The Best Gardening Books and Other Good Reads for Gardeners
Fifty percent of gardening is learning by doing and experimenting. The other fifty percent comes from educating yourself. Whether you’re a brand new gardener, a master gardener, or in between, there’s always more to learn. I like to use down time in the winter or rainy days to read gardening books. In this post, I’m sharing the best gardening books and other good reads for gardeners. We’ll cover some great books for flower gardeners, vegetable gardeners, some good gardening magazines, as well as some other helpful articles to help you along your gardening journey.
Great Books and Magazines
Best Gardening Books for Flower Gardeners
Do you love daylilies? I like to think of myself as a collector of daylilies. The New Encylopedia of Daylilies is a go to for all things daylily and I highly recommend it for all gardeners that love daylilies. I love daylilies and this book! The photography offers some awesome eye candy for flower lovers and it’s educational as well. If you’re not up for spending money on a book, Gingham Gardens also has a really great article with tips for growing Daylilies, along with lots of daylily pictures.
The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, a bestseller, is an amazing resource for perennial gardeners. The author gives very detailed instructions, plus lots of gorgeous photos and illustrations. Whether you’re a brand new flower gardener, or someone like me that’s been doing this for awhile, there’s something for everyone in this book.
Since we’re all about perennial gardening here on Gingham Gardens, here are a few awesome posts: Perennials for Shade, Designing with Perennials for 3 Seasons of Bloom (our own workbook and guide), Classic Perennials and lots, lots more! If you’re interested in joining us here at Gingham Gardens, simple complete the form below to get started on your way to creating your best garden ever.
New to my gardening book collection this year is The New Encyclopedia of Hostas. I just started reading it and I’ve already learned a thing or two about Hostas. As well as being educational, it’s a feast for hosta lover’s eyes. After reading through this book, you’ll be adding to your list of hosta must haves.
I am a flower farmer wannabe! I read and dream about tending my own small backyard cut flower farm. Whether you’d like to grow your own small cut flower garden, or dream like me about being a flower farmer, I think you’ll love Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden. If this seems overwhelming and you’d just like some simple instructions and pictures, check out the post, How to Grow a Cutting Garden.
Great Gardening Books for Vegetable Gardeners
If you’re looking for a way to grow more vegetables in less space, Vertical Vegetables is the book for you. I love this book! It’s practical, no nonsense gardening advice for typical home gardeners. Plus, it includes the plans and instructions for constructing all kinds of structures for growing vegetables vertically.
Looking for more ways to grow food in a small space, The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible is chockful of really good advice for growing lots of vegetables in containers. The author give thorough instructions from what type of containers to use, the best soil, maintenance, etc. The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, written by the same author, is likewise full of good, practical vegetable gardening advice.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac has long since been a wonderful resource for gardeners. I can remember my dad referring to the Old Farmer’s Almanac for gardening advice. If you’re looking for a great, all round vegetable gardening book, look no further than The Old Farmer’s Almanac Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook.
A few more Good Vegetable Gardening Reads here on Gingham Gardens include: Vegetable Gardening 101, Ways to Convert Lawn Into Gardening Space and What to Do With Excess Veggies From The Garden.
Gardening Books for Beginners
Many of the books that are mentioned in this article are great for beginning gardeners too. However, I really don’t recommend investing in gardening books until you know whether or not you’re going to love gardening. Here at Gingham Gardens we like to include all gardeners, no matter what your skill set is. That being said, we have lots and lots of articles that can help beginners get started on their gardening journey. I recommend you visit our Gardening Posts by Category page and start with a few of the articles under the Beginner’s category. I think you’ll find enough (and more) to get you growing.
The Best Gardening Magazines
Another of my favorite gardening reads is Garden Gate magazine. It’s always loaded with good articles and lots of great photography. I like to catch up during the winter with all the issues I received during the spring and summer that I never got around to reading.
Northern Gardener Magazine is another favorite and I would recommend it if you live in a zone 3 or zone 4 area. For more southern gardens I love Southern Living.
Fine Gardening Magazine is a favorite of mine too. Although, it doesn’t always have as much practical advice for home gardeners, they do feature some amazing gardens from all over the United States and Canada. After reading through an issue, it always sparks ideas that I would like to try in my own gardens.
The Best Coffee Table Gardening Books
Books don’t have to be all about learning. Sometimes it’s nice just to sit down and simply get lost in pictures of beautiful gardens from all over the world. I call these coffee table gardening books and often I gain as many ideas from great garden photography as I do from educational books. There are so many good ones so you might just stroll thru the above link to see if anything strikes your fancy.
General Gardening Books
One of my pet peeves with all the information on gardening you can find on the internet, is all the crazy garden remedies or hacks that are out there. This book, The Truth About Garden Remedies, dispels many of those hacks and myths. The author gives scientific facts about what works, what doesn’t and why. It does get a little deep into science for me, but I just skim over those parts.
Garden Alchemy by Stephanie Rose of Garden Therapy is a really fun gardening book. It’s like a cookbook for gardening concoctions and recipes for all things organic, like; potting mix, pest deterrents, fertilizers, plant elixirs and more.
Do you have a stash of favorite gardening books? If so, please share some of your favorites in the comments. I look forward to reading your suggestions. There’s no better way to spend a dreary winter or rainy day than losing yourself in a good gardening book and dreaming about being in your garden. Thanks a bunch for stopping by today. I truly appreciate your visit and your comments!
Happy Gardening and Visit Again Soon!
Julie
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