"Any space, no matter how small, can be transformed into a vibrant and fulfilling garden," he writes.
Thomsen starts with the basics, such as soil health, the importance of birds and insects, minimising water use, mulching and composting. His material on mineral deficiencies and how to spot them is particularly good.
Then he moves on to landscaping, with photographs and drawings of his own garden to illustrate his points. The best piece of advice in this chapter is about long-term planning: "While your garden might look fabulous six months after planting, think carefully about how it will look in a decade’s time".
Decorative plants come next, then Thomsen jumps back to design with landscape styles before tackling pot plants for outside and in.
Fruit and vegetables round off a profusely illustrated book that is informative and colourful.
Garden Hacks (Murdoch Books, hardback, $32.99) sounds promising. After all, who doesn’t want 70 sustainable tips? Alas, Swedish writer Filip Johansson fails to deliver the goods, as many ideas are commonplace, such as using a spice jar (or salt cellar) to sow fine seed or bird feeders made of plastic bottles.
His use of plastic sheeting and bottles may come under the heading of reusing existing items, but I’d have welcomed Johansson suggesting alternatives. After all, we are trying to reduce our reliance on plastic.
Garden Hacks is not recommended.
— Gillian Vine
