Book Review: Grow a Garden by Becky Searle*

[Ad-gifted] Grow a Garden by Becky Searle is our latest book review!

With the nice weather upon us, it is time for some pruning and tidying in the garden.  I can see people cutting hedges, planting flower beds and jet washing their flagging getting ready to enjoy their garden to make the most of the warmer weather. This time of year when the blossoms are out the winberries/bilberries are about to be ready to pick is one of my favourites and I love trying to keep on top of the garden after the overgrowth of the Spring.

You might be the same as me when it comes to the garden. I am a simple gardener without too much knowledge and I often muddle my way through, but when we were sent this handy new book by Becky Searle, who has written this go-to-guide to gardening, called Grow New Garden – Plan, Design & Transform any Outdoor Space, I was more than happy to find out how an expert could help me along the way.

Find out what I thought of the book in our latest blog review.

What I thought of the book

Published by Chelsea Green Publishing, the book is a great size and would look great on your kitchen book shelf its hard back and would make a perfect gift for a newcomer to gardening.

Becky Searle has a lovely way of writing and some of the introductory paragraphs to the chapters are quite poetic. In the book Searle tries to make gardening less daunting and available to everyone as opposed to knowledgeable gardeners. This means that you can pick this book up as a complete novice and find a way to tackle growing your new garden.

Topic covered vary from starting with looking at the soil and the ecosystems, light in your garden, weeds and looking at what you already have in place and how to work with it. There are also handy sections on planning your space, materials you can use and how to create cuttings from other plants. I particularly liked this section as I would rather get cuttings of local plants for my garden than buy things that aren’t native to my area. Searle also talks about plant types in the book and covers how growing native ones can create a more successful garden.

Although Searle has a nice writing style, the book at times can feel a little chaotic. Although I understand Searles’ approach to her book being for the everyday gardener as opposed to a professional, I found that the photos in the book weren’t always the most inspiring. I get that the point is to show how the ordinary person’s garden is filled with ordinary plants, sometimes a bit of dreamy escapism is nice to see. So, I would have liked a few more complete garden photos and then perhaps how you can achieve it on an ordinary level. That being said, this is still a handy book for the novice, as I previously mentioned, and there are plenty of chapters that answer a lot of queries you might come across if your set to create a new garden in your home.

If you want to check out the book keep see below on where you can buy yours.

Where can I buy Grow New Garden?

You can buy your copy here on Amazon.

How much is Grow New Garden?

The hardback book costs £19.27 while the Kindle Edition can be downloaded for £18.46. Please check the website for the latest price as may does change.

About the book

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chelsea Green Publishing UK
Author : Becky Searle
Number of pages ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1915294401
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 567 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 17.78 x 2.54 x 24.64 cm

About the Author

Becky Searle is ecologist and gardener she prides herself in her ability to create a functioning garden wherever she moves to. And having moved to different homes over the years, she has enjoyed the challenge it brings when creating a new garden. As well as gardening and ecology Searle is a writer and regulary contributes to Kitchen Garden as a features journalist and has also worked with The English Garden, Gardeners World and the Guardian.

About Chelsea Green Publishing

Ian and Margo Baldwin founded Chelsea Green Publishing in rural Chelsea, Vermont in 1984, later moving its offices to White River Junction, Vermont. Over the forty years that followed, Chelsea Green published nearly 1,000 books, receiving numerous awards including the ALA Notable Books List Award, PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, John Burroughs Medal, James Beard Award, Garden Globe Award, and Foreword INDIES Book of the Year, as well as numerous Nautilus Book Awards and awards from the American Horticultural Society. In 2018, the company established Chelsea Green Publishing UK, with its offices in London’s Somerset House, and is now 100% employee owned company, owing its success to its founders Ian and Margo.

Review by: Lex Ward

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