I'll start first with the two books that I read last year but decided to reread them: Lasagna Gardening and All New Square Foot Gardening. I also mention them together b/c I have adopted a hybrid of the two methods for starting my gardening.
1. All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholemew
I have to say this is what started it all for me....this book is great for a begining gardener or an experienced gardener who feels they may not have the time or energy for keeping up with their garden. You can tell he was a engineer. The book is very detailed and very thorough in explaining how to square foot garden (SFG). I use a lot of the concepts in this book when I plan/ design my gardens. He is very black and white though.... no grey in between. (I am a very grey in between person). For example he says you have to either put landscaping fabric or wood board underneath your raised bed to prevent weeds from coming through... I use cardboard... (which is the Lassagna gardening way not to mention I usually have unlimited amounts of cardboard around). He advocates not using a garden hose to water your plants, etc. etc..
The most overwhelming aspect of this book for me was finding the components of soil to fill in your raised beds. The easiest way to do this to go to Home Depot online and order 5-6 bags of this . (I didn't have this luxury when I was starting my first garden). If you are in the Freehold, NJ area Twin Ponds farm is the one place I found vermiculite in a 2 cu foot size bag, Agway in Englishtown has 2-3 different types of compost (Gasko has composted manure for cheaper though). (Everyone has Peat Moss thats the easiest part). For me I bought one bag of compost and used the lassagna gardening method for the rest.
This is the second book he's written on SFG, I did borrow his first book from the library but didn't like it for two reasons... 1) he has made some adjustments and improvements on his method, 2) its really like reading a novel... I felt that the second book was more concise... I just gave up on the first book and read the new version. He is coming out with another book... Square foot gardening answer book... not sure I need it at this point.
2. Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza
This book allowed me to get my SFG started. My issue with SFG was I couldn't bring myself to buy all that compost which was basically decomposed organic matter ... organic matter that I could find around my house. This book was the answer to that however the first time I read this book I was quite annoyed with it. I loved the idea concept of the lasagna garden, but really she didn't explain it terribly well. I actually read the first few chapters then stopped b/c it was all plant profiles. Since then I have learned that her follow up books have explained it much better than the original. I found the Lasagna Gardening with Herbs (which I am still reading) to have the best explanation. Anyway, at the time I was annoyed and frustrated so I hit the internet to read up on composting. Basically Lasagna gardening is sheet composting. I started my first SFG by layering peat moss, grass clippings (word of advice on that: use multiple thin layers or let it dry really well before layering), vermiculite (which was a SFG gardening thing not a lasagna gardening thing) kitchen scraps more peat moss and a bag of compost. I was amazed at how quickly things decomposed... I will say I did turn the layers over to help it along, but I was planting into it within weeks.
Ok so now that I have started my first lasagna garden/SFG I reread the book and it is quickly becoming a favorite of mine (and so I have borrowed her other books). I love the book for all the tidbits and gardening tips she gives, she has been gardening for a long time and really tries to make the most out of what she has. While I can easily go to the internet and post a question on garden web its nice to have all this information at my fingertips under one cover. She has grown ALL sorts of things. She's got a great section on Edible flower gardens and White garden (garden with white flowers). I also like that she is currently living in New York state and so a lot of the recommendations are from a Zone 3/4/5 perspective which means they will definitely do well in my zone (Zone 6). Her other books are:
- Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces by Patricia Lanza While I have a lot of space... I like to keep things compact b/c I like to minimize the temptation for the deer and rabbits. She's got some nice tips in here also good recommendation if you want to stick to container gardening.
- Lassagna Gardening with Herbs I am still reading this book but loving every bit of this. Herbs are very gratifying... its great to cook with fresh herbs, many of the herbs are perennials, and generally deer don't like to eat them. One of my first inspirations in gardening was my Uncle's herb garden in Canada... it was beautiful.
I had some fleeting thoughts about edible landscaping before this book but this book really was a game changer and gave me a new perspective into landscaping my yard.... so if you come to my house and see snap peas growing in the pot on my front step don't be surprised and no those aren't ornamental grasses they are garlic (and hopefully lemongrass).
4. I borrowed two books on composting... I will say there is A LOT of information on the internet on this. But it was nice to have everything in one place. The idiots guide is a simpler read with a real beginners tone. I happened to like some of the "sustainable" living tone of the second book, The Urban/Suburban composter.
- The complete Idiots guide to Composting by ChrisMcLaughlin
- The Urban/Suburban Composter by Mark Cullen and Lorraine Johnson
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