Gardening Book – Help?

Hi all,

I am a writer and want to put together a book about gardening from a new and interesting angle. I have a publisher interested in commissioning a gardening book but need to come up with a list of ideas / angles. I thought I would ask... are there any books you would like to see available that don't exist? Can't think of anywhere better to ask than on here

Any help or ideas are much appreciated. Thank you. Kate

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Kate

We do have a request, have a look at this,

Gardeners Corner Magazine: August 2011

Jack has been waiting for you to come along:D

 

Increasing output and decreasing input by using mulches and other forms of weed suppression, crop protection/ehancement.

 

Step by step guides for amateurs, with diagrams showing the progress, as in, how plants should look at different stages of growth. (I actually Google pictures of seedlings to see if mine look the same..)

And how much water you should use, fertiliser at what stage.. etcc

 

hANDS ON FROM UP 1 DOWN THE COUNTRY

Well the first thing i would say here is to look at the mistakes that have been made so far from the so called prosfessonal T.V gardeners and the big drop in viewers (Gardeners world being one) and ask yourself why?

A book of hands on gardening as done by the verious gardeners up and down the country.

The old ways that are still done today, the tricks used by the hands on gardeners,

And A book that shows /explains hos to service the verious machines used by the average gardener of today?

Ive been gardening for many years now and the amount of people ive met who just dont know how to service a basic simple lawn mower ready to put it away for the winter,
These people pay a fortune to have this simple task done but you try and find a book with full step by step photo's and a simple to understand explanation!

regards Moonraker.

 

All my gardening books have stunning glossy colour photos of plants in their prime, on a perfect day, at the perfect time of day, taken by a professional photographer who has over the years mastered the art of making anything look fantastic.

This is great if I want to look at stunning photos of plants in their prime. However what i want to know, before I invest time and money on a plant just because the author of the book recommends it, is what will it really look like.

Something else that is lacking in the gardening book sector, is a book that will help me to plan a productive garden. I want to grow more of my own food. There's no shortage of books that teach that. I want my garden to look beautiful with pretty foliage and flowers. Again there's no shortage of books that teach that. What would be great, and I believe is possible, is if I could grow an ornamental garden, where most of the plants are also dinner. To give an example. Lots of herb books mention boring old common Sage. Its a great herb, one of my favourites. They never seem to mention that it flowers profusely with stunning spikes of deep pink/purple flowers from mid summer to the first frost. Or Thyme. Nobody seems to mention it being completely decked in white or pale pink flowers in spring. I've yet to try it (probably this year) but you can buy rainbow chard (its actually several different colours of chard seeds in one packet) that looks like it might be pretty, and lollo rosso lettuce etc.

If someone writes a book that shows me how I can create a decorative garden of mostly edible plants, I'd buy it.

 

Hi CL 1 - Try to get hold of a copy of the late Geoff Hamiltons book " The Ornamental Kitchen Garden" - It's probably just what you would like .

a-a

 

Thanks for the recommendation. Found it on Amazon. The description sounded good and of course Geoff Hamilton is a big name. Got it second hand, with postage and packing the total bill came to £4.84p. Can't grumble at that.

 

I made my own 'book' on microsoft access as I struggled to consolidate the info that I thought was important

I wanted to be able to quickly sort out a planting scheme for a garden and wanted to be able to do the following:

start off with evergreen shrubs that will give the garden a 'backbone' .... needed to be able to quickly sort out evergreen shrubs that grow in full sun or semi-shade .... and needed to know in which months they flower, and what colour the blooms are and heights

then, needed to be able to quickly sort out fragrant plants/shrubs, so as to add 'smell' to the garden .... not too woried about bloom colour, but aspect is important (shade/sun), and strength of fragrance and bloom time is the most important

then needed to sort out creepers .... evergreen, and those for colour, aspect, height and spread

then, needed to add colour .... needed to know plant heights, aspects, bloom time, bloom duration and colour ... and good combinations ... needed to be able to take a section (like 2 meter sections, and fill that area with colour throughout the year)

I have a few extras, but that is still the way I plan a garden and am still learning

another good section in your book would be lawn care, fertilizing (both organic and inorganic), and general info

exotics/tropicals is a whole different ball game, as one plants for foilage and not necessarily for colour

I don't grow veg (yet), but that could be a whole new book

good luck, and keep us updated! .... perhaps have an e-book that can be bought and downloaded?

 

i am helping someone to learn and i was explaining that he needed to remove the grass from the plot not to just dig it over, and he said last year he had been told to remove the sods and stack it upside down, but he had no idea what a sod was and didnt want to look stupid by asking so when they asked why he hadnt done it ? he went for the Im to lazy to do that than the REAL reason that he didnt know what to do

I realised from this point on I have to teach him the basics up as he really has no idea of what the terms mean, i was brought up around gardening so most things i know what they mean ( even if i cant do them )

 

Hi Statcus and welcome to Gardeners Corner. I think you've probably opened a 'can of worms' with this subject.

I'd like to pick up on what Dim has requested and add to it. His idea on a book about shrubs and it's content is good, I would like to extend that to trees as well, there are very few books that contain the sort of knowledge required, and even then very rarely can you find what you need to know within one book.

Another subject I've raised in the past, is about shrub and tree growth. With the exception of most gardeners, the 'layman' or everyday householder knows very little about what they are planting in their gardens and time and time again we hear of people having problems with neighbours who have planted rampant trees and shrubs in the wrong places which cause friction between them. Also these same plants create damage to buildings and underground services to properties.

Therefore, I think a must have in this book would be the inclusion of height, spread and in particular root spread, this last I have never seen in any publication and it's vital when planting close to buildings, as so much damage can be caused.

 

QUOTE ARMANDII
"Gardening is such a huge subject that it can't be covered in one book. Any new book will have a hard job not treading over ground already covered comprehensively by countless other authors, who have also regurgitated advice and methods from other books. "

That is the problem regurgitating, and it is these books people who already know the basics, go seeking more specific advice

My request as a start would be the very basics but indepth, and say maybe five books, one for veg, one for flowers, etc trees
Speciallities are usually pursued by gardeners who have done this done that and want to venture further these are available in the specific varieties books

I would want a book that anyone who can read, or a Martian arriving on Earth could use and produce what it is they require initially

I do not really want a colour pic of a lettuce or a raddish ever again, perhaps a line art with sizes added, of what to expect

So, I arrive on Earth and there is this big bit of land covered in strange weed stuff and something called grass
I want to produce Potatoes

I really have no idea about times etc but I want it something like THIS

1. In October remove the top greenery, DO NOT DIG IT IN remove it
2. Dig down 12" and break up the soil. leave for a few months and let the weather break down the soil further
3. In February dig in some COMPOST * *COMPOST IS etc etc
4. After a couple of weeks, turn over with a garden fork and rake level
having bought some SEED POTATOES chit* them * place with the eyes up until shoots appear
5. March make a row of soil banked up on each side and place in one potato with the shoots facing up, and cover with about 2" of soil plant these with a space of 12" diameter round each potato

When the pototo grows, and you have about 4" of leaves above the ground cover with more soil, Keep doing this until the soil is 24" higher than when you started (£eity knows where you get all the extra soil from) from then on let it grow and grow
Eventually your plant will now wither and die
When this happens, your potato produce is now ready, carefully remove all the soil and pick your pototoes out,
Place them in a hessian sack (NOT A PLASTIC BAG) and keep them in a dark cool place Then use them as necessary

I have not mentioned WATER, SUN, WEATHER etc
What diseases to look out for and what they would look like anyway, as I aint got a clue
ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS ON EACH BASIC ROOT VEG Not exotics, those can be found in the current books where you are expected to already know what to do (As in NEW grow your own veg books)

Next series FLOWERS

Oh well one can wish

I know of one person who has made an ebook of how to use ebay about six pages, downloadable and he is currently making £2k year on that one book
He also gets £4k a year tax credits as he is working 30hrs per week on ebay and a published author, though in the past three years he has not managed to publish the current book he is writing

If I glean enough information from GC I will ebook the pototo one myself

Jack McHammocklashing

 

If you were a Martian arriving here for the first time, how would you know you wanted to produce potatoes? And presumably, being a martian, you wouldn't have any land here on your arrival to grow potatoes in, unless you used your Martian Death Rays to take it by force

Of course I'm jesting. You make some good points as always