The all-in-one garden Grow vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers in the same space

Can you fit a vegetable plot, orchard, cutting garden, herbs, and ornamental shrubs all into one multipurpose space? British master gardener and prolific author Rice (The Ultimate Book of Small Gardens) says you can. This colorful book presents Rice's expert advice on combining food and ornamental plants, excelling in helpful chapters both on designing for particular garden sites and on planting edible and flowering plants for each season. In particular, Rice highlights vegetable, fruit, and herb varieties that can be grown for their beauty as well as their produce and ornamentals that make excellent companions to edible plants. Unfortunately, the closing chapters on planting, maintenance, and other practical matters are lackluster-they provide far less information than beginning gardeners need and yet have little of value for experienced gardeners new to the notion of all-in-one gardening. Despite this shortcoming, the book provides an excellent guide to an important area of gardening and is a necessary purchase for public libraries.-Emily-Jane Dawson, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.