a good investment, even down to recipes for the crops.
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