Container Gardener’s Handbook: Pots, Techniques, and Projects to Transform Any Space

For plant lovers hampered by equally constrained budgets and living spaces, this lively offering from horticulturist Tophill, host of the BBC show Gardener’s World, will be a boon. Combining economy, creativity, and plant knowledge, this practical guide highlights varied projects that enable even the most space-limited garden enthusiast to explore new possibilities in otherwise neglected nooks and crannies. A feature of the book’s approach is the concept of “upcycling”—recycling well-worn cast-offs (such as old boots, suitcases, and even tires) and transforming them into accent pieces that serve as colorful decorative flourishes and showcase the willingness of plants to grow just about anywhere. “There is a knack to achieving the perfect container,” Tophill notes, and her book abounds with help for realizing it. From choosing the type of container (a trough? a painted pot? glass? round? square? large? small?) to deciding on the number of containers to use in a given spot and determining where to place them, how to maintain them, and (when needed) how to transplant them, this creative, smart, and hopeful guide offers everything anyone needs to create a colorful and long-lasting container garden. (Mar.)