‘Decoding Gardening Advice’

Gardeners' at all levels are bombarded with advice from a variety of sources.

Sorting out the 'do's' and 'don'ts', calculating whether our best friend's advice about mulching is really helpful or having the confidence to trust the 'old gardener's tales' from the potting shed, is all part and parcel of everyday gardening.

If you sometimes feel bewildered by all the advice and want to sort out fact from fiction, 'Decoding Gardening Advice' by Jeff Gillman and Meleah Maynard, may be the answer. This is a good-humoured book that offers the definitive gardening do’s and don’ts and the reasons why, backed up with horticultural and botanical science.

Each chapter is divided into 'Good advice', 'Advice that's debatable' and 'Advice that's just wrong', and these three columns are summarised at the beginning of the chapter so you can see at a glance what is covered. The book covers the science behind 100 most common recommendations across a wide variety of garden situations including soil, use of water, mulching, lawn care and fruit and vegetables.

Some points may seem little more than common sense – such as deadheading – however, the authors’ explain not only why we do it and the benefits but also the consequences of not deadheading and the various methods of doing so. Each piece of advice is therefore explained as to the practice itself and then goes into what will happen if you follow the advice, how to do it and finally the bottom-line opinion or recommendation. The bottom line is given under the heading of 'the real dirt' which neatly ties up each section.

The text is straightforward, uses the correct Latin terms as well as the more common forms and is printed in a handy size.

Jeff Gillman is an associate professor in the Department of Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota and Meleah Maynard is a journalist, editor and master gardener. They make the point that nothing is set in a tablet of stone with regard to gardening advice, however, they have tried to offer the best information they can, based on current science, research and their own experience.

'Decoding Gardening Advice – The Science behind the 100 most common recommendations' by Jeff Gillman and Meleah Maynard is published by Timber Press, £9.99 (UK) and $16.95 US.