Gardening book has secrets worth learning
You should plant yourself in your chair or your garden and dig into The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Garden.
The book by Sally Roth — with the subtitle 326 Fast, Easy, Affordable Ways to Transform Your Yard One Project at a Time — is an enjoyable read, and full of information.
Roth is an accomplished, long-time gardener who now lives in the high mountains of Colorado.
She is an award-winning author on nature, gardening and birds, a public speaker and a contributing editor to Fine Gardening magazine.
The purpose of this book is to inform the beginning gardener of how to transform an entire yard by dividing a property into smaller areas.
As she walks you through 12 areas — front entry, curb side or shady spots to name a few — she gives you simple steps to complete one piece of the puzzle.
As each area is completed, you then move on to a new area.
Roth is obviously knowledgeable and has many gardening tips and pointers to help any gardener improve their yard.
The book is well organized and has excellent photographs and illustrations. These help the reader to imagine bringing their ideas into fruition.
Roth has numerous suggestions for plant material and ways to garden on the cheap. Her advice is sound and practical.
My only concern is that I found her writing style verbose.
A beginning gardener needs quick and concise advice. As a reader you must wade through the text to get to the point.
Avid gardeners would find this book engaging but I think it might frustrate a new gardener.
Soil types, fertilizing and water requirements are barely touched on. Beginning gardeners will need to know this.
The concept of combining small parts of a garden to create the whole is an excellent approach for any gardener.
I would recommend this book but feel that there are better out there for the beginning gardener. Rating: 4/5
Loraine Harding is a master gardener and a member of the Kelowna Garden Club.