As spring teases closer and closer, it’s almost time to break out your gardening gloves and get planting. Whether you’re a bona fide green thumb or a first-time planter, the Sewickley Public Library has got you covered with this comprehensive list of resources for all your horticultural needs.

Gardening Books

General Gardening

If you’re looking to ease your way into gardening, or are looking for information on multiple types of gardening, here are some books that cover the general subject of gardening. Many of these books are comprehensive guides to almost every type of gardening out there, so if you’re unsure of what to plant, these titles could definitely help with your decision!

• The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Garden: 326 Fast, Easy, Affordable Ways to Transform Your Yard One Project at a Time by Sally Roth
• 1,000 Gardening Questions and Answers by The New York Times
• Vegetables Love Flowers: Companion Planting for Beauty and Bounty by Lisa Ziegler
• Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces by Michelle Slatalla
• The Encyclopedia of Gardening by The American Horticultural Society
• Pennsylvania Gardener’s Guide by Liz Ball

Vegetable and Herb Gardening

Vegetable and herb gardening tend to get lumped together, because they both tend to be used for cooking and eating. There’s a lot that goes into growing plants you plan to eat, and these books will take you step-by-step through the process of growing your own food.

• The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible: Discover Ed’s High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions by Edward C. Smith
• The New Vegetables, Herbs, & Fruit: An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Matthew Biggs
• Niki Jabbour’s Veggie Garden Remix: 224 New Plants to Shake Up Your Garden and Add Variety, Flavor, and Fun by Niki Jabbour
• The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Food in Harmony with Nature by Tammi Hartung
• Reader’s Digest Vegetable Farming: From Planting to Picking–The Complete Guide to Creating a Bountiful Garden by Fern Marshall Bradley
• The Mini-Farming Guide to Vegetable Gardening: Self-Sufficiency from Asparagus to Zucchini by Brett L. Markham
• The Culinary Herbal: Growing and Preserving 97 Flavorful Herbs by Susan Belsinger
• Herbs for the Gourmet Gardener: A Practical Resource from the Garden to the Table by Caroline Holmes
• Rodale’s 21st Century Herbal: A Practical Guide for Healthy Living Using Nature’s Most Powerful Plants by Michael J. Balick

Flower Gardening

Unlike vegetable and herb gardening, flowers are typically used for a strictly aesthetic purpose. For this reason, flower gardening books often include an additional design aspect that some other forms of gardening might not have. If you’re wondering how to choose which flowers to grow and how to arrange them, here are some great resources.

• The Big Book of Flower Gardening by Time Life
• Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, & Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms by Erin Benzakein
• The Bee Friendly Garden: Design an Abundant, Flower-Filled Yard That Nurtures Bees and Supports Biodiversity by Kate Frey
• The Flower Gardener’s Bible: Time-Tested Techniques, Creative Designs, and Perfect Plants for Outdoor Gardens by Lewis Hill
• Beautiful Easy Flower Gardens: Step-by-Step and Seasonal Plans for a Colorful, Exciting Landscape by Laurence Sombke

Organic Gardening

For many looking to grow food, having an organic garden is an important aspect of that process. If you want to grow organically, these books can help you safely and healthily grow an organic garden.

• The New Organic Grower: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener by Eliot Coleman
• Fresh From the Garden: An Organic Guide to Growing Vegetables, Berries, and Herbs in Cold Climates by John Whitman
• Rodale’s Basic Organic Gardening: A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Healthy Garden by Deborah L. Martin
• The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food by Tanya Denckla Cobb

Container Gardening

Container gardening deals with exactly what it says: gardening in containers, from boxes to pots to baskets. If you’re interested in container gardening, there are some differences in the strategies you’ll use than with traditional gardening. Luckily, these books have you covered.

• The Complete Book of Container Gardening by Peter McHoy
• Continuous Container Gardens: Swap in the Plants of the Season to Create Fresh Designs Year-Round by Sara Begg Townsend
• Container Theme Gardens: 42 Combinations, Each Using 5 Perfectly Matched Plants by Nancy Ondra
• The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and Other Containers by Edward C. Smith
• How To Window Box: Small-Space Plants to Grow Indoors or Out by Chantal Aida Gordan

Gardening Magazines

Taunton’s Fine Gardening: A magazine focusing entirely on gardening, with bi-monthly issues released six times a year.

Better Homes and Gardens: One of the leading sources of home and garden information since 1922, features up-to-date gardening and style information. Monthly magazine.

Birds and Blooms: A bi-monthly magazine that focuses on gardening and outdoor design that is best-suited to attract birds.

The Herb Quarterly: Magazine dedicated entirely to herbs and herb gardening, with one issue released for each season of the year.

Garden Gate: A bi-monthly gardening magazine that focuses primarily and tips and tricks for a better garden.

Horticulture: A magazine focused on gardeners and the gardening community, released eight times a year.

Local Resources

Sewickley Civic Garden Council: A Sewickley-based organization that coordinates several different garden club and individual efforts to inform, maintain, and conserve the many gardens of Sewickley. Contains information and websites for the several Sewickley-based garden clubs.

Fern Hollow Nature Center: Local nature center that offers information on nature and the local environment, including a wide array of programming for kids and adults.

Ohio Township Municipal Park Nature Center: A park nature center available for rentals and programs.

Sewickley Community Center Garden: A community garden supported by the American Community Gardening Association

Grow Pittsburgh: A Pittsburgh-based nonprofit focusing on gardening tools, communities, and events in the Pittsburgh area.

Web Resources

American Horticultural Society: Provides helpful information and publications on gardening, and advocates for the social responsibility in gardening.

USDA National Agriculture Library: The United States Department of Agriculture’s online resource for agriculture, including a comprehensive section on home gardening.

Garden for Wildlife: A program run by the National Wildlife Federation that aims to combine gardening with sustainability and wildlife conservation.

Cornell University Home Gardening Guides: Provides guides to over 250 different types of plants, along with a design tool that lets users determine what kind of garden they’d like to make.

Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit at Home: Comprehensive guide to all types of fruit gardening, including trees, shrubs, and vines.

Watch Your Garden Grow: Website run by the University of Illinois that provides a wide variety of gardening guides, along with information on how to store food once it is harvested.

National Gardening Association: Presents an invaluable number of tools for home gardeners, including weed identification information, growing guides, pest control information, and more.

Spotlight On: Ed Talks

Ed Talks are a lecture series by environmental science educator Ed Schroth on environmental science and issues, especially in relation to local habitats and ecosystems. While not specifically about gardening, the lecture series offers crucial information on the local environment. The next Ed Talk is scheduled for April 10 at 7:00pm, and will focus on the science of soil.