• An insight into what makes Alpine plants tick or grow in unusual locations.
• Information on all aspects of alpine cultivation and propagation.
• How to plant and maintain raised beds, troughs, walls and containers.

Success with Alpine Gardening by Graham Clarke

Who Wants to Read ‘Success with Alpine Gardening ‘

• The gardener who wants to branch out or get close to new species.
• Plant lovers who are looking for new varieties to grow or challenges to overcome.
• Readers who followed Graham when he was editor of Amateur Gardening and Horticulture Week

Also Buy from Amazon

Alpine Gardening for Beginners an AGS no nonsense, good value book

Quick Thoughts for Success with Alpine Gardening

Crevise gardens are the current rage. Beware what little soil there is in crevices is not washed out. A gentle ‘batter’ of slope away fro 90 degrees may help.
Use the position of rocks to provide a rain shadow for plants that do not want wet leaves and roots.
It is no use craving success if you do not put the effort in to Alpine Gardening. Because the plants are small isn’t an excuse for your efforts to match.

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• The how, when, why and what of Rose care to get good flowers in your garden.
• A terse and almost too concise book not over endowed with photographs.

‘Rose Gardening For The New Home Gardener: A Step-By-Step Gardening How To For Growing Roses With All The Gardening Tips You Must Know For Rose Care and Rose diseases to help you grow Blossoming and eye-catching Rose Bushes In Your Own Garden Landscape by Venus F. Gann (45 word title)

Who Wants to Read ‘Rose Gardening ….. ‘

• Those who want guiding through the growing of roses in a simple none threatening manner.
• If you need encouraging to give tender loving care to get some great roses this book may be for you.

Rose Gardening Contents include:

• Choose the right roses for your garden and there is a massive choice
• How and when to plant, water, fertilize and prune your roses
• Planted roses in pots and containers
• Grow organic roses with tips.
• Prevent and treat common rose diseases
• Dry your roses for flower arranging. How to revive wilting roses

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A wider selection of books about your favourite flowering shrubs The Rose

Quick Thoughts of the Month
Growing roses requires plenty of preparation before you can start planting. Roses will live for many years or decades if well treated so preparation will be rewarded.
Roses need space, if you crowd them in one place they won’t have room to develop and diseases can develop easily.
Take the plunge roses are easier to grow than you think!

• The green and black cover of ‘Wicked Plants: The A-Z of Plants That Kill, Maim, Intoxicate and Otherwise Offend’ may give you a clue as it conjures up feelings of foreboding and danger.
• Details of two hundred of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations that could scare the worried gardener.
• ‘The ‘unfathomable evils’ of the plant kingdom and the presentation makes it an enticing read’ according to Eden Magazine
• Expect a light readable book that is based of good knowledge by an author with several similarly authoritative books to her name

Wicked Plants: The A-Z of Plants That Kill, Maim, Intoxicate and Otherwise Offend by Amy Stuart

Who Wants to Read ‘ Wicked Plants That Kill, Maim, Intoxicate…. ‘

• If you plant to visit the poison garden and Alnwick this book is an interesting precursor.
• Those with young children or a predisposition to be concerned about health and well being will not be comforted but will definitely be better informed.

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Sundry gardening books
Poisonous Plants in Great Britain (Wooden Books Gift Book) by Fred Gillam

Quick Thoughts of the Month
The more we learn the less we realise we know:
The Yew is poisonous yet it is in the forefront of the fight against cancer.
Toadstools are perceived as bad whilst mushrooms have had a much better press.
Everything in moderation, eat or drink too much and everything even water can be fatal.
Read more on Dangerous and Harmful Garden Plants

What comes first the chicken or the egg. In this case what comes first the name of a plant or the name of a colour. It is surprising how many colours and plants are the same. The citrus family provide most with Orange, Tangerine, Lemon and Lime!

The Rose Expert by Dr D G Hessayon

Colourful books in The Expert series have made sure of one bank balance in the black not the red!

Lavender Lover’s Handbook, by Sarah Berringer Bader

The dark end of the colour spectrum produces Indigo and Violet both plants of the hue. Lavender and Lilac are also of a similar persuasion.

Magnolias: A Gardener’s Guide by Jim Gardiner

Not the colour of Magnolia paint that all the walls in my first house was painted by I do not know of a plant called a beige.

There is an Orange book prize and so I thought we should consider a garden book prize we could call it Apple Green or Bookworm awards.

On The Eighth Day God Created Allotments for Kindle by David Boyle
So allotments should be exceptional because God had just had a rest before he created them. If you are fortunate enough to have an allotment make good use of it and enjoy.

Blurb on the Book

‘There are few things the British treasure as much as their allotments. A few square metres of land, usually on the outskirts of cities, they are an oasis of calm in a busy world, a source of fresh vegetables and flowers, and a retreat into nature for city dwellers.

But what is the history of the allotment? Where did it come from? And what were the principles and ideas that created this quiet but powerful force in society?

In this brilliant slice of social history, David Boyle traces the story of the allotment back to the great medieval commons – and to the potent but half-forgotten ideology which, throughout the nineteenth century, asserted people’s right to grow their own food.

This book is partly the story of the politician who made it possible, Jesse ‘Three acres and a cow’ Collings, and his ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (and vice versa). But it is also a look at the original ideology of the allotment, its radical claims about English history, its representative interpretation of modern economics, and where it has led us to today – and what might happen if the guiding ideology of allotments makes further progress.

On the Eighth Day God Created Allotments will be enjoyed by keen gardeners, but also by anyone interested in the history of British society. It magnificently mixes personal stories and social, political economic ideas to tell a little-known but compelling and important story. ‘

Credits
Allotments at Berwick-upon-Tweed Allotments by muggers! CC BY 2.0

101 Garden projects is an excellent small book offering simple but effective ways to transform a garden. The book is particularly aimed at the small garden. For example, tips include growing potatoes and herbs in pots. Most of the ideas are easy to execute and it simply provides a range of interesting ideas for you garden. There is a mixture between design ideas to growing vegetables and flowers.

Some of my favourite tips include:

• Taking root cuttings and making plants for free.
• Grow early strawberries using cloches.
• Simple design ideas such as the ‘dry river’ of pebbles.
• Plant early potatoes in large pots or bags in spring and again in September for new spuds out of season. (keep seed potatoes cold to stop them over sprouting.

The books is well illustrated with colour photos and simply explained. Would make an excellent gift for any gardener. It couldn’t be easier with projects including planting, pruning, composting, hanging baskets, lawns, ponds, greenhouses, indoor gardening and grow-to-eat ideas.

Keep Calm Carry on Gardening.

Gardeners’ World: 101 Garden Projects: Quick and Easy DIY Ideas by Helena Caldon only £3.77 from Amazon

It makes sense to plan what plants you put where and therefore what plants will be next to other plants. At the extremes you wouldn’t put Cacti with bog plants and there are many combinations that would be ridiculous.

This book for March considers a range of reasons for combining plants to make good combinations.

Reasons for Good Combinations

• Mutual support in the form of prevention of insect attack or supply of nutrients.
• Bringing shape, colour, texture and form together in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
• Harmonising with natural features within the gardenscape or wider landscape.
• Good companions working in harmony enhance the garden. Conflict plants can distract from the overall garden.
• Seasonal variations and ground utilisation or crop rotation need to be taken into account

Planting combinations various books

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• Advice on how to come through winter with plenty of vegetables stored and for growing plants to withstand the winter.
• Growing tips for eating in spring during the hungry gap season of April, May and early June.
• Winter and early spring require a different kind of gardening to the summer months. Not a lot grows at this time but a well planned plot may nonetheless be quite full.

Who Wants to Read ‘How to Grow Winter Vegetables ‘

• If you have a hungry family to feed then have a read.
• If you like fresh home grown produce have a gander at this books ideas and advice.
• If you thought salad could only be grown in summer think again.

Buy from Amazon

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• High producers that take up little space make fantastic sense and this book has lots of help with salad crops, raised beds etc.
• I like the idea of winter making the garden an outdoor larder. That is OK if the soil has the chance to get reconditioned.
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In Tune With The Moon 2012: The Complete Day-by-Day Planner for Growing and living in 2012 by Michel Gros

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• In Tune With The Moon has a biodynamic approach to gardening in harmony with the moon. It is a simple and green way to boost garden yields and live a better life.
• This detailed guide includes information on the waxing and waning moon and an abundance of gardening tips.

Who Wants to Read ‘In Tune With The Moon ‘

• I should be one who reads this book as I have largely ignored the moon when sowing, planting and harvesting my garden.
• Green allotmenteers may find the tips and calendar useful.

Buy from Amazon

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• The moon is one factor but a gardens latitude and height above sea level may trump the zodiac
• We are all influenced by the cycles of the natural world and plants are no exception. However is the moon one of the influencers


The Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar: 2012 by Maria Thun and Matthias K. Thun

The original biodynamic sowing and planting calendar, now in its 50th year. This useful guide shows the optimum days for sowing, pruning and harvesting various plants and crops, as well as working with bees.

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Green Gardening – Practical advice from National Trust Gardeners

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• As it says in the title this book contains lots of practical advice from 10 gardeners at 10 different National Trust properties.
• Each gardener and garden takes a different theme based on organic and green gardeneing subjects.
• A strong feature is the tips section at the end of each chapter.

Who Wants to Read ‘Green Gardening’

• This book has been around for 10 years but is still a must read for those who have vague ideas about how green they should be when it comes to their garden.
• Those planning a visit to the National trust properties will get a foretaste of what to expect and see.

Buy from Amazon

There are numerous other books on Green Gardening from Little Green Books to Joey Green’s gardening Magic

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• You do not need to be a full blown environmentalist, ecologist or tree hugger to recognise that you can improve your gardening techniques by reference to nature.
• See and read Top Ten Green Gardening habits
• You can even find a use for glyphosate in a green garden context
• ‘Green Gardening’ is the common sense application of techniques that are in tune with nature without needing to become an eco-warrior
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