Gardening for Geeks (Book Review)

I know that for some people gardening is little more than digging holes and sticking plants in them--and it is surprising how much success you can have doing just that. But to my way of thinking, it's hard to separate gardening from the more complex (and, I think, more interesting) issues that surround and bubble through the garden--issues like pollinators, soil health, pest control, disease prevention, microclimates, and on, and on, and on. I think gardening becomes more fascinating and more successful when you start to embrace those other topics--and that, according to Christy Wilhelmi's way of looking at things, is when you officially become a "garden geek."

Wilhelmi is the founder of Gardenerd.com, where she dispenses all kinds of wisdom on organic gardening in the form of blog posts, podcasts, and monthly newsletters. Now she has put it all together in a new book, Gardening for Geeks, an extremely useful and readable guide to some of the issues you might be ignoring that can really affect the health, beauty and productivity of your garden.

Gardening for Geeks helps you to see your garden more as an ecosystem and work to keep it in balance. It is basic enough to be understandable to newbie gardeners (in fact, I would highly recommend it to new gardeners) but seasoned gardeners will also find new (or old) techniques to try. There is a substantial emphasis on edible gardening but much of the information will apply to ornamental gardening as well.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is the title. Depending on how you interpret the word "geek," it can be a little misleading. I confess I was expecting a much more tech sort of book with a lot of information on gardening apps and gadgets, but people looking for that will be disappointed and people who might be scared off by the tech-y sounding title will be missing out on a really good gardening guide. Fear not. This is a book that any gardener can grasp and utilize. Check it out.