Royal Horticultural Society Small Garden Handbook: Making the Most of Your Outdoor Space

With magnificent color pictures on every page and an easy-to-read format, this book is a valuable and inspiring resource for both advanced and beginner gardeners. Wilson offers case studies for each of his chapters, discussing garden design, styles, materials, boundaries, structures, water, planting and upkeep. The advice, offered in concise paragraphs with lots of lists and bullet points, is easy to comprehend and follow. Each chapter includes a list of 15 well-articulated ideas that readers can implement at home. In advising how to select colors for the garden, for example, Wilson cautions readers to take a broad overview into account, considering not only flowers but foliage, backdrops and paving. In his chapter on upkeep, he splits tasks by season, creating a useful to-do list. While many gardening books assume readers are already experienced gardeners, this one starts at the beginning, gently guiding readers through the joys of planning, designing, planting and maintaining their small spaces. Between useful, practical and easily implementable ideas and the attractive images of gardens that work well, Wilson offers a fantastic handbook to anyone with an interest in gardening %E2%80%93 green thumb or no. (Feb.) North American distribution: Firefly Books