Publisher: Harper Collins, $39.95

There are reasons why Yates Garden Guide is still being updated and is into its 112th year (since 1895, in fact) boasting over one million sales.

It remains one of the most comprehensive gardening books for New Zealand conditions and sits alongside the Edmonds Cookbook as a basic resource for bookshelves in most homes. We have several editions of it sitting around our house and Mark still refers to it on occasion as a technical reference. So it will meet the needs of the beginner gardener right through to the very experienced. It is not so much a glossy motivational book, though it is constantly adapting to new directions in gardening with new sections on organic gardening and permaculture as well as container gardening.

It is a practical guide. The modern editions are somewhat more upmarket than the early version we have, with boxed garden hints by celebs and experts and colour photos which makes for interesting browsing.

If you are only going to have one garden reference book, this is probably the best one to have. It is not necessary to buy each new edition, but if you are still using a version which was printed in the middle of last century, you might like to suggest that Santa could bring you the update. And gardening parents could make sure that their adult children have a copy on their bookshelves too. You won’t go wrong with a Yates Garden Guide.

Author: Sue Linn
Publisher: Random House, $44.95

While this book was first released two years ago, Random House are still dispersing review copies which should mean that this New Zealand publication is still readily available.

The author is an experienced gardener and writer (New Zealand Women’s Weekly in case you are wondering why her name is familiar) based, I think, in Auckland. It is a solid 250 pages of information with many photos and competently written but its range is encyclopaedic – from garden design to hedges, making compost, choosing good plants, recommended cultivars, different garden styles, growing plants in containers and a whole lot more. Inevitably the information given is going to be pretty superficial in many areas and the plant recommendations eclectic, even random.

In a reasonably crowded corner of the book market, this is a nice enough option to give to somebody who is starting to find their way into hands on gardening. It should motivate the learner and give them sound, practical information to get them started, no matter in which direction their interests lie. It is not a book for more advanced gardeners.

Author: Lynda Hallinan

Although this book is being promoted by the publisher as a recent release, it came out in late 2004. Its full title is New Zealand Garden in Style. Get the Look You Want. The author has an ever growing profile in gardening in this country. Her career as a presenter on TV was brief and pretty lightweight (Ground Rules – you may not even remember it) but she has gone from strength to strength as the editor of New Zealand Gardener and the garden editor for House and Garden. What sets her apart is her delight in plants (she also has a pretty good knowledge), her engaging enthusiasm and her relative youthfulness.

While the format of the book is contrived – how to achieve the look, from romantic to contemporary to formal gardens (there are nine options in all) and the 10 essential plants for each style, the plant selection is not as predictable as it sounds and there is good advice underpinning it all, along with the author’s bubbly delight in gardening.

It is a book for those who are looking to design and manage their own town sections. With lots of lovely photographs by Julian Matthews, a big typeface and well organised information, it is a good example of a motivational book for novices and a great deal more likely to encourage involvement than a dry old tome.

Author: Andrew Steens

Lawrie Metcalf has updated his book which was first released in 1995.

The fact that the earlier edition ran to two reprints is an indicator of demand for this type of reference. And a technical reference book it is, on how to reproduce native plants. It is remarkably user friendly and will take the complete novice who knows nothing about propagation through to competence while also providing a useful reference for those who start with more skills.

The propagation techniques are explained clearly and in simple, logical fashion and are applicable well beyond native plants. The first 76 pages are transferable information covering raising plants from seed, cuttings, layering, budding and grafting. The next 70 odd pages give specific detail on the methods of reproducing over 200 different native plant varieties.

This book does not pretend to be anything except a technically accurate, really useful reference book. If you buy this book, then you are already converted and don’t need to be convinced of the merits of natives so there is no preaching or wowing the reader. For a book that is likely to have a long lifespan, Random House could have been more generous with a heavier duty cover. My copy is already curling badly. I can see that in a bookcase where other, glossier, fashion garden books will be culled over the years to come, this one will live on although probably tattered and worn.

Authors: Isabel Gabites and Rob Lucas

Publisher: Random House, $39.95

Subtitled “Design Themes from Wild New Zealand”, this is a revised and updated edition of the 1988 publication when it was pretty cutting edge philosophy.

It is well anchored in a passion for our environment and for our native flora but not so well anchored in a passion for traditional domestic gardening. The gardens photographed do tend to look as if they belong to DOC workers or environmentalists and the underlying philosophy is one of ecology and celebrating our indigenous landscape and flora.

This is not so much a book for the beginner who is wondering how to start a garden. It is a book that you will enjoy more if you are already a convert to the cause and if you envisage your own small plot of land as a microcosm of the wider environment.

Technically very sound and remarkably comprehensive, it concentrates on plant varieties which are available in the market. It is lavishly illustrated with many close-up photographs but also some stunning images of native plants in the wild. This book is a celebration of all that is special about our natural world in New Zealand but also a useful reference for translating it into our home patch.