How to Be a Gardener

No safer pair of hands than those of Alan Titchmarsh could be imagined to coax the nervous would-be gardener into picking up a spade. The BBC evidently think so, as they have commissioned the two series and accompanying volumes of How To Be A Gardener, their most ambitious gardening project to date. The elevation of gardening in recent years from a genteel pastime to national mania, fuelled largely by television, seems to have engendered a large audience of virtual gardeners, keen to get their hands dirty but unsure of how to begin.

No doubt the outstanding success (even by her own standards) of Delia Smith's comparable How to Cook trilogy formed an encouraging precedent. Just as Delia set out to give her readers and viewers the basic skills from which to build a confident technique, so Alan Titchmarsh in this first volume takes his pupils back to the basics ("Back to Basics" is the book's sub-title) of soil types and management, plant growth, seasonality, maintenance and pest control. It's a thorough, utterly professional, novice-friendly job; not all that different from a number of other manuals of garden basics, but self-recommending by the confidence its author inspires--the product on the one hand of a lifetime's expertise and on the other of his inimitable personality. --Robin Davidson

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Excellent advice but for novices only - Rated
I was really tempted to give this book a five star rating but for one point - this is a very short book and, while it does what it says on the cover, if you follow Alan's advice then within a few months you'll want something more detailed. So while it is an excellent volume in its own right it's quite poor value. I wouldn't regard myself as an experienced gardener but even I found only a few pages of information in here that was new to me.

For most people your probably better off saving the money and buying something like the RHS Encyclopedia of gardening, its more expensive but it will last you for years rather than months. Borrow this book (or buy it and sell it again) by all means and it will give an excellent grounding in what you need to do but you will want something more comprehensive later.

great! - Rated
As with Book 1, I found the second in the series an excellent read and extremely helpful. Book 1 gave you the basic knowledge, this one helps you put it into practice. Alan is good at making suggestions for planning your garden, but gives you enough space to apply the principles to your own garden, without feeling you're straying from what is 'right'. Buy this together with Book 1, and you can't go wrong.

Excellent book.

excellent! - Rated
This is a truly wonderful book. It starts at square one and goes through all the very basic things you need to know about gardening. Amalgamating information that one normally finds dotted about a dozen different books, it really helps to get you on your way. Other books confuse, this one gently guides.

Highly recommended. As is Book 2, and I would suggest buying both.

Real Gardening at last! - Rated
I bought this book for my father who is an avid gardener but ended up reading it myself! It is very thorough and doesn't assume previous knowledge of the subject. Great for beginners and for those wishing to brush up on fundamentals which can sometimes get forgotten. It is heartening to see Dr Titchmarsh do something to encourage REAL gardening. Unfortunately, after all, he and his erstwhile Ground Force colleagues are largely responsible for the deplorable trend which has led to half the gardens in the country - certainly half those in my town - being buried under decking,chippings and paving slabs! Maybe Dr Titchmarsh should produce a wildlife gardening book/programme to make up for his role in helping to create all those sterile, plantless concrete wastelands.

How to be a gardener - Rated
I bought this book having moved into my first home with garden. The book gave me many ideas and tips on how to turn my garden from a plot of grass, into a beautiful flower and shrub garden. It explains the terminology used in the book, ie thinning out, dead-heading etc. Being new to gardening this book really helped me achieve good results in my garden without killing everything. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Well worth buying!