Beginner's Illustrated Guide to Gardening: Techniques to Help You Get Started Paperback – Illustrated, February 13, 2012

Gifted this to a friend who was planning their first garden and was impressed with the quality of information provided on a range of gardening subjects. Lots of helpful full-color photos too.

This guide is completely straightforward and comprehensive without being jargon-y. When I first became a homeowner with a yard, I wanted to begin gardening and had no idea where to start. Every book and website I looked at explained things in terms I could not comprehend. It seemed so complicated to me that I abandoned the idea of ever having a flourishing garden. After reading this book, I feel like gardening is something I can totally do. It explains everything in a completely easy to understand way, and includes step-by-step tips that are easy to follow. It covers everything from trees to flowers to vegetables. The photos are also excellent, and there are a lot of them on every page. This book would be a great choice for anyone who wants to begin gardening, and it would also be a very nice housewarming gift.

This is perfect! This outlines step by step instructions with photos, a plus. Explains each gardening tool, fertilizer, etc. It has the basics on different plants..flowers, veggies, bushes, etc. It doesn't go into depth on these subjects. However this is exactly what I was looking for. I especially like the glossary of gardening terms, and the chart of plants in back. It lists all plants mentioned in the book with crucial information including how much sun is needed, zone, and amount of water needed. It's perfect for adolescents too. I would highly recommend to an absolute beginner. May not be worth it to someone who has basic gardening experience.

I decided I would learn how to garden this year. This book is basically gardening for dummies. It really dumbs down the whole process. It shows pictures with names next to them almost like a word book for children. There is even a small botany lesson in the beginning. Chapters like "How to mow the lawn" and "How to prune roses" may be straight forward and natural for some but these are things I don't really know so I am glad there is a book like this. I recommend this book to people who have no idea what they are doing in the yard!

This book has just the right level of info to get anyone started on their own yard. Sun or shade, wet or dry, voles or moles, this is a great place to start. It has some plant recommendations, but not so many as to make the book overwhelming. The size of the book is not intimidating, either. Next time a new acquaintance says to me, "You studied horticulture? You should come and give me advice on my yard sometime," I think I will just buy them this book instead!-Update-A horrible book to have sitting out where visitors can see it. I've 'lost' four copies from people borrowing it and not returning it. Now I hide my copy!

I have found this book very helpful. The introduction, gardening decoded, and gardening basics section were well-written and very useful. The format of the sections in this book are great. Each section tells you what you need, steps to plant, and tips for success. I also bough the Beginner's Guide to Gardening: Basic Techniques, and I like that book also, but this one is more useful because it gives clear, actionable steps with great illustrations and pictures. I've been planting my beds over the last couple of months, and I'm frequently referencing this book.

Bought as a gift for a new gardener, however I will be ordering another for myself! I like the easy to use layout and "how to" sections for common gardening/yard issues; i.e. bald spots in lawn or improve soil or glossary terms (see book pics) Recommended for any gardener of any level, great resource guide.

My first impression was wow, this is indeed basic, beginners stuff. But I am a beginner, and soon I was finding gem after gem of gardening knowledge that other books just assume you already know.The photos are beautiful, the information is well organized, and the tone is cheerful.I would certainly recommend this to any new gardener, and I imagine old hands might appreciate parts of it, too.