RHS How to Grow Practically Everything

RHS How to Grow Practically Everything
By Zia Allaway and Lia Leendertz
Dorling Kindersley, £19.99.
FT Bookshop price: £15.99.

If Dorling Kindersley’s Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening is the Larousse Gastronomique of gardening books – a must-have doorstop for any serious student of the art – then RHS How to Grow Practically Everything is the equivalent of 101 Suppers for all Occasions. More than that, in fact: over 200 projects are described in this highly appealing recipe book for gardeners, ranging from the basic (“Sow a bowl of salad”) to the anything but (“Make a bubble fountain” – “First ask a qualified electrician to install an electricity supply and an outdoor socket ...”). But all are clearly and concisely described, without resort to jargon, as are such gardening basics as composting and pruning. Copious photographs and crisp page design – typical of DK books – add to the sense of ease and clarity.

Occasionally, Zia Allaway and Lia Leendertz let their eagerness to enthuse get the better of them. There are moments of gush (“Glamorous and chic, contemporary containers transform a terrace into a catwalk for stylish plants ...”) and sometimes useful details are omitted, presumably to avoid overwhelming the reader. We’re told, for example, how to grow potatoes but not which varieties to plant. But these are quibbles: this is a handsome, inspiring volume, with ideas to pique any gardener’s interest.