Whether you love growing, love creating, or just want to liven up your outdoor space, a container garden is just the answer. So many of us nowadays are crammed into our homes and a garden is a luxury that few can afford. But there is always room for a bit of greenery; whether it's herbs and spices to add fresh flavour to your food, or putting a jungle on your windowsill, a container can enable growers to bring nature to the most inhospitable and smallest spaces. Frances Tophill covers the sustainable, crafty and culinary aspects of container gardening. From urns and troughs to chimney stacks and hanging baskets alongside what to grow inside them - bonsai to annuals, bulbs, grasses and bamboos, tumbling and creeping plants and flowers - there are also 40 ideas on how to pair plants and pots, including upcycling existing items and creating your own containers.

Make your garden flourish with these 300 easy and inexpensive gardening hacks to help your plants blossom-perfect for any green thumbs, first-time horticulturalists, or reluctant gardeners! Think you don't have a green thumb? Think again! No matter your gardening woes, Gardening Hacks has the solution. Perfect for all gardening skill levels whether you're starting your first garden, looking to expand your crop, or simply searching for ways to make it easier to care for your extensive plant collection, you'll find everything you need to know to make your garden grow. Gardening Hacks includes helpful tips like: -Saving your eggshells, which can serve as everything from an organic seed starter to a natural snail and slug repellent. -Adding a pinch of cinnamon to help prevent fungal diseases that might prevent your plants from maturing. -Using the newspaper to help deter weeds from sprouting. -Creating your own DIY seed packet catalog to help keep your seeds organized as your garden grows. -And many more! No matter the size of your garden-from a small herb collection to an extensive variety of fruits and vegetables to any indoor plant that needs some perking up-Gardening Hacks will make your plants flourish!

The title might sound like a bold statement, but you really will be able to garden by the end of this book. Whether you are a budding botanist or just aspire to have greener fingers, this book will hold your 'horticultural hand' and guide you gently through the principles of gardening. Whether you have a tiny courtyard or something a bit bigger, this book will share everything you need to know to create your own patch of horticultural heaven. With 12 easy-to-follow chapters that explore all the basics of successful, stress-free gardening including assessing and designing your garden, how to grow fruit and vegetables, plant maintenance, propagation, lawns and container garden. The 15 step-by-step techniques will teach you how to sow seeds, prune shrubs, cut a hedge, mow a lawn and even how to design your own outside space, plus so much more. Just as important, the book explains how to garden sustainably and encourage wildlife, so that you can make informed decisions when it comes to creating and maintaining your garden.

This practical guide shows how to grow decorative flowers and foliage and use them to create floral arrangements, plans, plant and maintain a well-stocked cutting garden, and demonstrates how to create arrangements ranging from simple bunches to romantic hanging globes, swags and medallions.

Elegant and exotic, the allure of orchids is undeniable and this practical guide will ensure that even the most nervous newcomer can grow them with confidence. With expert advice, clear instructions and step-by-step photographs, father and daughter team Brian and Sara Rittershausen explain all the techniques you will need to ensure that your orchids flourish every time. There are hints and tips on watering, feeding and the optimum lighting and temperature conditions in which to grow your plants in addition to advice on propagation, hybridization and caring for orchids in pots. Also included is an extensive directory of all the specialized and popular orchid groups.

In this book, Sharon Amos explains how to design and create a beautiful garden for little or no money, offering tips on bartering for clippings, getting a bargain at garage sales or neighbourhood fairs, digging up suckers or adapting wild species and controlling them in a garden environment. She provides a comprehensive directory of 80 plants including detailed advice on where and how to grow a wide variety of garden favourites, from snowdrops to poppies. With beautiful illustrations, Plants for Free is the perfect gift book for cultivating your garden on a budget of next-to-nothing.

Fight garden pests and increase your yields the natural way with this tried and true technique!

Planting vegetables and flowers together is one of the oldest ways to create a healthy, bountiful garden, but there's more to the method than you might think. Vegetables Love Flowers will walk you through the ins and outs of companion planting, from how it works to which plants go together and how to grow the best garden for your climate.

With the right information and some careful planning, you can help your plants thrive--and beautify your garden in the process.

This fun-filled outdoor adventure handbook is packed with unique ideas to help kids discover the great outdoors and get closer to nature. Created with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the UK's leading gardening charity, this pocket-sized guide teached kids about different habitats. This gorgeously illustrated handbook is bursting with fun activities, top tips and nature facts to help inspire kids to explore the amazing world around them. Learn how to choose a campsite. Grow your own daffodils. Learn how to navigate using the night sky. Each page is packed with original ideas to help kids discover and explore plants and wildlife, with exciting activities for different habitats.

Orchids fascinate. Parts of the orchid flower have shapes unlike any other flowering plant, and the sheer number of species means that their variety is seemingly endless, with an ability to interbreed and create ever more fantastical forms. Extraordinary Orchids reveals some of the bizarre life-styles and interactions that botanists have uncovered amongst different categories of orchids: the epiphytic orchids, the ground-dwelling ones, the insect-mimicking ones and those whose lifestyles are so closely bound to their interactions with insects and birds. Many orchid common names refer to the shape-shifting forms of the orchid flower - the 'man-orchids' or 'monkey orchids' are so called because of their resemblance to the primate form. Orchids lend themselves to depiction, and botanical artworks of them abound. Who could resist painting or drawing such intriguing shapes? Sandra Knapp examines each category of orchid in turn and all are illustrated with stunning artwork from artists such as Ferdinand and Franz Bauer, Arthur Harry Church, Sydney Parkinson, Henry Fletcher Hance, John Russell Reeves, and images taken from James Bateman's The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala.

Griselda Kerr has drawn on over 20 years of gardening knowledge and experience to create the book that she wishes she had had access to when, as a complete beginner, she started to revive the "dismal looking" plants in her garden - an indispensable, practical guide to how and when to look after more than 700 garden plants. No coffee table book this, it is designed for constant quick reference, to be used, perhaps as a stand-in for a knowledgeable friend, for advice on specific plants. Look up each plant in a specially formatted index spread across the year and a page reference will take you to a short, clearly written entry on what to do in a particular month - whether to clip, deadhead or divide, cut right down, feed, mulch or leave well alone. Each of these gardening techniques is also explained in a comprehensive glossary The Apprehensive Gardener is an attractive, durable, easy-to-use guide to plant care which will be referred to over and over again and will stand the test of time.

Discover the fascinating stories behind around 300 species of wildflowers, and marvel at a botanical beauty and diversity you never knew existed.

Did you know that orchids existed alongside dinosaurs? And that 30,000 plant species are used as medicine worldwide? In this stunning book, leading botanist Chris Thorogood brings you closer to 300 species of wildflower through fascinating facts, plant profiles, and detailed illustrations. More than just meadows, discover wildflowers that are pollinated by birds, that look like stones, and that feed on the creatures around them.

Humans have had a close relationship with wildflowers throughout history from growing dahlias as crops and comfrey as medicine, to carrying posies to ward off the plague and roses down the aisle. Bringing together natural history, culture, food, medicine and technology, this fascinating book will open your eyes to the botanical wonders all around us. With a guide to the wildflowers growing in every habitat, identification notes, a grow-your-own guide and more, this is the ultimate flower-lover's companion.

This is an illustrated guide to varieties, cultivation and care, with step-by-step instructions and over 135 beautiful photographs. It is a handy, practical guide to growing and caring for rhododendrons, with instructions for planting outdoors and in containers, mulching, pruning and propagation. It features a full photographic directory of over 50 varieties, including 'Bashful', 'Cecile', 'Homebush', 'May Day', 'Pink Pearl', 'Sappho' and 'Vuyk's Rosyred'. It includes a fascinating history of rhododendrons, from their origins in the Himalayas through to their cultivation in European gardens, and the modern hybrids of today. From tiny, ground-hugging bushes producing small and delicate flowers to huge tree-like specimens clothed in magnificent and glorious blooms, rhododendrons belong to a diverse and fascinating genus. Offering interest from mid-winter to late summer, many of these hardy evergreen shrubs produce exquisitely textured foliage in hues of silver, gold or bronze once the flowering season is over. This practical handbook contains complete instructions for growing rhododendrons, from choosing and buying to planting, propagation and controlling pests and diseases.With over 50 varieties described and illustrted, there is a beautiful rhododendron to suit every garden situation.

In the multifaceted world of gardening, the same questions arise time and time again. Organised season-by-season, this book promises to answer the 1000 most-asked questions that can frustrate all gardeners alike. Drawing on her years of experience in gardening, former panellist and researcher for the BBC's Gardeners Question Time Daphne Ledward has answered them all. From knowing how to identify your soil type, the finer points of pruning and propagation, and seeds versus seedlings; to the thorny problems of dealing with chronic pests and diseases, and finding plants for difficult places, this book is the answer to all of the most frequently asked gardening questions. Get the most out of your garden, big or small, and discover answers to common issues such as: - what type of soil is best for your garden - how to select the best plants, vegetables and herbs according to your space - how to get your plants through a difficult winter - how to best care for your plants, be it bulbs, roses, vegetables or even your lawn - how to make your own compost

This title deals with planning, planting and cultivating over 25 edible flower schemes with accompanying recipes. It is an illustrated flower directory provides at-a-glance information on over 45 edible flower varieties and their complementary foods. Professional gardening and cooking tips ensure success both outdoors and in the kitchen. It is a stunning visual guide and informative reference to consult and treasure. Flowers have been used for culinary purposes since earliest times: rose petals have been used to perfume cakes for centuries, and the richly scented 'Parma' violet was a popular ingredient during the Victorian era. This unique gardening guide and recipe collection offers over 25 planting schemes, with accompanying recipes showing how to use the flowers in the kitchen. You can create a spring planter of violets and primroses, a scented lavender basket, or a striking pairing of sunflowers and nasturtiums, then create tasty dishes and drinks. With gorgeous photographs by award-winning Michelle Garrett, this book will delight both gardeners and cooks alike.

The Royal Horticultural Society's The Rose tells the story of the world's favourite flower through 40 of the most popular and interesting species and hybrids. Arranged chronologically, The Rose brings to life the arrival of each flower in European gardens, detailing the history of the layout of rose gardens and the role that roses play in the 'language of flowers'. From the first recorded reference to a rose over 7,000 years ago, these extraordinary flowers have captivated botanists, artists, poets, perfumers and gardeners. A symbol of love and patriotism, a scent and flavour synonymous with the East, and the jewel in the crown of ornamental gardens, roses in all their forms bear a special meaning that spans centuries and crosses oceans. Extraordinary botanical illustrations and extracts from classic texts held in the Royal Horticultural society's world-famous Lindley Library, such as Redoute's Les Roses, Henry Andrew's Roses, Mary Lawrence's Selection of Roses and Victor Paquet's Choix des Plus Belles Roses, complete this authoritative celebration.

A quick-reference guide to planting perennials for gardeners with little experience and time.