Raised-Bed Gardening for Beginners

by Tammy Wylie

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners is a new tutorial gardening guide by Tammy Wylie. Released 25th June 2019 by Rockport, it's 168 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

Gardening is enjoying a well deserved surge in popularity. It provides so many positive health benefits including stress reduction, exercise, meaningful stewardship of natural resources and healthy food & beauty for the gardener and their family and friends. This is a good introduction to raised bed gardening, its benefits and limitations. The book has an easy to use, logical layout starting with an introductory chapter which makes a compelling case for using raised beds for growing; less weeding, higher yields, healthier plants, better drainage, etc.

The next chapters cover planning and siting a garden, building raised beds, soil, planting, growing & harvesting, and ends with an alphabetical list of plant profiles.

Worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is included in the KU subscription to download and read for free.The ebook format also has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. The links and references are mostly slanted toward readers in the USA. A google search will provide equivalent resources in the reader's local geographical area.

There is scant photography or illustration in the book and the photos which are included are mostly stock photos (credited). The hardiness map which was included in the resource section is very vague and only covers the US. Gardeners in search of this info would do well to check their local extension agency for more specific information. USDA hardiness zone maps are really only needed in the case of perennials, and more general info for expected high temps and annual rainfall for use with annual crops is widely available locally.

I am a fanatical gardening enthusiast and I love this book's 'you can do it' vibe. Gardening is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and provides so many benefits.

Four stars. There is some good info here for all gardeners, not only beginners.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.