THE THRIFTY GARDENER

How to create a stylish garden for next to nothing

by ALYS FOWLER

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New softcover book. 192 pages, published 2015.

Gardening is something you do, not something you buy. You don't have to spend money to have a great garden. Slow gardening, like slow food, is about taking the time to savour. It's the process, not a sudden transformation, that matters. When you build a little, dig a bit, plant a little, harvest often and more importantly don't try to do it all at once, nature will work with you. For this is gardening that won't cost the earth.

Forget makeover culture, forget the garden centre and all your gardening preconceptions, this is a witty, wise and practical take on to how to create a garden that suits you. The Thrifty Gardener is about creating the garden of your dreams, regardless of resources or limited space.

It will eliminate the intimidation factor and reveal the ins-and-outs of soil, seeds, sowing and growing. It distills the gardening process into a series of bite-sized sections for green-fingered DIY-ers who are short of space and/or money. It also demystifies gardening and gives clear and simple instructions.

At the heart of this book is a DIY ethic that says you don't always have to buy what you need,you can make it, take it or swap it with friends. From making window boxes out of wine cases to creating your own stylish compost bin, from bulking up perennials to finding plants for free, this book is packed with offbeat projects for a new generation of gardeners.

Aimed at beginngers, it covers planning, planting and pruning using organic and affordable methods. With its quirky projects and thrifty ethic it reaches beyond the usual gardening tips - if you would rather be found hunting through a skip than shopping in a garden centre, this is the book for you!

Contents include

• From the ground up
• No-garden gardening
• How does your garden grow?
• Sowing, growing and protecting
• Pruning and propagating
• Defending your bounty
• The harvest
• Under the radar
• The Directory

The Thrifty Gardener is a UK publication

About the author

Alys Fowler trained at the Royal Horticultural Society, the New York Botanical Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She was a presenter for BBC’s Gardeners’ World and had her own BBC TV series The Edible Garden. Alys is a regular presenter on the BBC and she writes regularly for the Guardian, Gardens Illustrated, Grow Your Own as well as other publications and blogs for BBC Gardening

The Thrifty Gardener by Alys Fowler