Books for the armchair gardener

GARDENING:Engaging reads, instruction manuals, historic tomes . . . gardening books for everyone, writes JANE POWERS

THERE HAS BEEN a good crop of gardening books this year. In recent weeks I've mentioned Hugh Johnson's Trees(Mitchell Beazley, £30) and Rick Darke's new version of William Robinson's The Wild Garden(Timber Press, £20). These are keepers, and won't be leaving my gardening library any time soon. There is quite a pile of other books that I've been enjoying too; I'll try to squeeze in as many as possible here.

First of all, the more discursive books: the ones that draw you in with fine writing and good stories, and that ask you to settle down with them in front of the fire, or to linger in bed for an extra hour or two in the morning. One of the most compelling is Richard Mabey's Weeds: How Vagabond Plants Gatecrashed Civilisation and Changed the Way We Think About Nature(Profile Books, £15.99). In this delightful and quietly funny read, Mabey considers all the myriad ways that unloved plants have impacted on humanity over the centuries. Many, such as Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed (both championed by William Robinson, incidentally), were once desirable garden plants. Others invaded through more devious ways: in feedstuffs, as packing material, or on travellers' clothing.

Japanese knotweed, according to Roy Vickery in Garlands, Conkers and Mother-Die: British and Irish Plant-Lore(Continuum, £18.99), was known as "donkey rhubarb" in Cornwall, where it was eaten in lean times. In Wales it was used by children to make peashooters. Vickery's book is filled with historical facts and folklore about plants that predict events, that cast spells, that have tales to tell. Amy Stewart's little book, Wicked Plants(Timber Press, £9.99) is colourfully subtitled The A-Z of Plants that Kill, Maim, Intoxicate and Otherwise Offend. Herein is much ghoulish information: the worst allergens, the most explosive seed pods, the nastiest rash-makers, the most perilous chillies, and many other fatal or noxious items. It is illustrated with gorgeously macabre etchings by Briony Morrow-Cribbs, and illustrations by Jonathon Rosen.

Anna Pavord, author of The Tulip, gives us The Curious Gardener: A Year in the Garden(Bloomsbury, £20). It is divided into 12 monthly sections, with each featuring several conversational offerings and a list of timely tasks. It is her most personal book to date, and varies in tone from gently contemplative to righteously cantankerous. In the latter mode she laments eyesores such as excess signage in her village and crushed grass mulch – both of which strike a tetchy chord with me too.

Anna Pavord is one of the hundred-plus contributors to Dear Christo: Memories of Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter(Timber Press, £18.99), a compilation of recollections and anecdotes about the great gardener, who died nearly five years ago. This is a benign and affectionate book, painting a composite picture of a much-missed gardener, writer, gourmet and mischief-maker, who was generous to a fault (except when it came to providing night-time lighting in the hallway).

Another gardener with a devoted following is the Northern Irish writer and broadcaster John Cushnie, who died in 2009. His Hedge Man(Constable, £14.99) is a collection of some of his finer pieces from the Daily Telegraph's excellent gardening supplement. His writing is witty, but always practical, and includes advice on matters from path- and pond-building to choosing plants to climb up trees or to grow on balconies. He was a proud hater of vegetables, though, so the only edibles in these pages are a few fruits.

Fruits are the only thing covered in Alan Buckingham's well-organised Grow Fruit(Dorling Kindersley, £16.99). This manual covers all the common fruits that you would expect, and also gives good advice on tender and exotic crops such as citrus, melon, kiwi and cape gooseberries. There are even short sections on true exotics such as bananas, pineapples and mangos.

For the budding pomologist, there is The Apple Bookby botanical artist, Rosie Sanders (Frances Lincoln in association with the RHS, £25). Originally published in 1988, as The English Apple, it depicts in delicious watercolours and precise line drawings 144 varieties of apple. It is one of the most beautiful garden-related books I've seen this year.

Finally, for garden visitors and armchair travellers, the same publishing house, Frances Lincoln, has several offerings. Rory Stuart's Gardens of the World: The Great Traditions(£30) rambles around the globe with an eye firmly set on different cultures and ages of garden design. Helena Atlee offers The Gardens of Japan and Italy's Private Gardens(£16.99 and £35), for which her husband Alex Ramsay has taken the photographs, while Gerald Luckhurst has both written and provided the photographs for The Gardens of Madeira(£30).