RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening

What an amazing reference book for either a novice or experienced gardener. It’s absolutely jam packed with lots of really helpful information. It was a used copy but in mint condition so a real bargain for the price!

I know absolutely nothing about gardening but have recently started planting various plants in pots on my balcony. So investing in this book might seem a bit of an "overkill" to learn about a few plants but I didn't know what else to buy and I wanted something that had everything in one place. I read all of the existing reviews and thought that if I didn't like it or didn't use it, then I could give it away as a present. The fact that it has sections on gardening in containers and on several of my favourite flowers (lilies, sweet peas - the easy things!) was very important.And I'm absolutely delighted with it. First of all, it is a beautiful tome which is printed on thick glossy paper and has hundreds of wonderful colour pictures and diagrams. It includes information that helps beginners like me - such as a glossary with basic gardening and plant terms that I just didn't understand - and all of the written content is well laid out in sections that make it easy to follow. I've spent a lot of time reading through sections on things such as growing fruit and vegetables and now have some very healthy looking raspberry plants which I would never have grown before! And there is a further section on indoor gardening which is great for those like me with limited outdoor space.I appreciate that a lot of the information in this book might be regarded as "general gardening knowledge" to gardening experts. However for those who want to find all of the information they need in one place as well as somewhere to learn a lot more, this book comes highly recommended. And as and when I live in a house with a garden again, I'll be able to grow many of the larger plants and plan my garden with the advice given in the book!The only problem now is that having read some information about the various plants covered in this book, I now want to know more about the individual plants themselves and the various varieties so next year, I'm planning to invest in the RHS Encyclopedia of Plants to go alongside this one.

This is a unique books in some ways as it's the only modern gardening book of recent times bringing together sensible, accurate , and logical practical "how-to" gardening techniques in one most-comprehensive volume assisted by excellent RHS-commissioned drawings to provide total clarity and to heed without cause to doubt. This book's content and value simply isn't "available on the 'net" ! An absolute must , and more important than enormous quantities of endless plant variety descriptions filling our many design-based advisory books. The only other classic complimentary book to this would be a kind-of fore-runner to it : the 'Reader's Digest Encyclopedia of Gardening'

Have been looking at my garden for a long time and wishing I knew how to even start with it. This book starts off with a whole section on planning your garden, and how best to go about it. After that there are detailed drawings, photos and paragraphs on how to look after individual plants, from planting them to pruning them, and also a list of some more popular varieties of certain plants which have their attributes listed. They have sections on how to deal with broader categories such as 'fruit trees' and others, and even have information on how to put together raised beds, water gardens, etc. As a beginner, this book will guide me well for a very long time I would imagine!

This is such a comprehensive text that it will be in regular use. Its great to have so much information in one easily accessible volume. When I have used it for longer I suspect the rating will increase to a five star category.The only dissatisfaction relates to its delivery...the first order arrived in a completely wrecked box which had clearly been dropped and squashed en route form Amazon and was left on the doorstep. The book was so damaged that it had to be returned. The second order took a long time because the delivery driver could not be bothered to come in and ring the door bell on a wet day so left a note with a phone number in the bushes outside the gate! When the driver eventually came back nearly a week later the box was again broken and severely damaged. The book itself s less damaged than before and we have kept it anyway as we could not go through the same frustration a third time. We urge Amazon to package books as heavy as this one more securely. It was not even wrapped in the box (and to change delivery companies!?)But we love the book!

Excellent book , my go to read for everything in the garden from plants , flowers , vegetables, fruits , lawns , fencing etc etc . A must have for any gardener .

I knew this was going to be a first rate reference work and was delighted to buy at this low price. Speed of delivery was an added bonus.

At 750 pages, RHS Encyclopedia of Gardening is a real heavyweight - but it puts its bulk to good use by being thoroughly comprehensive.Gardeners of all levels will find something useful here, with sections covering everything from garden design and fruit tree grafting to water and container growing, cacti and succulents.There's plenty of full colour photographs throughout to illustrate, and if you want to grow your own there's plenty of detail in the chapters on herb, fruit and vegetable gardens.The book rounds off with chapters on propagation, pests and diseases and weeds, followed by basic botany. If you're looking for a garden reference book, this is definitely one to consider.