A Way to Garden

I don't have a green thumb, but my library has a garden so I was thrilled to get a look at this book. First, I love the pictures of all of the animal visitors in the garden, they were great. I liked the background information that the author provided as a way to connect with her and the rest of the book. I feel that I have learned a few things to do throughout the year with the branch garden, but will purchase this book upon release for more in-depth reading and comprehending.

Gardening makes me happy! Margaret Roach increases that happiness! What an amazing collection of wisdom for those who love all types of gardening. And, she even sprinkles humor through the pages. Goodness knows a gardener definitely needs that! Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

A way to garden is a great book on gardening. I like how it is segmented along the year passing by, explaining what can/is done at each step of the garden depending on the time of the year. There is a lot of information about plants and a garden, which will be really interesting for gardeners.

The best recommendation of this book is that it seems like the author is talking to you. It is not a book filled with technical terms, many do’s and don’ts or just telling you what you must do. She talks of her first experience in gardening, how she planned and was honest about her impatience to just see everything there! It covers everything, from buying the seeds to mulching. An excellent book whether you are a beginner to gardening or have experience. I love the photographs!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A lovely, well written book that is part memoir and also a fact filled reference book. It's organized by seasons, and is quite readable. The author describes her garden in Hudson Valley. I am not the primary gardener in our household, but we shared this and both learned and gathered references. Her dedication to organic and sustainable use of land is laudable. A pleasure to read. We'll be using her ideas, references and philosophy in our garden.

It's like a conversation with your neighbor. Gardening info shared willingly with no expectations. Basic, down to earth info, non-technical, not difficult, just basic info. I need to move next door to Ms Roach.

A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach is a revised edition of the earlier work from 1998. This book includes updated resources and web addresses.

I love, love, love this book. I read it in a few days and just basked in the author's beautiful use of language and glorious accompanying photographs. The book is written in bi-monthly chunks that gardeners can use to plan, guide, or just enjoy. I would recommend reading it in sections rather than in a day or two as there is so much wonderful advice to implement throughout the year.

Although the author's garden is expansive and located in the northeast, I am able to apply much of her wisdom in my PNW postage stamp garden. I would give this book 10 stars out of 5. It is a must have.

I received this eARC from #netgalley and #timberpress for an unbiased review.

An excellent resource for gardeners. Jam packed with information for every level of experience. Easy to read and digest, the author makes if feel as if she's in the garden talking with you. One of the best gardening books that I have read. It will remain in my library for years and years to reference!

A wonderful gardening book for beginners and experts alike, full of wit and wisdom. If you’re a listener to the “A Way to Garden” podcast, you’ll hear Margaret’s voice and her inherent love of gardening and nature as you read. The book balances reflections on gardening with practical advice, advice given in short subsections that will have readers dipping in and out of topics as needed. But also a book that can be read from start to finish with great pleasure. I particularly appreciate that the author’s garden is not far from my own, and has many of the same challenges I have. However this is definitely not a zone specific book. Recommended for any gardening collection, personal or library. Thanks to netgalley for the advance copy. Looking forward to buying a paper copy soon.

I've been a reader and listener of Margaret's blog and podcast for these last 10 years or so and it was a joy to read her updated 'A Way to Garden'. While many of the plants and planting times specified within are tailored for the northern garden and not applicable to me, I found many things within that I could ooh and ahh over and gain inspiration. This book is part of her 'woo' mixed in with lots of how-to and packed full of information that those in northern climates can really grab hold of and learn from.

A must have for any gardener's book collection!

I really enjoyed this updated version of Margaret Roach’s gardening book. The photos are wonderful and she has such an engaging way of presenting her gardening information. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach shares insider tips from beginning to end. Her experience is vast. Everyone will benefit from her words of gardening wisdom fine tuned by many growing seasons. Gardeners’ will make this book a top shelf title for their resource libraries. The scales are tipped toward flowers, trees, shrubs, and grasses. The section on viburnums and hydrangeas are especially helpful. Essential vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes get their due, but it’s the work Roach does with creating floral mosaics that will have you picking this book up again and again.
She emphasizes the importance of extending the season by planting early blooming varieties and well as choices for the waning summer. “Early, middle, late” is the mantra she encourages gardeners to adopt for success. Year round interest is another point in her plant selection strategy. Roach is a true plant collector and speaks about what fun it is to finally secure a sought after variety to showcase in your garden.
All her links and suggested resources are right up to date adding to the educational appeal of this book.
She addresses the most common mistakes gardeners make and offers remedies. One is the tendency to settle just a single plant in the bed, instead of creating a mass effect with three, six or nine of the same type. Her words on mulch are informative and you may never mulch the same way again. She addresses how to evaluate a plant when you’re not sure if it will thrive in your growing zone. Roach says, “Try these varieties in two different locations around your property. If it’s not successful in either one, then just pot it up in a container and treat it as an annual.”
A Way to Garden is not just a how-to book. Roach is a true naturalist and shares many personal observations and reflections. I copied several phrases on index cards to reflect on later. I love that she calls seed catalogs our textbooks in a horticulture correspondence course. I received an ARC of this book from Workman Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.


Having read many gardening books, I just assumed this would be another ‘recipe’ book of how-to-garden. It was not! The author’s experiences and ideas were interesting and entertaining. Her writing style was conversational, like talking with a gardening friend. The photos were excellent and added much to the book. It definitely deserves a shelf in my garden library. This book is one to be pulled out for reading when you can’t get into the garden on a snowy or rainy day.

A Way to Garden: A Primer for Gardening Life is an updated re-release of a gardening classic from 1998. Published 30th April 2019 by Timber Press, it's 336 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

The author is a former corporate writer and has a very very intelligent and personable voice. Her style and observations and general philosophy remind me a lot of Sue Hubbell who was another one of my favorite gardening writers. There is a prodigious amount of information here to digest and incorporate, but I never found it overwhelming. She blends the how-to (how deep to plant a tulip bulb, how to store garlic after harvesting, how and why to exploit biomass in the garden) with an understanding of the underlying principles of why (she herself refers to instinctual knowing as "woo woo").

This book is much less of a tutorial guide than (again this word) philosophy of gardening. It could be the Tao of gardening (though that's apparently marketed somewhere else). The sections are arranged in bimonthly time periods which the author relates to a human lifetime: conception, birth, youth, adulthood, senescence, and death and afterlife. Her writing style is conversational and encouraging but also very erudite and reality based. She is a gifted wordsmith. She specifically states throughout that the gardening topics she writes about aren't THE way to garden, but A way of gardening.

The photography is spectacular and really lifts this book into a special class. It's so well done that I intend to buy a physical copy of the hardcover book just to have it on hand as a coffee table art book.

Beautifully written and spectacularly photographed, this is a really worthwhile book.

Five stars.

Outstanding garden photos!
Thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for the opportunity to read and review A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach!
This book lives up to its subtitle- a hands-on primer for every season! Contents are broken into six bi-monthly sections that walk us through the life of plants and the growing seasons, from birth to death. The author invites readers into her garden and home, to see how much nature truly is in every aspect of her life. Beautiful photographs, accompanied by names of included plants, inspire! This book covers everything from browsing seed and plant catalogs, to different types of plants, to growing, canning and freezing and finally using the harvested goodies. Then onto benefits of trees, prevention and maintaining gardens. The enjoyment of seeing the author’s garden changing through the seasons is my favorite part. 5 stars for lush photos and valuable gardening tips!

I almost didn't review this book, because I thought it might be just another garden expert's ramblings. But, I'm glad I took the plunge, because it was one of the most enjoyable garden books I've read this year. Margaret Roach has organized the sections of the book by time of year. But, rather than just telling you what you should be doing that month, she has chosen several topics that are relevant for that time and expounded on each. For example, in the March/April section, I found valuable advice on spring maintenance of my water garden, as well as a simple way to remember how to prune different types of clematis. In July/August, I found great suggestions for living mulches, as well as some suggested tall perennials for the garden and advice for starting a fall vegetable garden. Each of these little vignettes is easy to read and gives just the right amount of detail without being tedious. This is the sort of book that you'll want to buy and read in sections throughout the year. It doesn't preach any sort of theme, yet subtly touches on many of the common topics today, such as sustainability and gardening for wildlife. This book has something for both the beginning gardener and the expert. Speaking as the latter, I'm going to go out and buy it!

Really enjoyed getting to read this book. Such a beautiful book full of information that will allow your heart to grow as your garden does.
Just loved it.
Thanks net galley for this copy.

What an amazing book! I loved the style of writing, the humour and how she talks about gardening.
It's one of the best book I read about gardening and I'm happy I got this ARC because it was a great discovery.
The pictures are gorgeous and made crave to be able to enter them.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
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This is such a wonderful book for garden lovers. It's broken down into 6 seasons of two month periods, with lots of text and photos all about what gardeners are doing that time of year, the author's thoughts on garden topics, favorite plants, tips, etc. There are helpful charts of oodles of garden related topics (how long veggie seeds last for all different types from 4 different seed companies, seed starting guides, you name it) and photos of the author's gardens all through the year. The photos have a more old fashioned feel to them, as opposed to the modern Instagram trend of tweaking colors in garden books and cookbooks so that everything is a little over-saturated and glowy. There's lots of Roach's long wandering thoughts, which can make for nice reading on a Sunday afternoon or could just annoy someone who wants just the facts and be quick about it. I love that Roach updated this book after years in print to reflect modern garden issues from fewer garden companies to GM seeds to climate change, and also that she talks about how she has changed as a gardener in these years. A great book for those who really love their gardens, whether they are new or old at it.

I read a digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

A very helpful book for the avid gardener. This book has beautiful photos throughout along with really good advise. I especially like the references and sources section at the end of the book. This section also includes a list of website for further reading on many of the topics covered in the book.

"A Way to Garden" is a primer for newbie gardeners and a much appreciated refresher for seasoned gardeners. Being in the garden is the closest you can get to real time reality shows that matter.

This is a great guide if you’re new to gardening. It outlines all kinds of information that is helpful for planting and caring for your plants. Highly recommend!


*Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me this ebook.

A great book to promote as the interest in gardening is at a high this year (2020), coupled with existing trends in do-it-yourself and local produce production..

What an enjoyable book to read. It can also be a reference book for good gardening. Lots of interesting stories about plantings, and growing tips abound.

I loved this book. This book is a beautiful book to look through but it also offers practical and helpful information for any gardener, even armchair gardeners. The writing is easy to understand and the photographs are amazing. Enjoy

Great illustrations and easy to follow instructions makes "A Way to Garden" one of my favorite books this season.

I absolutely adore this book.

I loved this book. It is well written and easy to understand. The pictures are delightful.. There are even some of animals that come to visit visit. I learned so many tips and much gardening information. I highly recommend it!