The City Gardener [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

You get a lot of information for your money in this latest T.V. gardener's book, but it's not a dry read by any means. Usually, gardening books have the same old tired format, giving out information re-gurgitated from other books, and you can sense the writer just wants to pile on the facts. How many people actually READ what these books say? Or do they lie around on coffee tables? This book is a little different. It's not patronising, nor does it throw facts at you as if you're supposed to know them already. And it's geared at young people who don't know where to start. Yeah, yeah, I know Titchmarsh has it all (no disrespect, Sir) but to have a younger gardener showing you how to tackle your scrubby bit of back-yard is great, because Matt James relates to us, and he knows how our generation think. Okay, so maybe we aren't all dedicated gardeners, like a lot of older people, but we can still want a decent back-yard. Matt breezes along, dishing out the kind of info. that makes sense. He makes you feel good even if you have got a bald patch for a back garden - and not humiliated, because, as he says, there's something that can be done with ANY space. (Even mine.) That's really good news, because most gardening books talk about larger gardens or ones that have a host of fantastic features or plants in them already. I think this book will give a lot of hope to people who don't have much money, and have what they think is the worst site in the world. Gardening isn't for the privileged, it should be for all of us, and this book made me feel okay about myself and my gardening (or lack of it!) Hey, Matt - you're the nearest thing to a city garden therapist! The book is easy to read, and you want to read it, it's chatty as well as being informative. I particularly like Matt's rather rebellious advice to 'throw away the rulebook'. Really, it's your garden and you can do what you like with it! I know everyone who has a T.V. series comes up with a book , and the ones I've seen (Charlie Dimmock's to name one) are very thin on the ground with information as if the writer was just cashing in on their series. This book is chokka with advice and pictures, and you really feel you're getting your money's worth. Most of Matt's ideas are easy to carry out and don't cost a fortune. He goes into things like where your drains run (I've never seen that in other gardening books!) And he also actually names the problems we city gardeners have, like pollution and eyesores, and noise and how to deal with them. I liked the fact that he deals with the kind of spaces we actually have, some of them pretty grotty, and not typical T.V. or magazine gardens which make me feel I might as well give up before I start. If there's one thing I took away from this book, it's the feeling that we can be proud to be city gardeners and we don't all need rose walks and fabulous views. The book's got tons of energy and passion (he's a tree lover!) and I like the way he's quite outspoken about a lot of things; the plants he hates and why (he thinks leylandi should be banned) and the way garden design has got more OTT in the last few years. I get the feeling he and Dairmud Gavin would not have too much in common! A great book for any gardener who wants to hear a new voice, but particularly helpful to those of us who want to make more of our small city gardens.

One of the best garden books on the market at the moment, gives really useful advice on how to make the best use of small urban spaces, something not enough of us are doing!
Thoroughly recommended.

At last a Tv gardening book that speaks to the keen but new to gardening, without the £20,000 needed to emulate the likes of Diarmuid Gavin et al. A real enthusiast for plants - this isn't the book of the TV gardens, but a practical guide of what to do when and where
More please!