Whether you’re a beginner gardener or a seasoned horticulturist, there’s something for everyone in an array of Christmas gift gardening books.
You may want to learn from familiar names like Monty Don and Carol Klein, or go for less well-known but equally knowledgeable professionals, whether you want to learn how to garden on a budget, grow fruit and vegetables or just admire some glorious gardens for inspiration.
Here are just some of the gardening books you may want to gift or put on your own Christmas wish list.
1. The Money-Saving Garden Year by Anya Lautenbach (DK, £16.99)
Budget-conscious gardeners may want to peruse the tips offered by thrifty Anya Lautenbach (@anya_thegarden_fairy) in her second book, a month-by-month guide to creating a great garden which costs less. With everything from planning, to what you can sow in which month, how and when to propagate and working in harmony with nature, she also finds time to suggest different mindful moments each month.
2. Green Christmas by Jen Chillingsworth (Quadrille, £18.99)
This may be one to buy before the big day as it places an eye on sustainability, whether you’re a crafter making your own decorations or someone who is wanting to change their habits, ditch the plastic and bring festive joy in a more natural way. She offers suggestions on decking the halls with windfall branches and dried oranges, using naturally scented herbs to add fragrance to rooms and dried flowers for winter displays. It’s a book that will make you question every glittery plastic bauble you ever hung on the tree.
3. Spanish Gardens by Monty Don & Derry Moore (BBC Books, £39.99)
This coffee table tome, based on the Gardeners’ World presenter’s new BBC travel series, takes readers on an inspirational tour of Spain’s gardens and green spaces. The book is divided into three sections covering roughly the north, middle and south, exploring everything from hidden allotments to a garden designed for, and by, dogs, to the more famous Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazar in Seville.
4. Insects by members of the Royal Entomological Society (DK, £25)
With emphasis on the importance of pollinators in our gardens and keeping the balance of nature intact, this hugely informative book steps into the fascinating world of more than 300 insect species. It’s easy to dip in and out at Christmas, whether you want to know which insects are in the home, where they are likely to be and why, how they survive in really cold or hot environments, and to identify predators and parasitoids.
5. The Big Book Of Houseplants by Emma Sibley (Quadrille, £18.99)
The resurgence in houseplant popularity isn’t just a fad – it’s here to stay, says the houseplant expert author who brings us a wealth of ideas in this ultimate guide for plants for the home. It’s easy to understand, as she guides readers through the basics, from choosing a plant to placement, potting, propagation and troubleshooting. There’s also a comprehensive plant directory which offers growing tips, advice on light and watering requirements and other useful information on how to keep plants going.
6. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Canongate, £18.99)
While not strictly gardening, nature lovers will delight in this account by Dalton, a political adviser who came across a newly born abandoned leveret while walking in the countryside of her native North East. While she had no experience of hares, she decided to try to save it and chronicles her journey of rearing it and preparing it to return to the wild. The pair develop a great bond of trust and Dalton discovers much more about patience, attentiveness to nature and human interference in it.
7. A Year In Bloom: Flowering Bulbs For Every Season by Lucy Bellamy, photographs by Jason Ingram (Phaidon, £29.95)
Bulbs always herald great optimism of the New Year, as snowdrops emerge at the beginning of the year, followed by a myriad seasonal showstoppers including daffodils and tulips, right up to the last crocus of autumn. The award-winning garden writer showcases a selection of more than 150 bulbs, each presented with informative text and expert planting advice in four seasonal chapters, as well as guiding gardeners on bulbs suitable for borders, containers and for planting in grass.
8. Hortobiography by Carol Klein (Ebury Press, £22)
The Manchester-born self-taught gardener, TV presenter, writer and plantswoman charts the many challenges she has faced in more than 40 years of gardening, much of which has been from her home in Glebe Cottage in a windswept part of Exmoor, Devon. In this entertaining memoir she writes about her life with plants, from her beginnings as the daughter of a TV salesman who had no affinity to the natural world, to becoming an art teacher for 13 years before taking up gardening with a passion which led to a business and TV career.
9. RHS Horti Curious by Ann Treneman (Mitchell Beazley, £19.99)
This is definitely one to test each other’s gardening knowledge after Christmas dinner, or just to spout random horticultural miscellany at your guests. You’ll be able to define xeriscaping, explain how to make a seed bomb and offer advice on why should you avoid the gympie-gympie tree, as well as declare which type of tulip was once as expensive as a house. Great fun for the festive season if you want to learn some fascinating facts about amazing plants.
