Gardening books on the Small-side

I buy gardening books and "grow your own" books fairly often, maybe a dozen or so a year, but the cost of new books isn't cheap. More frequently I take books out from the library - to gather ideas or decide if it's worth the buy. My latest finds are certainly worth the purchase!

Small Space Garden Ideas by Philippa Pearson

A book chalk-full of colourful full page pictures, illustrations and ideas. There's a good mix of projects and they're all achievable both financially and for the time-limited individual. Definitely one of the best small space gardening books I've come across, but is also wonderful for the gardener with less space because you've already filled your yard. It also introduces you to some out of the box ideas in terms of plant material - like a carnivorous plant bog garden. Not edible, but a very unique touch to a garden, certainly a conversation starter. In terms of edible ideas, there are plenty and of course all of which are adaptable. I give this book 5 heirloom tomatoes out of 5 heirloom tomatoes. You need this book - novice or veteran.

Gardening in miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World by Janit Calvo

Miniature gardening seems to be the next big gardening fad - although in some sense, small zen gardens and bonsai have been around for centuries and fairy gardens date back to the 1600's. Out of all the mini gardening books out there, this one is a star. It doesn't concentrate on the whimsical fairy world of nymphs and acorn bowls - but rather the scaled down sophisticated realm of gardening we all desire in our gardens at a regular size. 

 The author, Janit Calvo (pictured below) is an actual miniaturist, a blend of the visual artist, sculptor and landscape architect. She creates these amazing scaled down mini gardens both down in the garden and in containers. With the hobby expanding - this book is definitely the best out there. I even noticed the other day that Michael's Craft store is selling miniature garden items. Her use of containers and scenarios within the gardens are superbly creative and ingenious - she's got a great eye. She even has a mini farm scape with miniature tomatoes and sprouts, with to-scale Schleich chickens and a tiny coop - definitely on my to do list for next spring - a great place to grow the micro-tom tomatoes again.

Adorable and look at that flagstone!

These books are available on Amazon - a great gift for that gardener or yourself (the personal collection - you know).  I hope to be building a small garden space myself again soon. Keep those hands in the dirt - except when handling your new books!