There’s absolutely no need to rush off to the nursery every weekend to buy new plants. Instead, sow seeds, take cuttings from your own or friends’ gardens, or divide existing clumps. Propagation is made really easy with this latest step-by-step book in The Home Gardener series. The Herb Gardens book is equally useful. It’s one of the most rewarding types of gardens (there’s nothing better than picking and eating your own herbs, and they don’t need much space), and David Squire and Allan Haschick guide you through growing herbs for the kitchen, for borders, or as background shrubs. Struik Lifestyle, R150 each.
Wild about flowers
Focusing on the most common, conspicuous and showy plants in our country, John Manning’s fully updated Field Guide to Wild Flowers of South Africa highlights more than a thousand species. Hugely informative – including info on plant diversity, vegetation types, a key to identifying plant groups as well as a photo distribution map and an indication of plants’ flowering seasons – this really is an invaluable guide for those keen on wild flowers. R390.
