Weeding out the gardening section

'Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made

                                 By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade.'

~Rudyard Kipling, "The Glory of the Garden"

We at Adamontise feel there are a vast number of "specialist" books on the market, and it can be hard to tell which ones are worth the read.
So I decided to get my wellies on, get my hands dirty and test-out the newest gardening range at our fingertips.

I decided to try digging a flowerbed, from scratch by following the hopefully simple, instructions found in 'Planting a Small Garden.'
I like to think I have 'green fingers,' but the truth is, most of the time I just re-plant things purchased from the garden centre. I don't have the confidence to try anything for myself and any seeds I do plant, just don't grow.

After a quick browse, I felt brave enough to try following the instructions for 'making a border.'

The step-by-step instructions were useful. I didn't have a hose to layout the shape I wanted to cut but a tape measure did the job just as well, and I was really pleased to find that my efforts matched the images in the book.

I've even taken the tips on lawn edging and invested in a good border.

I would recommend 'Planting a small garden' for beginners or even those attempting something new in a small space.

Another book that came in handy was none other than 'Bugs, Slugs and other invaders'
While digging I unearthed a red ants nest. I'm not a big creepy crawly lover and these had me itching thinking they were all over me. I wanted to try solve the problem because they were everywhere, without harmful chemicals hurting my plants, pets of the ants themselves, it's their habitat - my inconvenience.
I was thrilled to quickly find my way to a section on dealing with ants.

Apparently they hate the small of cinnamon and just watering the border with a mix of water and cinnamon got them to move along to a different part of the garden.
The book offers up another 50 ways to beat garden enemies, all with humorous cartoon drawings which make an entertaining read of themselves. It even covers solutions for dealing with pests such as rabbits, moles and even (believe it or not) how to discourage deer!

The final book I'm covering today is from the same range as the small garden book and is entitled 'Vegetables in a Small Garden.' My family has been interested in Organic Vegetables for years and what better way that to grow our own!
I tried out growing lettuce and carrots and it really is as easy as the book says, you can just sprinkle seeds into correctly prepared soil and before you know it, I had more lettuce than I could eat!
The root-vegetable section helped me identify which carrots were best for my garden and there was plenty of information on organic veg.

The book even features a plant guide at the back, full of colourful solutions to seasonal veg planting and I'm looking forward to trying to successfully grow some tomatoes this year.
The book has plenty of simple advice on choosing the right seeds, location and growing as much as you need, with step-by-step guides (often in photographs) as well as expert tips and techniques.

All three titles get a big green ' thumb's up' from me for having useful information that is easily applied to your own garden. You can find all three books in our on-line store.
We'll be back putting more gardening books to test as soon as we're ready for planting the flowerbed.