Big Ideas for Northwest Small Gardens

Rating:
Summary: Useful
Review: This book delivers what the title promises. The writer, a Master Gardener based in Seattle, sets out to help her readers to "find space where you think there is none and help you decide what to do with it".

The book has seven chapters. The first is a general introduction to the topic, looking at issues such as soil, watering, air quality and gardening on a slope (this was really useful for me). The other six each look at one area of the garden, such as the side garden, the front garden, and balconies. At the back of the book there are lists of trees, shrubs, perennials etc that should do well in most small Northwest gardens. The book is nicely illustrated with photographs by Jacqueline Koch.

I had the feeling that the writer has truly experienced the pleasures and problems of a small garden in the Pacific Northwest. She is knowledgeable, articulate and enthusiastic about the topic, giving fairly comprehensive information in a limited space. She doesn't shy away from awkward topics such as what to do about gaps in hedges.

This is a good, honest, value-for-money book for the Northwest gardener.