Gardening is one of Americans' favorite hobbies. It is not necessary to have a large plot of land, a few potted plants will do--indoors or outdoors. Included are books about magnificent gardens and smaller ones, and books about gardening.
Roger Phillips, British botanical and garden photographer, and Leslie Land, American food writer, struck up a friendship at a mushroom gathering in New Hampshire. Their shared interests continued in a charming correspondence across the pond.
![Book cover for American grown : the story of the White House kitchen garden and gardens across America](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/1ab717c35cbeabcc26462f27cc160815.jpg?itok=6iJwyj9I)
First Lady Michelle Obama's goal was to promote healthy, nutritious, tasty food, and it all began with the creation of a vegetable, fruit and herb garden on the grounds of the White House.
![Book cover for Another world lies beyond : creating Liu Fang Yuan, the Huntington's Chinese garden](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/5bf8160196228287b40c35f010b0c01d.jpg?itok=zP_9g1aN)
The Huntington Library has several gardens. The Chinese Garden, or Garden of Flowing Fragrance, was opened to the public in 2008. Filled with lovely full-page color photographs, the authors discuss the special symbolism of the plants and layout of the garden space.
![Book cover for The bold dry garden : lessons from the Ruth Bancroft Garden](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/52e565665f95150049446a41f48ad823.jpg?itok=rwdIZTKO)
Ruth Bancroft was an early advocate and pioneer in dry gardening.The garden is located in Walnut California. This beautiful book with numerous full-page color photographs documents Bancroft's life and creatoin of the garden. There are practical methods about how to start and maintain this type of garden.
![Book cover for Edible Schoolyard : a universal idea](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/ac6ea9240dacb135d6eb0dce233ef825.jpg?itok=V2SDYaVz)
Chef, restaurateur and food writer Alice Waters championed fresh, organic produce to be used in cooking. At a Berkeley middle school, Waters along with teachers and volunteers changed an abandoned pile of soil into an educational food movement. They taught children and adults how to grow, harvest and cook food on a relatively small scale, and The Edible Schoolyard, which has numerous locations including a local site The Larchmont Schools.
![Book cover for Garden secrets of Bunny Mellon](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/16d90f26df144df57b4291e7fbe64d92.jpg?itok=FVkSifdG)
Bunny Mellon was a philanthropist, art collector, horticulturist and avid gardener. Although not formally trained, her passionate interest in gardening fueled her education. She designed gardens in the United States and elsewhere, and became well known for redesigning the White House Rose Garden during President Kennedy's administration. This book is the result of the editors research in Bunny’s archive of photographs, illustrations and writings,and they hope it is the book that she intended to write. Although her work focused on estate gardens, her practical and artistic advice about how to garden and arrange plants will benefit any gardener:
![Book cover for A garden story](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/31u529bso1l.jpg?itok=Dz6M8BU3)
An inspiring story of how Leon Whiteson's changed his drab Hollywood backyard into a beautiful refuge.
C. Z. Guest was a socialite, horse woman, but also a dedicated gardener. Her gardening was begun in childhood, and as the chatelaine of an estate in Old Westbury, Guest was hands-on in maintaining and overseeing the indoor and outdoor gardens.
Eleanor Perenyi was an amateur gardener who wrote passionately about all aspects of gardening. One of these seventy-two essays should offer courage and incentive for the novice and seasoned gardener alike.
![Book cover for The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2022/43200a724fa8d42c150cba2ecf43a636.jpg?itok=FUvQ9lUz)
Wohlleben takes us on an exploration of the titular hidden life of trees infecting us with his love for them and providing startling insight into these vastly different life forms that share our world
![Book cover for How not to kill your houseplant : survival tips for the horticulturally challenged](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/87a99a746893ae013a431c963aadfacf.jpg?itok=4O_7zqxw)
Do not be put off if all of your plants die, instead allow Veronica Peerless show you some easy ways to keep them growing.
![Book cover for Indoor edible garden](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/6a82aef85387f6d519c64644a29ca63f.jpg?itok=XkSZLxOg)
An innnovative way to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs indoors. Easy-to-follow instructions make it possible for everyone to create a beautiful and practical garden inside their home.
![Book cover for Making things grow; a practical guide for the indoor gardener. Illus. by Grambs Miller.](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/31rpebdbsxlacul320sr220320.jpg?itok=oOPw2d4e)
British gardener Thalassa Cruso was a unique personality on public televsion, akin to Julia Childs, she had a wealth of knowledge about the basics of gardening. Here she is on YouTube making things grow.
![Book cover for The new plant parent : develop your green thumb and care for your house-plant family](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/b9b7d66b201174873b847c9b973cd50d.jpg?itok=BiBDe8m6)
For new and experienced gardeners, there are lots of useful tips to help everyone have healthy, flourishing plants.
![Book cover for The no-kill garden : a collection of handcrafted plants for the blackest of thumbs](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/d6e5aa9d54643288f1856766adc2ea39.jpg?itok=PXR8c9hn)
If you cannot grow a real plant, then this might be the book for you. You will have plants that never disappoint you, or die. The authors present crafting techniques, from the most basic to the more complex, on how to make plants from many types of materials. At the beginning of every instructional page there are facts about the real plants that the crafted ones duplicate.
![Book cover for On the High Line](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/880241e7f3e726c5ec36bc99ba0aa0c8.jpg?itok=nAoRm5cT)
On Manhattan's West Side, one and half miles of abandoned elevated train track was transformed into a urban sanctuary in a very unlikely site.
![Book cover for One hundred years in the Huntington's Japanese garden : harmony with nature](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/a2fdebb16839212170f83f09d230f94a.jpg?itok=DgSZp5BP)
A history of the Huntington's Japanese Garden, which is over 100 years old. Beauty, tradition and culture are exemplified in the unique features of this very popular California landmark.
![Book cover for Robert Irwin Getty garden](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/5fbf2bbd4e8b921c9996de0620b8e4c2.jpg?itok=nW1srtEo)
Robert Irwin created a garden to complement Richard Meier's architecture for the J. Paul Getty Museum.
![Book cover for Roses without chemicals : 150 disease-free varieties that will change the way you grow roses](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/48879b8fe31b35aed14a287125c8ffdc.jpg?itok=EbbJAGU6)
Growing roses is not as difficult as you may think, and it is possible to grow beautiful flowers without using chemicals.
![Book cover for Skogluft /skog-looft/ : forest air : Norwegian secrets for bringing natural air and light into your](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/63727cda249d48a621cf6565a05e7b20_1.jpg?itok=zUexiKSI)
Use plants to enhance your home environment in a healthy and lovely way by following the Norwegian secrets on how to do that.
![Book cover for Tomatomania! : a fresh approach to celebrating tomatoes in the garden and in the kitchen](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/3b1aa18a1abc24e8f665ff1bf68ba73e.jpg?itok=WJ5WbLGJ)
There is nothing like a home-grown tomato for good flavor and variety. This book celebrates numerous types of tomatoes and provides excellent tips on how to grow them.
The correspondence between two ardent gardeners, Katharine S. White, editor at The New Yorker, and Elizabeth Lawrence, a southern garden writer.
![Book cover for The well-gardened mind : the restorative power of nature](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/1201535a6fe66dd80e62c8423671d1af.jpg?itok=G4WyXQAs)
If there are some people who need a reason to get outside and do some gardening, then this is the book for you. Sue Stuart-Smith presents well-documented scientific evidence about the benefits of gardening. For those who are home gardeners, this book will validate their addiction.