Anyone can have a container garden. It doesn’t matter if you’re in an apartment, if you don’t have a backyard or not. Containers accent any space – your kitchen, the porch, the window sill or your Florida room.
Here are some books specializing on different aspects of container gardening.
Bountiful Container: How to Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers
Written by two seasoned container gardeners and writers, McGee and veteran gardening writer Stuckey ,The Bountiful Container, covers vegetables, not just 17 varieties of tomatoes and 19 varieties of peppers, but, butharicots verts, fava beans, Thumbelina carrots, Chioggia beets, and sugarsnap peas.
Also included are herbs from basil to thyme, and from bay leaves, fennel to saffron crocus. Edible Flowers such as begonias, calendula, pansies, violets, and roses. And perhaps most surprising, fruits, including apples, peaches, Meyer lemons, blueberries, currants, and figs-yes, even in the colder parts of the country. Don’t forget; you can bring the less hardy perennials in over the winter. There are theme gardens (an Italian cook’s garden, a Four Seasons garden), lists of sources, and dozens of sidebars on everything from how to be a human honeybee to seeds that are All America Selections.
A customer reviewed it on Barnes & Noble and said, “… is really the ‘Bible’ of container gardening. It’s packed with tips and creative ideas, as well as facts about soil, pH, sun/water requirements, soil depths, etc. for a wide number of plants. …”
Price:
B&N;: Online Price: $16.15
Member Price: $14.53
Amazon: $12.21
The Complete Container Garden By David Joyce
The Complete Container Garden is gorgeous and beautifully presented with glossy pictures. As pretty as a coffee table book, it deals extensively with container gardening and gets your imagination wild.
This book tells you how to paint your pots, shape your boxes, or mold your ‘stone-like’ containers. The book contains multiple diagrams that show you which plants to use, how to plant them and other necessary instructions. The back of the book contains a long list of plants suitable for container growing. Each item in the list is described in several paragraphs.
Illustrations and graphics show you how plants could be grouped with others for dramatic as well as beautiful effects.
According to Publisher’s Weekly, “…British garden writer Joyce concentrates primarily on floral gardening here, demonstrating how to combine color schemes for shady or sunny exposures and how to use foliage plants as a primary focus.” In this book, he also concentrates on “soil selection and planting methods, the use of liners, hanging baskets, window boxes, pruning and propagation are considered; there are sections on container rock and water gardens.
Perhaps the only disadvantage, I gathered, was that it was too heavy to take outside and too pretty to get smeared in the mud.
Price:
Amazon: Used from $6.99
New from $21.00
Easy Container Gardens By Pamela Crawford
Pamela Crawford, author of six gardening books, is one of the best known container garden experts in the country. She’s featured on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens publications as well as in Southern Living, HGTV Magazine, and over fifty newspapers. Pamela Crawford has a Master’s degree in landscape architecture and has designed over 1500 gardens.
This book is a complete guide to container gardening and includes illustrated illustrations to create gorgeous garden. This book introduces blue ribbon plant combos that you plant in the spring and just add water for the entire growing season. That’s right: no trimming, no fertilizing, and no spraying for up to seven months! Learn the 48 easiest plants and how to arrange them into 70 fabulous container recipes.
Pamela has made container gardening effective and fun in today’s hectic schedule.
Price: Amazon – $13.57
Gardening in Containers: Creative Ideas from America’s Best Gardeners
America’s best gardeners share their secrets for designing beautiful container gardens. Gardening in Containers is filled with clever and inspiring ideas.
Articles from Fine Gardening Magazine, dealing with unique perspectives have been compiled and illustrated in this book. It includes authoritative and insightful articles by Sydney Eddison who published her own book of container gardening recently.
Another feature of the book, shared by
The Editorial Review from
Library Journal, “… it presents Lanza’s system for growing gardens in small spaces and containers using raised beds but no digging, tilling, or weeding. …”
It’s described as a ‘reference book’ for both beginners and experienced gardeners.
Price: Amazon: $12.21
The Practical Guide to Container Gardening By Steve Bradley and Susan Berry
Some valuable points from the Back Cover
The ultimate guide to adding beautiful, imaginative, and colorful container gardens to your yard, deck, patio, porch, sidewalk, windowsills, balcony, or roof terrace.
An invaluable sourcebook of ideas with more than 400 gorgeous color photos that inspire and teach.
Clear, simple, and informative instructions for both first-time and experienced gardeners
Specially commissioned photography by leading garden photographer Andrew Lawson
Comprehensive information on what types of containers work best for what plants; seasonal planting schemes; step-by-step planting techniques; care and maintenance; and selecting the right plants
Complete care guidelines, including feeding and watering, pruning, staking, propagation, and dealing with pests and diseases
A fully illustrated A-Z directory of more than 100 species and varieties of plants, with detailed information on how to grow them.
Price:
Amazon: $13.57
Sources:
Amazon/Borders
Barnes & Noble
