The One-Hour Garden

by Joanna Smith

Highlighted by more than two hundred color photographs and illustrations, this practical gardening handbook explains how to create an attractive garden to suit any taste in less than one hour per week, offering a host of planting tips, a directory of low and no-maintenance plants and trees, a monthly chart of essential gardening tasks, and other helpful advice. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening

160 pages, Hardcover

First published February 24, 2003

Reviews

[Kristine Sprunger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want a Garden. That you would see at a Great Estate, that has oodles of staff to prune, edge, mow, etc. But I'm one person, who works full time.
I *loooove* this book. It lays out in a straightforward manner the time it would take to maintain a (as an example) a path. what sort of path, cement, gravel, sand, stepping stones ... and it inspires me to plan that Garden that I want, with the knowledge that I will be selecting the landscaping components with my needs in mind. I don't have to wonder, "Is this thing invasive? Will it take over my life, strangle any free time I ever hoped to have to enjoy the garden?"

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas. Best read for inspiration and brainstorming purposes.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some easy gardening tips.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful in pointing out ways to cut down on unnecessary yard work. It gave me lots of ideas on how to landscape while reminding me to consider how much time and energy any new feature will cost me. Something everyone should keep in mind before they work on that beautiful retaining wall (that will require constant edging) or that lovely rock garden (that is a weed magnet). She also asks you to focus on how you plan to use your yard/garden. Don't copy your neighbor's explosion of flower beds if you barely step foot outside.

I wasn't a fan of the organization of the book, as the chapters have vague, all-inclusive titles like "Plan It," and "Create It." But there is an index, so it wasn't a big issue. The book is also clearly written for English readers, so there aren't handy U.S. Hardiness Zone guides for the plants. I'd recommend a second book or some Internet research to find low-maintenance plants for your region. This is a nice starter book for those of us who love beautiful gardens but also have busy lives.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for something to the tune of $3 on Borders clearance and while it's undoubtedly not even close to a great gardening book for actual gardeners, the basic premise of it was inspiring and practical enough for me (i.e. no gardening experience whatsoever and no time to really learn now) to get out in my backyard and make it a nicer place for boys to play. My biggest complaint would be that it sometimes neglected to include plants named in captions for the beautiful pictures in the list at the back so you could research them for your own uses. I ended up pairing this with another clearance encyclopedia of perennials and shrubs, as well as internet research, to re-landscape our backyard.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised I liked this book. Anyone who promises me a one hour garden is to be met with a healthy skepticism, but I liked how the book broke down which types of tasks and gardening are most time consuming as well as strategies for creating a garden - or portion of your garden which will be low-maintenance. The book encouraged its readers to think about the main reason they want gardens in the first place and gave suggestions of different garden styles for each motivation. An attractive book, full of color photos. The pictures are not as helpful as they could be, but they do make reading fun!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

some really great ideas for cutting down on labor-intensive gardening; not so much for the southwest specific; still valuable for easy to implement ideas

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was thinking veggie garden, even though they had pictures of flowers on the cover. I did learn some helpful hints to help me in my landscaping endeavors.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for people that love gardening. Also not for those who do not want gravel throughout their outdoor areas as it seems most of these plans featured an abundance of rocky groundcovers.