With the gardening season now underway, I thought it would be a good time to provide you with some more support by sharing some fantastic resource books that have been instrumental in developing my gardening knowledge.
This book is packed-full of information and is often one of the first things you reach for at the start of the season when looking to try a new approach or when finding answers to last year’s issues.
Garden design and plant placement can be greatly informed by Permaculture design which, in its essence, is all about working with nature rather than against it, so that all the elements, including the plants, are providing more than just one function. This will help reduce the overall energy required to maintain the garden and also help to reduce any waste and unnecessary work. Sound great?! Yes indeedy! 
Observation is really the key to developing a great garden plan, and to give you some more practical techniques and information for growing your garden into a lovely paradise, I recommend Toby Hemenway’s book Gaia’s Garden ‘A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture’ (Second Edition).
In addition to all the fantastic information (so much so that it will be a handy reference for YEARS to come for home gardeners and professionals alike), Hemenway provides the most incredible charts- everything from plants that attract beneficial insects, to exotic trees and shrubs, along with all their properties, Latin names and their hardiness zones.
The book discusses topics including soil-building techniques such as lasagna gardening, water conservation and collection, how to create micro-climates in your garden, how to use cover crops, and so much more. For Toby’s overview of the book and the table of contents, see his site here.
In the gardening and culinary world, there is an infinite amount of knowledge and we will always be learning; every year I learn more about gardening I also glean more from this fantastic book.
I hope you will enjoy it just as much!