Gardening books
Gardening books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
Down the Garden Path
Beverly NicholsA witty, personal account of making a garden, and one of the best-known early garden memoirs in English.
Second Nature
Michael PollanPollan's first book, about a gardener's attempts to understand nature and his own place in it. It bridges garden memoir and nature writing.
Gardening Without Work
Ruth StoutStout's method of heavy mulching with hay or straw, which she presents as an alternative to digging and weeding.
The Well-Tempered Garden
Christopher LloydA practical and opinionated guide to planting design and plant choice, widely read by English-speaking gardeners.
My Garden (Book)
Jamaica KincaidA personal essay collection about gardening, colonial history and belonging, which widened what garden writing addresses.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
Reading lists
More gardening books
- The Botany of Desire
The Botany of DesireMichael Pollan - Gaia's Garden
Gaia's GardenToby Hemenway - Wicked Plants
Wicked PlantsAmy Stewart - Gardening for Dummies
Gardening for DummiesMichael MacCaskey - Organic Gardening for Dummies
Organic Gardening for DummiesAnn Whitman - Cunningham's Encyclopedia of magical herbs
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of magical herbsScott Cunningham1985 - Braiding Sweetgrass
Braiding SweetgrassRobin Wall Kimmerer2013 - The Ruth Stout no-work garden book
The Ruth Stout no-work garden bookRuth Stout1971 - The encyclopedia of country living
The encyclopedia of country livingCarla Emery1975 - Animal, vegetable, miracle
Animal, vegetable, miracleBarbara Kingsolver2007 - Garden spells
Garden spellsClaire Nahmad1994 - The Permaculture Garden
The Permaculture GardenGraham Bell1994