Gardening books make great gifts—and inspiration

Are you looking for a gift for a gardener in your life? Or perhaps it’s time to buy something for yourself. Gardening books can provide inspiration during the wet and dark days of winter.

Here are ideas for a few books from local authors. Get the benefit of their local knowledge while supporting local garden writers and nonprofit organizations.

Cass Turnbull’s Guide To Pruning, 3rd Edition
What, When, Where, and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden
by Cass Turnbull

“Finally, the book has arrived that demystifies pruning for even the most apprehensive gardener. Unlike most encyclopedic pruning books that offer formulaic across-the-board advice . . . Cass Turnbull has written a useful pruning guide that clearly and simply describes how to prune commonly used garden plants to enhance both aesthetics and plant health.” —Pacific Horticulture

In Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning the gardening world’s favorite expert on pruning offers tips and tricks on how to prune your trees, shrubs, and other plants so they grow to be healthy and beautiful. Covering 160 plants with clear instructions and illustrations, Cass Turnbull will show you exactly how to prune any plant in your garden. This third edition of Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning covers more than 20 additional plants in three new chapters. The result is the new definitive guide for the home gardener with friendly, expert advice from Cass Turnbull, founder of Seattle’s PlantAmnesty, whose mission is “to end the senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs caused by mal-pruning.”

Creating Sanctuary
Sacred Garden Spaces, Plant-Based Medicine, and Daily Practices to Achieve Happiness and Well-Being
by Jessi Bloom

“In this beautiful, inspiring, and practical book we are invited to look deeply at the landscape around us and create sacred respites from our busy worlds.”  —Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and author

We all need a personal sanctuary. A place where we can be in harmony with the natural world and nurture our bodies, minds, and souls. In Creating Sanctuary, natural living expert Jessi Bloom taps into multiple sources of traditional plant wisdom to help you find a deeper connection to the outdoor space you already have—no matter the size. You will learn how to design a healing space, how to harness the power of 50 sacred plants, and how to create recipes and rituals that soothe and calm. Hands-on, inspiring, and packed with gorgeous photography, Creating Sanctuary will help you find new ways to revitalize your life.

Maritime Northwest Garden Guide
Planning Calendar for Year-Round Organic Gardening, 2nd Edition

Tilth Alliance’s Maritime Northwest Garden Guide is a must-have resource for edible gardening in our region. The book includes a detailed monthly planning calendar, year-round planting and harvesting guides, organic gardening techniques, as well as garden planning and design ideas. Tilth Alliance has been leading the way for organic gardeners in our unique climate for decades.

The guide was completely revised, redesigned, and updated in 2014. Lisa Taylor is the main author, with support from all of Tilth Alliance’s expert gardeners and farm educators.

Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest, 3rd Edition
by Arthur R. Kruckeberg and Linda Chalker-Scott

“Kruckeberg and Chalker-Scott’s book will surely be a go-to resource for many gardeners in the Northwest.”―The Oregonian

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. Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest is the essential resource for learning how to best use this stunning array. The book includes almost 1,000 choices of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and grasses for diverse terrain and conditions, from Canada to California, and east to the Rockies, along with 948 color photographs and indexes of subjects and plant names (common and scientific). New to this edition: chapters on garden ecology and garden science. Renowned botanist Art Kruckeberg and horticulturist Linda Chalker-Scott show Northwest gardeners, from novice to expert, how to imagine and realize their perfect sustainable landscape.

Private Gardens of the Pacific Northwest
by Brian Coleman

“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.” ―Pauline Theriault, Library Journal Reviews

Private Gardens of the Pacific Northwest is a stunning exploration of 20 lush private gardens. These sprawling estates, small sanctuaries, and artful retreats capture the natural beauty of the verdant Pacific Northwest, each one splashed with hints of boldness, modernity, artistry, and exquisiteness. Capturing the personality of those who cultivate them, these gardens have their stories told through the words of renowned author Brian Coleman, who takes readers through the flourishing natural beauty that the Northwest coast has to offer.

Your Farm in the City
An Urban Dweller’s Guide to Growing Food and Raising Animals
by Lisa Taylor

“This upbeat manual for aspiring urban gardeners features a gritty but whimsical, graphic-heavy, reader-friendly layout and a 21st-century attitude that will appeal to a younger generation of gardeners intrigued by the idea of growing their own food while living in the city.”  —Publishers Weekly 

Your Farm in the City, published by Tilth Alliance, covers all of the essential information specific to gardening and farming in a city or town. Clear, easy-to-follow instructions guide and inspire even the most inexperienced urbanite in how to grow and harvest all types of produce, flowers, herbs, and trees, as well as how to raise livestock like chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, and honeybees. Important information particular to gardening in a city or town is included, such as planning and maximizing limited space, building healthy soil, managing irrigation, understanding zoning laws, outwitting urban pests, and being a considerate farming neighbor.

Pacific Northwest Month-by-Month Gardening
What to Do Each Month to Have A Beautiful Garden All Year
by Christina Pfeiffer with Mary Robson

Pacific Northwest Month-by-Month Gardening is the definitive guide to successful gardening year-round in the Pacific Northwest. It takes the guesswork out of gardening for anyone living in the region (northern California, Oregon, Washington, or British Columbia). This garden guide is full of critical gardening when-to’s and how-to’s, along with illustrated step-by-step instructions that will keep your garden thriving all year round.

Authors Christina Pfeiffer and Mary Robson are Pacific Northwest gardening experts. They know this cool, wet, vivacious region inside and out and have written extensively on the subject. The book includes gorgeous photography and specific advice on growing:

• Gorgeous annual and perennial flowers
• Strong trees
• Flowing groundcover
• Flowering shrubs
• Verdant lawns

The Northwest Garden Manifesto
Create, Restore, and Maintain a Sustainable Yard
by John J. Albers

The Northwest Garden Manifesto is a primer for growing a beautiful, healthy, wildlife-friendly, and sustainable garden. Scientist and gardener John J. Albers teams up with photographer David E. Perry to create a comprehensive and visually stunning guide to encourage and enable each of us to consider the local ecosystem in our own gardens.

Gardens are extensions of our homes, places where we can relax, entertain, and get some physical exercise. But our gardens are also extensions of the natural world. Through our gardens, as well as other neighborhood green spaces, we can help counter some of the woes faced by larger environments, such as loss of habitats, the spread of invasive species, air and water pollution, and the impacts of global warming.

Through clear explanation, practical examples, and full-color photos, Albers and Perry show how people can assess the state of their yards and then improve them. From creating better soil to starting a compost pile, attracting pollinators to adding more native plants, or creating a simple circulating water feature to building a fence from recycled wood―gardeners will ultimately turn their back yards into beautiful, healthy, and happy habitat for all.

Northwest Home Landscaping, Fourth Edition
48 Landscape Designs, 200+ Plants & Flowers Best Suited to the Northwest
by Roger Holmes

” … like having a team of professional garden designers on hand.” —Country Living Gardener

Find inspiring ideas to make your Pacific Northwest home landscape more attractive and functional. This updated edition to Northwest Home Landscaping includes:

• 48 beautiful designs created by landscape professionals specifically for Washington, Oregon, and Western British Columbia, Canada
• Over 200 plants picked for the Northwest region, with detailed descriptions and all you need to know to plant and maintain them
• 400 color photos and illustrations to help envision your results
• Step-by-step instructions for landscape projects like paths, patios, ponds, walls, fences, arbors, and trellises
• Creative solutions for front entries, foundation plantings, raised entries, steep slopes, and more
• Native plants, identifications of invasive and banned plants, the impact of climate change, updated plant profiles, and more updates in this edition

Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest
Cool Season Crops for the Year-Round Gardener
by Binda Colebrook

Many gardeners can supply a significant amount of their own food during the plentiful summer harvest. But the key to substantial savings on your food bill is putting fresh, homegrown produce on your table every month of the year. And in the mild, forgiving climate of the maritime Pacific Northwest, it can be easier than you think.

In Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest, Binda Colebrook provides a complete guide to cool season crops and how to raise them. Gardeners from southeastern Alaska to southern Oregon will benefit from her clear, practical advice on:

• Selecting and preparing the ideal winter gardening site
• Maximizing production and minimizing pests with cloches, cold frames, mulches, and companion planting
• Choosing the best strains and hardiest varieties for a year-round growing season

More book ideas 

• The Seattle Public Library compiled a list of books on gardening in the Pacific Northwest. You can find many of the above gardening books on the list, along with other book suggestions and resources.
• Amazon has a list of best sellers in Pacific Northwest regional gardening.
• Goodreads put together a list of books on gardening in the Pacific Northwest that includes readers’ ratings.