A well-conceived book for budding gardeners that achieves its aim of remaining informative without being overwhelming.
Reviewer Alys Hurn is editorial assistant for Gardens Illustrated.
For arts and entertainment writer Alice Vincent, a love of gardening in four square metres of concrete, four storeys up has resulted in a regular writing gig for The Telegraph’s Gardening section, a newsletter-style blog called Noughticulture and now her first book, How to Grow Stuff.
A self-confessed rookie gardener, Vincent has taught herself all she knows about urban gardening by making mistakes and learning as she goes. This book is for other budding gardeners who are keen to flex their green fingers but don’t know where to start.
Her list of ‘stuff to grow’ is simple: a small selection of herbs, edibles, flowers and house plants suited to beginners. Her writing style is friendly and upbeat so it feels as though you’re taking advice from a friend who has made all the mistakes so you don’t have to.
She also makes sure to cover the basics with an introductory chapter on universal growing information, such as drainage, watering and potting on, and a glossary explaining the most common gardening terms from ‘annual’ to ‘truss’.
Throughout the book, Vincent offers advice for keeping supermarket herbs and nursery-bought plug plants alive so there’s no expectation to grow from seed right away. If you like a challenge, however, there are lots of tips and tricks to help you germinate your seeds successfully.
The pages have a matte finish that is rather appealing, but this muted look extends to the photographs (taken by Vincent herself) and makes the images of the plants and flowers growing on Vincent’s balcony appear somewhat dull and grainy. But I’m nit-picking; this isn’t a coffee table book, it’s a practical guide that you’ll want to keep close at hand throughout the year and dip in and out of as your plants grow.