This book is super basic. It is divided into three main sections. The first section gives foundational garden advice (e.g., you should prune your trees! you should compost!) without giving much guidance on how to accomplish any of it.

The second section gives twelve “garden recipes.” In other words, it offers twelve different landscape designs that are very space-specific. So, for example, there’s a front walkway design, a hot and sunny garden design for a rectangular space along a picket fence, and a deer-resistant garden design in the middle of a sprawling front yard. I like that each design gives helpful info like what plants to plant, when to plant them, when they will bloom, directions for planting, and a (very helpful) planting map. I was able to learn a bit about planning a garden in general, but, still, the designs are very site-specific.

The third section gives twenty-five examples of container designs. I was excited for this section the most, because I’m trying to learn how to make visually beautiful container arrangements. But I found the examples in this section to be boring and mostly uninspiring. I did like the Fourth of July container (petunias, fountain grass, and gerber daisies) and the Midsummer Color container (dahlias, petunias, and sweet potato vines). But most of the designs looked off to me, like the proportions and color combinations weren’t quite right.

I’m sorry to say that this book was not a favorite of mine. Too basic, yet too specific at the same time. And it doesn’t have much helpful information for either the beginning or seasoned gardener.

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Thank you Timber Press and Net Galley for the Advanced Reader Copy!