Book recommendation please for novice who now has a large mature garden.

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Sorry if this has been done before but we have just moved. Previously we had a tiny back yard and now we have a 100ft garden. Great! But I'm a little daunted how to look after it. Realistically, as working mum of two small DC, I have very little time so I need a book which will just help me with basic maintenance. Any recommendations gratefully received. It has a lawn, lots of trees, plants and mature flower beds so do not need to add anymore, if anything we need to take out so kids have space to play/kick a football. Thanks

I have two RHS books which are only small and designed to take out into the garden with you. One is Pruning Plant by Plant which has pictures which are half photo and half diagram so you can see what you need to do. The other is Plants for Places which is good for choosing what to put where, but also for identifying things if you are not sure what they are. They were about a fiver each from Amazon.

Oh forgot to say - try to leave it a year before you do anything major so you see what is in the garden and how it does, what the light is like and so on.

Also there is an RHS book called I think Gardening Month by Month (my ancient version is Gardening Through the Year) which is brilliant as it tells you exactly what you should be doing and when and how.

I am in the same position and the last fee months have been a huge learning curve. So much info to take on board. What has helped me is gardeners world magazine every month, a few books written as a month by month guide, and copious books from the library on more specific gardening info such as pruning, or shrub care etc.

I am amazed at how absorbed I've become in it after previous zero interest.

RHS website is also a brilliant source of info.

Thank you very much for your replies. Exactly what I needed to know.

Bowler, I'm impressed by your home working. We moved in Jan and it has been a delight watching the garden come to life and the different flowers come and go. So the advice to wait and see is very sound. Thanks

This is an app recommendation- Garden Mentor (Android, maybe Iphone). You put in all your plants and it gives you each month's care tips so you can prune etc at the right time. It saves me as I have a complicated garden, have just pruned my wisteria following the instructions.

Raising steam that app looks really good . Now I need an app where you take a picture of the plant and it tells me what it is!

I 'd second the suggestion of the RHS website - www.rhs.org.uk - which has tips on what to do month by month and lots of other useful information.

It's not an app, exactly, but if you post pics of your mystery plants here, the MN gardening aficionados will usually be able to identify them!

I might well do that although my be embarrassed by my lack of knowledge

Don't be! We were all novice gardeners once and, besides, the MN plantaholics gardeners enjoy a little challenge!

A book is nice to have, and I still have a thirty year old Readers Digest 'Gardening Year', which goes through the year month by month, with jobs to do, plus articles on major topics. But I don't know if such a book is still available.

But virtually EVERYTHING that can be found in a book can be found on-line, and may be more up-to-date. There are also SPECIALIST sites for pretty well everything you can think of, and you can possibly get replies to your questions via a Forum. (Though, in my experience, most Forums are messy and badly laid out compared to MN!)

Ferguson I've just found it on amazon-do you think it is worth buying? Is it relevant to gardening today, or do you think modern books are more worthwhile?

Sorry - only just come back on after couple of days!

Is it second hand and the original version? Or might it have been re-issued?

It is comprehensive and easy to use, and guides you what to do week by week almost. There may well be similar things from other publishers, but I still refer to it occasionally after 30 years! So to have everything in one convenient book, I would think it is a good place to start.

Just ordered it! (The 1997 version). It was only a few £'s-bargain. Looking forward to browsing through. Thanks, Ferguson.

Percy Thrower does a very good (out of print) month by month garden book. Dr Hessayon's small book on roses is still a classic and very useful.

Its nice to have a 'proper' gardeners book to read: Monty Don's 'the Ivington diaries', Vita Sackville West's 'illustrated garden book' Penelope Hobhouse 'garden style' Piet Oudolph 'planting a new perspective' Derek Fell 'the impressionists garden' and at least one book by Roy Strong. Sarah Raven is bringing out a new 'Cutting garden journal' which looks nice and useful.

the RHS 'grow your own' book looks good for veg, and James Wong's 'homegrown revolution' is a garden classic.

the RHS also do a 5 year garden diary which looks nice for you to complete for your own garden.

There are various books on plant hunting and a couple of good books on medicinal plants and herbs which are useful but I havent found the ideal ones yet

I agree with what everyone has put upthread, and do post on MN with mystery plants: it's fun (trying to) identifying them.

I recommend keeping a diary - I keep mine on my iPad now as I kept mislaying the paper version. It's interesting looking back and seeing what was flowering and when, and the weather, and also helps me to keep an eye on what succeeded and what didn't. In a few cases I've been able to use it to work out what a particular plant is, as the label had gone missing. I also make notes like 'need more daffodils' or 'move X' for the following year.

Just a suggestion, if you have a plant knowledgable relative or friend, get them to do a walkabout of your garden and identify your plants and trees for you. I did this for my mum when she moved and I made a little plan for her. She could then know what to look up if she had a query about plant specific care.