Books for Small Gardens

People with small gardens who need quick and simple gardening info often find themselves with encylopedic tomes on pruning and the like that are far too complicated and too comprehensive for their needs.  But now, there's an entire new series of books dedicated to gardeners with pocket-sized yards or apartment balconies. 

The Simple Steps to Success series (DK Publishing) are comprehensive enough -- 160 pages each -- with tips on design, plant care, planting how-to, and much more.   The eight books, each written by a different expert, cover all the basics, from containers and planting design to pruning and shade gardening.   Each one is illustrated with many photos that illustrate successful designs, gardening techniques and plant combinations, and each contains an illustrated guide to the plants featured in the text.

These books are perfect for those who want a good-looking garden, but who don't have the time or the patience to spend hours on end outside on the weekends.   If you simply followed some of the "recipes" in Containers for Patios (AHS Practical Guides), your deck, your patio, or your balcony would be stunning.   Bamboos  &  Grasses (Simple Steps) tells you how to use a simple palette of ornamental grasses and perennials to give your garden an Asian or a contemporary feeling, or to achieve a "meadow" in a very small space. I'd recommend these books to anyone, and they're particularly useful for beginners or for people with busy lives.

Others in the series include:
Easy Pruning (Simple Steps)
Planting a Small Garden (AHS Practical Guides)
Water in a Small Garden (AHS Practical Guides)
Clematis  &  Climbers (AHS Practical Guides)
Vegetables (Simple Steps)

(click on image or text links to purchase books)