Category Archives: Garden book reviews

Grow It Cook It

Grow It Cook It, by Sally Cameron, photography by Charlie Smith (Penguin, ISBN 978 0 14 301096 8)

There is no doubt that the author is keen on her home garden and her background is as a food writer and stylist both in the UK and now back in New Zealand. But this enthusiasm is not a sure-fire guarantee of success. Trying to cover all bases and be all things to all people (there are also sections entitled Cook’s Notes and Child’s Play) was perhaps a little ambitious.

There are listings for 30 different fruits, vegetables and herbs in a somewhat random selection. Each chapter starts with a page or so of information on how to grow the subject but this cultural information is patchy. Growing lemongrass was fine but the entry on feijoas was not. And if one is going to advocate eating geranium flowers, I think there needs to be a discussion on the difference between geraniums and pelagoniums. The author’s gardening experience seems to be primarily based in Auckland suburbia and while this may be adequate for dispensing some simple advice, really she is trying to punch above her weight in the area of gardening.

Ms Cameron is far more comfortable with the recipes and cooking side of things. There are 355 recipes so the book is more than generous. The food is a jaunt through the flavours of the world but at a user-friendly family kitchen level. Rosemary Shortbread, Broad Bean and Lemon Risotto, Fresh Orange Terrine – all tasty and reasonably simple. I would wish for more consistency in the use of measures by volume – the recipes lean to listing ingredients by weight even for such items as sultanas or flour when a cup measure is much easier to use and overall the measuring techniques are inconsistent. But the greatest flaw in this book is that the recipes are grouped in chapters determined by the vegetable, herb or fruit tree that is the starting point, even though it may be a minor ingredient only. So there is no logical sequence to the recipes, although it does at least have a decent index.

Overall, it is better on the food than on the gardening and you can find more comprehensive and user friendly gardening information from many other, more experienced sources. It has a nice enough presentation without getting too excited about it, soft cover and opens flat.

The Elements of Organic Gardening

Author: HRH The Prince of Wales with Stephanie Donaldson
Publisher: Orion distributed in NZ by Hachette Livre
ISBN 978 0 297 84498 3

No, HRH did not actually write this book and my review copy was not, alas, signed by him but he is a very keen gardener and has been committed to organic and sustainable gardening practices for many years, enduring quite a bit of ridicule before it became fashionable. This is a book for gardeners, not for fans of the royals (though the latter may enjoy it too). What sets this book apart from other organic tomes is that it is not solely dedicated to the production of healthy food. Indeed, while chapter 2 is on growing fruit and veg, much of the rest of the book is dedicated to good land management avoiding the use of chemicals with particular reference to maintaining a very high standard in ornamental gardens.

The Prince has three gardens – at Highgrove, Clarence House and Birkhall and he takes a hands on approach to managing all of them. Naturally he is backed up by very capable gardening staff but these gardens are his projects. The book is full of handy hints on gardening and quite a bit of very precise information. Some practices clearly require a generous royal budget (the water recycling process at Highgrove is reasonably complex) but many of the other tips and hints are within the reach of all gardeners. There is even a chapter on how to start converting to organic gardening practices. It is good to see a book which demystifies organics, avoids the hocus pocus fringe element often associated with it and which promotes practical solutions in sustainably managing high quality ornamental gardens on a large scale. Well done, Prince Charles.

One Magic Square

Author: Lolo Houbein
Publisher: (Wakefield Press)
ISBN 978 1 86254 764 3 (pbk)

The whole principle of this book is that you can grow your own food on one square metre of garden. “My goodness,” said a friend. “If your garden is only one square metre, you could take it on holiday with you.”

If you are only going to have a garden which measures one metre by one metre, it is a bit of a moot point as to whether you need a book which runs to about 350 pages to tell you how to do it. Yes there are planting diagrams. There is the soup plot. There is the Aztec Plot (that is the one with a marigold in the centre). Then there is the plan for the pasta/pizza plot. How about the curry plot? Maybe you fancy the stir fry plot or the anti-oxidant plot.

If you have the gardening skills to work to this level, odds on you will want to expand beyond one square metre. There is quite a bit of additional information (but nothing that I have not seen before in other how-to guides) and it is written by a woman who is clearly enthusiastic about her topic and has a love of home grown vegetables. But honestly, I need a lot of convincing that it is possible to achieve self sufficiency and stave off famine on a mere square metre of vegetable garden. This book may appeal more to eccentrics rather than the target audience of novices.

The Faber Book of Gardens

ed: Philip Robinson
Faber, RRP$59.99
ISBN 0 571 22420 2

As readers of our regular In the Garden column will know, Mark and I have a penchant for quirky little garden books which are anthologies of quotes and hints. Sadly this Faber book is not quirky, is not little and despite sitting on the coffee table for weeks on end, it failed entirely to capture our interest. It is, however, an anthology of quotes and poems arranged by time periods from Eden to AD400 in chapter one through to modern times. But it is generally dry and worthy stuff, more reminiscent of a text book with hardly a heading and no illustrations at all. Many of the quotes are quite lengthy. Some of them are quite interesting so if you don’t your mind your reading unleavened, you may quite enjoy this book to browse. But it is not a reference book, it is unlikely to inspire, has little in the way of quirkiness and is more likely to sit forever in our bookcase, failing to excite any further interest.

The Artful Gardener

Rose Thodey and Gil Hanly
Godwit, RRP $59.99
ISBN 978 187631 425 5

The front cover of this book claims that it contains inspirational landscape ideas and by golly it is a fair claim. This is a genuinely inspiring book which lifts garden decoration and ornamentation just so far above the naff, the twee and the cheap and nasty that it is in a completely different league. Gardens are about more than just collections of plants and equally they are about more than good design. They are also about creating different spaces and adding a stamp of originality, delight and sometimes humour or quirkiness. The authors have gathered ideas and top quality images from here in New Zealand and around the world. Yes some are a bit staged (I do not see myself laying a Persian rug in an outdoor seating area), some are rather OTT and not to my personal taste and some are simply too expensive for our budget, but there are so many ideas that there are styles to suit everybody. There are chapters on entranceways, walls, paving, sculpture, water features and more.

Gil Hanly is our foremost garden photographer in this country and Rose Thodey is an Auckland based garden writer and editor. They have worked together to bring this somewhat lavish book (288 pages and over 450 colour photographs) put together in a coherent sequence.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book, especially for thinking gardeners who are refining their own styles and tastes. Those of us who err on the under-stated and modest side when it comes to garden ornamentation and features can find much of interest. Those who lean more to the lavish or flamboyant will equally find inspiration. With our tradition of open gardens in Taranaki (we have done it on a larger scale over a longer time period than any other area in the country), we have many gardeners who are constantly looking and thinking about ways to improve their garden presentation and create their own stamp of individuality. This is a good book to have and easily the best New Zealand book we have seen in this category.