Inspiring books for a novice

[LaurenCuthbertsonStanAccount]

Ie me.

Can anyone recommend a good book about the mindset of gardening that might be good for a beginner. I really want to learn and to have a lovely garden but I’m stuck in a rut of thinking about myself as completely incapable. (Doesn’t need to be deliberately written for novices, just not something that requires a lot of knowledge to enjoy.) I am lucky to have a big garden but no confidence.

I have lots of “how to” books so don’t need practical guidance, it’s more the spirit of the thing I’m struggling with. I also have lots of beautiful books of photos but at the moment they’re just depressing me because my own poor efforts have ended up so differently.

Thank you.

I would say any of Beth Chatto's books.

Garden: a year at home farm by Dan Pearson is also really nice.

I had a lovely book on naturalistic gardening, but can't for the life of me remember the name or who it was by.

I've enjoyed Gardening Through The Year by Ian Spence - it's an RHS book with lots of ideas of things to try each month, even in winter

I really enjoyed a couple of foraging books that I borrowed from the library. Unfortunately I don't remember their names! One was more hedgerow-oriented, but lots of hedgerow plants grow in gardens, too. The other was about using your garden plants for medicinal purposes as well as for food. They were about the enjoyment and appreciation of plants, rather than about how to grow them.

I often dip into the RHS What Plant Where book for inspiration and to help me think about my garden. A similar book is Plants For Problem Places.

Thank you all- I shall have a look at these.

I enjoyed The Well Tempered Garden by Christopher Lloyd (of Great Dixter fame), and My Garden World by Monty Don. Neither of these are practical 'how to' books but more reflective looks at interacting with your garden, they might be the sort of thing you're looking for

I bought 'brilliant and wild' by Lucy Bellamy after reading a suggestion on here. It's about how to grow a garden from scratch in a year and I found it very empowering in my own garden. As a novice it gave me the confidence to go for it and I really did end up with a beautiful garden (albeit very small!) in a year.

Oh. I was pretty much going to say the opposite!

I think the 'mindset of gardening' is the same as the 'mindset of childrearing'. It's not a quick sprint; it's a long and never-ending project.

lots of beautiful books of photos but at the moment they’re just depressing me because my own poor efforts have ended up so differently.
They take photos of the perfect moment, in a garden probably run by trained professionals. You are trying to compare yourself to a supermodel after she has been in hair-and-make-up for four hours!
Good gardening is not about being a plantsperson, it's about design. Get the bones right - make a plan, install permanent features (hard landscaping and perennial plants) - and only then think about the annuals.
I know that you said you wanted a book but can I offer a video instead.

Yeah TBF I was just planting one bed of perennials not designing a whole garden but it did look beautiful! I had no idea about things like planting combinations before reading ...

All info is good info.

Definitely recommend Gardening in your pyjamas by Helen Yenn, great to read and loads of advice too

I was just about to recommend Gardening in your pyjamas - it really is a lovely read. Always look for second hand gardening books - you can often get them super cheap, Amazon currently have that one for £3.20.

If you are after a book that will just encourage you to have a go, then I would recommend this quite short book. It’s written by a lady who had a hugely successful career as a garden writer, but didn’t begin to garden until her middle years. Her writing is very amusing, particularly when she writes about her husband who knows how things SHOULD BE DONE. Her garden was a big one - and still exists, although she passed away many years ago.