Gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in the Puget Sound area. Nurturing plants in a climate that supports abundant plant growth can be a rewarding experience for those who grow gardens for beauty or for food. Listed below are suggested books and a website compiled by a librarian at The Seattle Public Library. (February 2023)
Pacific Northwest Native Plant Primer
The benefits of native plants are enormous--they reduce maintenance, require less water, and attract vital, earth-friendly pollinators like birds, butterflies, and bees. Gardeners seeking to add them to their landscape will find no better guide than The Pacific Northwest Native Plant Primer. -Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Pacific Northwest Native Plant PrimerGrow More Food
“As your knowledge and experience grow, so will your yields," write McCrate and Halm, owners of the Seattle Urban Farm Company, in their handy debut guide to growing one's own vegetables. Backyard gardeners looking to bring crops into their kitchen need look no further. -Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Grow More FoodSelecting Plants for Pacific Northwest Gardens
This is the ultimate guide to making appropriate plant choices and will prove to be an indispensable reference for every amateur gardener, landscape designer, and horticultural professional. -Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Selecting Plants for Pacific Northwest GardensTiny Space Gardening
This guide shows readers how to successfully grow edibles--including vegetables, herbs, and fruits--in urban spaces, such as a balcony or back patio. The book includes approximately 30 simple recipes, including starters, sides, mains, and desserts. -Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Tiny Space GardeningThe Beginner's Guide to Growing Great Vegetables
Expert gardener Forkner shares all the information you need to create a thriving garden, from facts about soil and sun to tips on fertilizing, mulching, and watering. Regional planting charts show what to plant when, and a month-by-month planner takes you from January through December. -Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View The Beginner's Guide to Growing Great VegetablesPrivate Gardens of the Pacific Northwest
A lush photographic tour of 20 private gardens in the Pacific Northwest. Sixteen of the featured gardens are in the Puget Sound region; four from the Portland metropolitan area. Browsing through this lushly illustrated book is like spending a day exploring secret spaces. Most readers won't be able to cultivate dream gardens like these, but anyone will be able to find inspiration for their own garden here. -Library Journal
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Private Gardens of the Pacific NorthwestGrowing Berries and Fruit Trees in the Pacific Northwest
A beautiful guide to growing delicious fruit in Pacific Northwest climates, complete with selection, planting, and organic care for more than 90 cultivars of berries and fruit trees, as well as 10+ master recipes with variations for preserving your bountiful harvest. -Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Growing Berries and Fruit Trees in the Pacific NorthwestGardening With Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest abounds with native plants that bring beauty to the home garden while offering food and shelter to birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife. With enthusiasm, easy wit, and expert knowledge, renowned botanist Kruckeberg and horticulturist Chalker-Scott show Northwest gardeners, from novice to expert, how to imagine and realize their perfect sustainable landscape. -Publisher blurb
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Gardening With Native Plants of the Pacific NorthwestNotes From the Garden
For two decades, starting in the early 1990s, Madeleine's "Notes from the Garden" delighted readers of the Queen Anne & Magnolia News in Seattle. Here, in luminous prose, is the best of her work from those years, ranging from hands-on advice for gardeners and would-be gardeners to poetically charged, often wry, insights into life in the tradition of Thoreau. -Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Notes From the GardenBackyard Bounty
A complete guide to year-round gardening on the West Coast, this encyclopedic reference includes greatly expanded information on pests, diseases, and working with an unstable climate. The perfect guide to enjoying fresh, home-grown produce all year. -Publisher description
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Backyard Bounty