I am new to gardening. Can you recommend books for beginners?

After being on the waiting list for 2 years, we received a plot at the Spring Gardens! Are there any books you could recommend for beginners in urban gardening here in Philadelphia?

Answer

Since you are in a community garden, I assume you will be growing mostly vegetables. The best  book for beginning vegetable gardening  I know of is Crockett’s Victory Garden by James Crockett. (There’s a copy in PHS’s library).

For non-veggies, I would recommend one of Liz Ball’s books – for example,  The Philadelphia Garden Book. Her Month by Month Gardening in Pennsylvania also covers vegetables, as well as shrubs, trees and flowers.

Our Library at 20th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia,  has many books for you to review. We are open to the public  9:30 to 5 weekdays and the friendly library staff will recommend more books and other resources to you.

The links below include the McLean library online catalog as well as links to library resource guides on growing food, on community gardening, a very good resource guide on basic horticulture and our resource guide called the Philadelphia Gardening Guide. Use this guide to learn where to buy plants, what to grow, how to connect with other gardeners and where to learn more.

  • Last Updated Jan 08, 2019
  • Views 130
  • Answered By Janet Evans

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