BOOKreviews

The Modern Gardener: A practical Guide to Gardening Creatively, Productively, and Sustainably Author: Frances Tophill Publisher: Octopus Publishing List Price: $26.99 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3jKHOd3 and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9780857839435 Reviewer: Hojung Ryu The Modern Gardener is a British book that offers progressive ways to prepare and cultivate your garden. It introduces readers to new concepts in the gardening world through environmentalfriendly ways. The author Frances Tophill guides the readers through the recipes for modern gardeners to be smart and efficient with reducing water and chemical use, while keeping the pests away and attracting beneficial wildlife to their gardens. In Chapter 1, Tophill discusses wildlife and eco-friendly gardening. Factors that should be considered, such as breeding and feeding sites, are explained in detail for planting in wild areas. Types of plants that are appropriate for the environments are introduced as well. Steps to achieve ecofriendly gardening are carefully listed and explained to guide even beginners through. In Chapter 2, Tophill provides tips on garden designs, landscapes, and methods to maintain plants successfully. This is not as simple as you may think it is, because the weather and climate play a big role in plant health and fertility. Plenty of images and pictures are included for the readers to visualize the gardens they want. An introduction to houseplants follows in Chapter 3 and provides a comparison of “domestic” plants to outdoor plants. The amount of shade and sun the plants receive indoors is vital to domestic plants. Tophill provides different methods to care for these plants are provided for the readers. Chapter 4 is all about growing, eating, and preserving plants from the gardens, with ways to successfully grow plants both individually and together. Recipes that can be used from a variety of garden crops are provided as well. A lot of delicious information is densely packed into this chapter. Chapter 5 covers how to propagate plants, from sowing in soil to cutting, dividing, and layering the plants. The methods provided by Tophill are ecofriendly and organic, so the plants and the environment can thrive together. Chapter 6 focuses primarily on flowers. Because flowers are appealing in terms of visual effect and scent, the way to handle them and arrange them matters significantly in the gardens. Tophill touches on various aspects to cultivate a beautiful, healthy garden with flowers. The following chapter broadens the scope and focuses on apothecary gardens filled with various herbs and flowers. Tophill presents different ways to grow these plants and use parts of the plants in creating vegan, organic products. The two final chapters explore using plants beyond traditional ways. Tophill shows fun, creative ways to use plants in dyes, fabric, and drinks, with plenty of images. The Modern Gardener is a visual book with contemporary and ecological knowledge to guide beginner to intermediate gardeners. Tophill walks readers through a progressive world of gardening in creative, productive, and sustainable ways. o

Hojung Ryu is a junior journalism and criminal justice double major at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She is an intern this semester with Washington Gardener and is from Mahwah, NJ. Four-Season Food Gardening: How to Grow Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs Year-round Author: Misilla dela Llana Publisher: Cool Springs Press List Price: $26.99 Order Links: https://amzn.to/37tmu9g and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9780760372739 Reviewer: Dorvall Bedford Growing your own food can seem like a daunting task. Not only do you have to give your plants ample sunlight and water, but you also have to protect them from pests, provide nutritious soil, and grow them in the right season. Even though it can seem like a lot to handle for a beginner, Misilla dela Llana provides a resource to help people start their own food gardens. Her book, Four-Season Food Gardening, is about how and what to grow in a garden year-round. The book is split into two halves. The first section covers all the important and basic steps for food gardening, including how to set up your garden, improve your soil, and create microclimates for your plants. The second section is dedicated to the four seasons. In those chapters, dela Llana discusses what to grow during each season and what challenges to be prepared for. At the end of the book are several profiles of dela Llana’s favorite crops. This book goes into great detail about how to start a food garden and is accessible to someone who has no experience. Whenever the book mentions anything like a tool or a specific plant, it always follows up with a quick step-by-step guide about how to use

the tool or grow the plant. For example, the book illustrates how soaker hoses are great for smaller gardens on level ground and guides the reader through setting up a soaker hose a few pages later. The second section of the book, about different seasons, will be immensely helpful to someone who wants to know how to keep growing food all year long. There are abundant tips about how to sow, harvest, and protect your crops. You will feel prepared to start growing your food after reading dela Llana’s guide. The book feels like comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about food gardening. I think dela Llana did a great job of making her book informative and easy to understand. There is a lot to learn from reading it, and this is the perfect time of the year to pick up this book before you start gardening. o

Dorvall Bedford is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. He is a native of Frederick, MD.

The Regenerative Garden: 80 Practical Projects for Creating a SelfSustaining Garden Ecosystem Author: Stephanie Rose Publisher: Cool Springs Press List Price: $24.99 Order Link: https://amzn.to/37WfUYJ and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9780760371688 Reviewer: Andrea F. Siegel Regenerative gardening isn’t a way of gardening that you hear much about. It promotes improving the soil organically. Overall, the idea is to build an ecosystem that is self-sustaining, productive, and environmentally beneficial. Maybe this is too lofty a goal. Maybe it isn’t. Or isn’t the goal. In her latest book, The Regenerative Garden: 80 Practical Projects for Creating a Self-Sustaining Garden Ecosystem, Stephanie Rose, an organic gardener, herbalist, and more in Vancouver, Canada, has written a howto for such garden projects. Each project has a good-better-best plan; a reminder that you can’t do everything at once, but every improvement counts. A trellis can be fashioned from bamboo stakes; a better one envi The projects seem geared toward backyards. Rose advises readers to do more research to discern which projects would be appropriate soil-wise and climate-wise as they choose what works for them, their yards, and the amount of labor and skill required. She tells her audience to take the concepts presented and adjust them, so gardeners who prefer native plants will have to do research for the ones that are right for them. I hope a second edition of this book (if there is one) includes more projects aimed at apartment and high-rise condo balconies, which often face only one direction and often are space-, wind-, and water-challenged. Back to the goal. One of Rose’s key points is that the goal is progress—that using any of the concepts toward regenerative gardening that she presents is positive. o

ronmentally would be made from found materials, and even better would be to reuse it until it’s fit only to be recycled. Many tips use materials such as fallen branches and garden waste, or involve companion planting, or provide any of a number of ways of retaining moisture. Many projects can be done inexpensively and make attractive additions or changes to a yard. In six chapters, all illustrated effectively, Rose explains soil improvement, garden planning, planting in harmony with your environment, waste reduction, and creating a welcoming home for birds and bugs. She includes ways to engage children and the community. A lot of the information and projects are especially useful for beginning gardeners; anyone thinking of replacing a slice of lawn with a lush, ecologically beneficial project; and people seeking sustainable practices. Notable within the chapters are charts of items, and what and how they help. It’s not that the information is new, but it’s compiled so gardeners don’t have to spend time poking around online to figure it all out for themselves. Take green manures (aka, cover crops), for example. A few minutes with the chart can tell a gardener which popular cover crops mature fast, how cold-hardy they are, and their main benefits to soil—as well as potential problems. Many projects are quick and easy: Creating a greenhouse using a clear umbrella is one, and it’s a great project for a child.

Andrea Siegel is a master gardener in Maryland.

The Rooted Life: Cultivating Health and Wholeness Through Growing Your Own Food Author: Justin Rhodes Publisher: Worthy Books List Price: $28.00 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3EjATkx and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781546012597 Reviewer: Hojung Ryu In The Rooted Life, author Justin Rhodes talks about self-growing and harvesting food. The abundant pictures, double-spaced paragraphs, and detailed information make the book beginner-friendly and easy to follow. Rhodes is a permaculture expert and popular YouTube Homesteader based on a 75-acre family farm near Asheville, NC. The book discusses why the Rhodes family decided to reinvent their whole way of life by growing and harvesting food themselves: It’s financially efficient, sustainable to the environment, and very healthy, with the added ben-

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efit of growing and eating whatever you want. As a father, Rhodes wanted his family to be conscious of how food is grown, where food comes from, and what we consume. He writes that this was the initial motivator that got him into this lifestyle. The beginning chapters talk about gardening greens, from gradually expanding the size of the crop garden to using beneficial organisms such as worms to help your garden flourish. Spaces for journal entries are available in between pages so readers can make their own notes and record the progress as their gardens develop. The middle chapters focus on livestock, especially chickens. Rhodes talks about the many benefits of raising chickens, including harvesting fresh eggs and meat, and gardening with chickens—a form of permaculture that helps make a connection between various elements in the environment, which is beneficial to both the chickens and gardening. Permaculture promotes efficiency, health, and productivity in gardening. The last few chapters emphasize the rewards and joy of self-growing and harvesting on an individual and family level. Recipes are provided that are easy to follow and can make the best use of the food you can grow. As Rhodes says, “start growing, continue growing, deal with failure, and enjoy the ride!” o

Hojung Ryu is a junior journalism and criminal justice double major at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She is an intern this semester with Washington Gardener and is from Mahwah, NJ.

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Figgy and Fiona Search for a Home Author: Holly H. Shimizu Publisher: Bethesda Communications Group, www.bcgpub.com List Price: $21.00 Order Links: https://amzn.to/3JOvBi9 and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781735772943 Reviewer: Kathy Jentz This charming children’s book is by Holly Shimizu, who served as executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden and was the first curator of The National Herb Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum. She has worked and traveled in many countries. She lives with her Japanese husband, Osamu, who is a garden designer. She gardens in Glen Echo, MD, where this true story took place. The young frogs in this book set out in search of a suitable home. In their adventures, they encounter dangerous predators and promising home gardens that turn out to use chemicals that would poison and kill them. The frights are real, but entertaining. (Spoiler alert: They persevere and find a happy home in the end.) Shimizu also did the dreamy illustrations. The artwork lends a natural feeling to the frogs’ story.

Figgy and Fiona Search for a Home is the perfect gift for the young naturalist or budding gardener in your life. o

Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener.