Book Review: Fern Richardson’s Small-Space Container Gardens: Transform Your Balcony, Porch, or Patio with Fruits, Flowers, Foliage & Herbs

small_space_container_gardens

Book Review: Fern Richardson’s Small-Space Container Gardens: Transform Your Balcony, Porch, or Patio with Fruits, Flowers, Foliage & Herbs

188 pages
Timber Press, 2012
List price: $19.95

Fern Richardson’s delightful blog, Life on the Balcony, is chock-full of ideas for small-space gardening in containers, and now she has put some of her best ones into a beautifully written and designed book.

 
Small-Space Container Gardens is a mixture of DIY step-by-step how-tos, design inspiration, and practical knowledge. Fern discusses use of colors, shapes, furniture, and lighting for small-space gardens as well as which plants and containers to choose. She addresses practical matters such as weather and climate, garden wildlife, privacy, and pest management and troubleshooting. I was drawn to the edible container gardening section in particular because of its suggestions on how to get the most yield in small spaces.

Growing edibles in hanging bags off the railing saves space and is delicious!Growing edibles in hanging bags off the railing saves space and is delicious!

My favorite parts of the book are the crafty how-tos! Fern shares fun and doable projects from livening up terracotta pots to a minimalist bird feeder to a vertical pallet garden. Also included are layouts for various garden designs that are helpful for someone starting from scratch or for people with pots they can move around.

A cute DIY minimalist bird feeder; you could paint the wood to match any color scheme

“A cute DIY minimalist bird feeder; you could paint the wood to match any color scheme”

Create a vertical garden with Fern’s DIY pallet garden instructions

“Create a vertical garden with Fern’s DIY pallet garden instructions”

This book’s purpose is to inspire and guide container gardeners to make the best and most beautiful use of any space, and it hits its mark.

Find it at Amazon.com today!

fern_richardsonFern Richardson is the creator of the Life on the Balcony blog and lives in southern California. She is a master gardener, photographer, garden designer, and loving caretaker of many plants.

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