What do you think?
Rate this book
No-Work Garden: Getting the most out of your garden for the least amount of work.
Book by Bob Flowerdew
- GenresGardeningNonfiction
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
37 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 12, 2010
I want to say that a lot of the tips and tricks in this book were the kinds of things that, to a non-gardener such as myself, don't sound like less work. In reality, the most useful tips and tricks for my household came in the first six or seven chapters, leaving me to read the other, less home-oriented half of the book last. This means that I'm remembering the tips on an orchard cage, which my yard will never be big enough for, and forgetting all about the "don't turn your garden's dirt" plan. I keep thinking of the interconnected warm-water barrels spaced around the garden for watering that my yard is still not big enough for, and skipping past the "mow less" suggestion. (Though now I'm recalling the implication that users of man-powered push-mowers are a little nutty, which we most certainly are not.)
So, if you're looking for tips to make your suburban yard more manageable, stick to the first half of the book. If you're a serious gardener looking to spend more time learning to cook the food you grow, the second half will be equally useful. If you're one of the former hoping to become one of the latter, use the first half of the book until you've got basic yard care aced, then the second half to keep your veggie garden sane. Finally, if you're a schmuck like me wishing they had a decent vegetable garden, skip straight to the part where he says, "If you won't eat it, don't grow it" and put the book back on the shelf.
So, if you're looking for tips to make your suburban yard more manageable, stick to the first half of the book. If you're a serious gardener looking to spend more time learning to cook the food you grow, the second half will be equally useful. If you're one of the former hoping to become one of the latter, use the first half of the book until you've got basic yard care aced, then the second half to keep your veggie garden sane. Finally, if you're a schmuck like me wishing they had a decent vegetable garden, skip straight to the part where he says, "If you won't eat it, don't grow it" and put the book back on the shelf.
March 30, 2013
My husband and I both pored over this book endlessly and loved it for a number of reasons: 1) the practical gardening advice delivered in a slightly Scottish brogue i.e. "a wee clotsch", 2) the tips and tricks such as putting a ripe banana next to tomatoes to make them flower more quickly, 3) painted illustrations featuring the author with his super-long blond braid down his back engaged in gardening tasks with various wheelbarrows and hoes, 4) the name of the author. "What would Bob Flowerdew do?" we found ourselves asking each other as we fashioned matching WWBFD bracelets. We even got into a discussion of which of us Bob Flowerdew would like better. It is a minor miracle that I got my husband to read a gardening book at all, much less take it seriously, so kudos to our buddy Bob for that.
I got this book from the library, and I've since ordered another Bob Flowerdew book which I'm excited to read in coming weeks.
I got this book from the library, and I've since ordered another Bob Flowerdew book which I'm excited to read in coming weeks.
May 15, 2016
The No-Work Garden, by the suitably named Bob Flowerdew, is a fast-paced jaunt through everything from hedges to vegetables with stops at compost and pests. Full of gorgeous photographs featuring the author, The No-Work Garden was easy to pick up and browse through. While a few items are specific to the southern UK, I picked up a few tips from the chapter about vegetable gardening and will likely copy the concise table of companion and contraindicated neighbor plants as well as the table evaluating yield, ease of growing, time, and cost for common vegetables.
June 27, 2019
Not all of this book is particularly relevant to semi-arid Colorado, but there are still a lot of good ideas in this book.
May 11, 2024
Excellent
October 29, 2013
A lot of practical information, though depending on your garden size a lot of it may not be useful. I would say however that the principles could be applied on any scale.
The ones I am planning to use are:
1) Have a fixed path/bed system
2) Fruit trees are the least amount of work for the most return
3) Plant perennial vegetables (rhubarb, asparagus, artichokes)
4) DO NOT neglect to cover fruit to protect from birds
5) Plant bulbs in grass not in beds
6) Use mulches to keep weeds down
7) Don't try to grow too many different types of things
8) Don't waste time and energy digging over beds
9) Use water bottle cloches to mark where you have planted seeds
These principles I was already applying pretty much:
10) If things don't do well in your soil/region, give up and grow
things that are easy in your circumstances
11) Don't grow things you don't like to eat
12) Don't sow tons of seeds for things you will then have to thin.
This makes extra work. Decide how much you want, where, and sow
just twice that -- (then protect with a cloche).
The ones I am planning to use are:
1) Have a fixed path/bed system
2) Fruit trees are the least amount of work for the most return
3) Plant perennial vegetables (rhubarb, asparagus, artichokes)
4) DO NOT neglect to cover fruit to protect from birds
5) Plant bulbs in grass not in beds
6) Use mulches to keep weeds down
7) Don't try to grow too many different types of things
8) Don't waste time and energy digging over beds
9) Use water bottle cloches to mark where you have planted seeds
These principles I was already applying pretty much:
10) If things don't do well in your soil/region, give up and grow
things that are easy in your circumstances
11) Don't grow things you don't like to eat
12) Don't sow tons of seeds for things you will then have to thin.
This makes extra work. Decide how much you want, where, and sow
just twice that -- (then protect with a cloche).
April 20, 2016
I had to read a gardening book by a guy named Flowerdew. lol The author is British, which I didn't know but should have guessed by the name, and he's a strict organic gardener who doesn't like to do any more work than necessary. To that end he has definite ideas about what should or should not be done in a garden.
I liked some of his ideas, not others. But most of all, the book just got me thinking about all the work I do around my yard/garden all year and how, sometimes, I make more work for myself. So now, my front mailbox garden needs tending....leaves taken out, daffodils tidied while they die back, etc....but I'm not going to bother doing it until it's time to plant my annuals. So it'll look crappy for a few weeks, but at least I won't waste 2 hours tying daffodils into knots. They can just flop over naturally and I'll deal with them when I need to! The neighbors might not be happy, but my back will. :)
I liked some of his ideas, not others. But most of all, the book just got me thinking about all the work I do around my yard/garden all year and how, sometimes, I make more work for myself. So now, my front mailbox garden needs tending....leaves taken out, daffodils tidied while they die back, etc....but I'm not going to bother doing it until it's time to plant my annuals. So it'll look crappy for a few weeks, but at least I won't waste 2 hours tying daffodils into knots. They can just flop over naturally and I'll deal with them when I need to! The neighbors might not be happy, but my back will. :)
August 27, 2007
This is a very pretty book, full of great advice, only some of which is applicable to my mediterranean climate garden. Still, I love the philosophy - pick plants that do well in your climate, and grow lots of them, rather than other things. Grow vegetables intensively, but without a ton of digging. Enjoy a weedy look. I was already doing many of these things, but I thought I was just lazy! Thanks for rationalizing my idleness!
November 26, 2008
I learned some great short-cuts to my gardening. He presents several ideas on taking all the digging out of your gardening. The book focuses on how to do more for less in mowing, weed control, house plants, flower gardens, fertilizing, fruit, vegetables and what to do all year to make each season easier for you in the garden.
November 17, 2010
GET THIS AGAIN
March 10, 2011
Not so great. Read this for ideas, but some of his theories are arguable at best. Good illustrations and photography.
April 16, 2012
Some good information- learned a few new tricks.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews