Gardening Resources
Gardening season is upon us. We have eBooks, digital magazines and online classes that can help you get the most out of your garden.
The resources below were gathered by Jon Mechley, an information services assistant at our Carrico/Fort Thomas Branch. He is an avid gardener and recommends these resources for people at all stages of gardening experience.
eBooks
Download eBooks from our digital collection.
Beginner’s Illustrated Guide to Gardening by Katie Elzer-Peters
This one-stop, easy to understand, beautifully designed book includes step-by-step instructions and photographs for every important gardening and landscaping technique. New homeowners with no prior knowledge of landscape care will learn how to turn their yards from weedy, overgrown patches to gorgeous landscapes that are the envy of their neighbors. New gardeners will learn how to take care of everything from perennials to shrubs to their vegetable gardens, ensuring success the first time around.
Apartment Gardening by Amy Pennington
Apartment Gardening details how to start a garden in the heart of the city. From building a window box to planting seeds in jars on the counter, every space is plantable, and this book reveals that the DIY future is now by providing hands-on, accessible advice. Amy Pennington’s friendly voice paired with Kate Bingham-Burt’s crafty illustrations makes greener living an accessible reality, even if readers have only a few hundred square feet and two windowsills.
Indoor Kitchen Gardening by Elizabeth Millard
It takes just a few dollars and a few days for you to start enjoying fresh, healthy produce grown indoors in your own home. Imagine serving a home-cooked meal highlighted with winecap mushrooms grown in a box of sawdust in your basement. And if you have never tasted microgreens, all you really need to do is envision all the flavor of an entire vegetable plant concentrated into a single tantalizing seedling. If you respond to the notion of nourishing your guests with amazing, fresh, organic produce that you’ve grown in your own house, condo, apartment, basement or sunny office, then you’ll love exploring the expansive new world of growing and eating that can be discovered with the help of Indoor Kitchen Gardening.
Gardening for a Lifetime by Sydney Eddison
Although the garden may beckon as strongly as ever, the tasks involved — pulling weeds, pushing wheelbarrows, digging holes, moving heavy pots — become increasingly difficult, or even impossible, with advancing age. In Gardening for a Lifetime, Sydney Eddison draws on her own forty years of gardening to provide a practical and encouraging road map for scaling back while keeping up with the gardening activities that each gardener loves most.
Square Foot Gardening with Kids by Mel Bartholomew
In Square Foot Gardening with Kids, Mel reveals all of the tips, tricks and fun projects he has used over the decades in one of his most cherished pursuits: teaching youngsters to build and grow their own kid-sized SFGs. Because of its simple principles and fast payoff, Square Foot Gardening is perfect for children. The easy geometry of the gridded box breaks the complex world of gardening into digestible bites that are easy to approach and understand for enthusiastic young learners. The sequence of tasks required to grow plants from seeds is repeatable and reassuring.
Digital Magazines
Enjoy access to over 3,500 popular magazines on your computer, tablet or mobile device for free. All you need is a library card. Learn how to get started by visiting the Digital Magazines page on our website.
Amateur Gardening
Amateur Gardening is the first choice for both beginners and knowledgeable gardeners looking for advice and easy-to-follow practical features on growing flowers, trees, shrubs, fruit and vegetables. Be inspired by beautifully illustrated features covering plant and flower groups, both homegrown and exotic, and take a sneak peek into some of the most beautiful private gardens around the country.
Good Organic Gardening
Gardening with goodness at its heart — fresh, organic and fun. This magazine is 100% real. Unashamedly earthy, reflecting the spirit and culture of people who just love to get their hands dirty. Get the satisfaction of growing your own garden and finding new ways to bring produce to the table. The magazine includes features such as Amazing Gardens, Celebrity Chefs, Clever Crops, Flavors of the Month, Garden Solutions, Kids Corner and more!
Home Gardening
This issue of Home Gardening focuses on planting a garden in Africa. From rose, woodland, grass and indigenous gardens to a bushveld oasis. A great read for someone who is looking for inspiration to think outside of the box and tackle a larger project!
Universal Class Courses
Feel ready to test your knowledge? Learn better with interaction? Take advantage of Universal Class. Use your library card to enroll in over 500 online classes that are accessible anywhere online, 24/7.
Gardening 101
Basic Gardening 101 will take you from the basic plant parts, and why they are important all the way to the production of fruit. You will discover the importance of having good soil, and what that means, and how to correct it in your yard. The gardener’s best friend is the composter, and the beginning gardener needs to understand just what composting is and why that is such an important skill.
Vegetable Gardening 101
A 12-part course that is designed for beginners to gardening. If you’re interested in learning how to set up, design and cultivate a vegetable garden, you will find the tips and advice in this course to be a helpful way to get started and to keep your garden growing for years to come. This course will offer you the basics of how to create a garden in your space, while also helping you prepare the soil, choose the right fertilizers and prevent weeding troubles. Additionally, you will learn about organic gardening, as well as container gardening when space is limited.
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