The Container Gardener's Bible: A Step-by-Step Guide to Growing in All Kinds of Containers, Conditions, and Locations

by Joanna Harrison, Miranda Smith

Gardeners love container plantings for the wonderful flexibility they provide. Without much effort, informal and formal container plantings can make a modern and stylish statement in every setting—shady backyards, sunny patios, exposed roof terraces, and as accents in beds and borders.
Almost all plants grow easily in pots, and can accent a huge garden or nestle into a tiny space. Container gardens also offer the opportunity to bring fragile plants indoors to protect them from the winter freeze—as well as to start fresh again each season, allowing for continuous creativity and season-by-season décor.
The Container Gardener's Bible by Joanna Harrison and Miranda Smith covers every step in the container gardening experience, from choosing and placing containers, combining plants for drama and beauty, and maintaining and caring for container plants to attracting birds, bees, butterflies, and wildlife. It also includes a comprehensive directory of flowers, shrubs, trees, bulbs, fruit, vegetables, and herbs best suited to container gardens, categorized by color, foliage, season, habit, and planting schedules. This guide is also full of "Go Green" sidebars with eco tips and techniques, as well as a bonus feature on containers to combat noise, atmospheric, and visual pollution.
Beautifully packaged with more than 500 stunning photographs and design ideas, The Container Gardener's Bible is an endless source of inspiration for beginning and experienced gardeners alike.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2009

Reviews

[Arla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive guide for all kinds of container gardening. I borrowed this from the library and plan to purchase a copy for myself. All zones and plant types are included including those that attract pollinators, as well as edible varieties as well. Living in a place with no yard does not preclude having a garden.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got from a little free library and learned a couple of things, but it's mostly fluff and meant to be a coffee table book rather than an actual guide. Passed along to another little free library. 😁

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book I read, called The Container Gardener's Bible, lived up to it's name. Although the section on specific plants was not as good as the previous books, with pictures for maybe half the plants, the introduction was superb. The book started with a few pages on the history of container gardening and moved into some awesome, general advice for planting in a variety of situations. In part because of the history section, this was the first book I read where I felt like I was in the middle of a book while I was reading it. The first two immersed me so little that it was hard for me to sit back down and get into them, but not so with this book. And the general advice on creating arrangements was exactly what I had so hoped for from the previous book. Both the previous books talked about different styles of gardening (contemporary, rustic, formal, informal) but didn't give any advice on how to achieve those looks. This book gave great advice, with suggestions for general plant and pot shapes, as well as specific plant suggestions. The same thing was then done for specific locations (balconies, roofs, walls, entryways, etc) and for specific types of gardens (herb, vegetable, aromatic, fruit). The instructions for caring for plants were also exceptional, including a nice time line for caring for a garden throughout the year. Although the earlier books were better for initial plant selection, this is the only book I read that absolutely plan on buying to use as a reference during the actual process of planting and caring for my garden.

Read more reviews of my reviews of gardening books here.

[Sara Q · Rating 3 out of 5]

An emphasis on style and aesthetics, but with plenty of helpful tips about planting flowers and vegetables, as well as trees, in containers. A good overview of many different gardening concerns without getting into too much detail - excellent for a beginner like me. I found the tips about growing fruit trees and herb trees like bay most helpful. I would want a bit more reference material if I were to own this one.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

You'll find lush pictures, many helpful tips and great gardening advice when you read this book. I learned about some new varieties of plants to try out, and am inspired to try out some different set-ups. Overall, there's a lot of useful information.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers all the basics and more.

Enhanced with beautiful color photographs.

An inspiring book that persuades me that I should do more with containers.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok. I did find a few potentially helpful tips. Pretty pictures. A lot of busy-ness on the pages, magazine-like.