One Man's Garden

by Henry Mitchell

For twenty years, Henry Mitchell has been delighting readers of the Washington Post with his wide-ranging adventures in his small city garden. The best of his columns, collected here, reflect an uncommon zest for gardening, along with more good advice than you can find in a dozen how-to books. In fact, as he says, "If gardeners spent less time running about doing things they think they are supposed to do and more time contemplating the beauty of the world's plants, they'd get more out of their gardens and be less of a pest to the civilized world."
Whether he is being serious ("Tea The Secrets of Success") or hilarious ("Before You Bring In the Plants, Make Sure Your Rugs Are Clean"), Mitchell deftly deals with the likely and unlikely decisions a gardener is called upon to make every day. While rationing a precious Christmas gift of fertilizer, he observes that horse manure, like youth, goes all too quickly.
"When you first start to garden," he writes, "you usually have no idea what the real delights are going to be." Henry Mitchell shares both his delights and his agonies, whether he is happily hoarding pickle jars for growing seedlings or agitating over which plants to uproot and toss out of his garden.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Essays, Humor

262 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name
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Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mitchell's writing is always a delight.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny book. I like Mitchell's voice here, and his wit. His take on pesticides is a bit odd, but it was written in 1992. Very well worth the read, especially if you are yearning for warmer, greener climates.

32: "One minor lesson of the past century is that you start asking questions about primroses and you will bring down the whole civilized world. What terrible chaos, what grief, sprang from Darwin's simple experiments and endless careful notetaking. And, of course, what miracles of new freedom, new knowledge, and old truth that nobody before him had bothered to discover."

207 (on huge old houseplants): "And these plants are much like the Vietnam War--once you have invested enough labor and woe, you are strangely unwilling to acknowledge that it was a stupid mistake to begin with. You just go on and on."

237: "No gardener would want an endless summer. Many think so, but the trains back from Florida are filled with homesick gardeners who get to the point that they would give every flash of scarlet in this world for the frozen ivy. It's all right for fancy people to head for lush places, but a gardener should stay steady and stay home. Let it come, whatever comes. The gardener walks always with the unseen crown of oak leaves, the invisible rush of roses, the tuberoses and the cestrums in his nostrils through all decay of the year.
Hold on to it, I say. It will come again. But far more than that, it has already been and the gardener has been through it and in it. It was him. So is this winter him, this sleeted ivy, which was sacred, all the same, to the god."

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, probably not going to be of much interest to you if you aren't into gardening. But if you are, my how delightful this collection is. I truly adore Mitchell's writing: he somehow manages to be both a perfect curmudgeon and also a shameless enthusiast. His style is funny and profound and smart and unpretentious. Reading this book is like sitting down to coffee with a grumpy old British man (Mitchell is not British, but somehow that's the vibe he carries) and listening to him complain about his garden for two hours and yet when you part ways you want nothing more than to rush home to your own garden and experience all the delight and frustration and deliverance that you now feel is waiting for you there.

Some of the pieces are more technical than others, but every so often you stumble across a passage that just hits you. Like this one, at the end of the May chapter:

It is agreeable to wallow about in one's own paradise, knowing that thousands of others have better gardens with better thises and thats, and better grown too, and no weeds at all. To know this and grin as complacently as a terrier who just got into the deviled eggs, and to reflect that there is no garden in England or France I envy, and not one I'd swap for mine: this is the aim of gardening -- not to make us complacent idiots, exactly, but to make us content and calm for a time, with sufficient energy (even after wars with bindweed) to feel an awestruck thanks to God that such happiness can exist. For a few days, of course.

Or this, from the middle of the October chapter:

It is true, to an extent no beginning gardener will believe, that the beautiful effects of the garden are those of light falling on wonderful masses and details that come by luck, just in the nature of things. All you do is plant wonderful things -- not necessarily rare things -- and wait awhile and see what grows and what doesn't, and then just let the light fall, and it will be perfect.

The November Thanksgiving piece, "A Gardener's Thanksgiving," is absolutely lovely. And finally, this bit, which felt particularly moving to me as a Minnesota girl who must spend half the year in an almost entirely barren winterscape of snow and dead things:

Sometimes I think that's the worst fault of America: we don't get out enough and sit still enough for the magic to work. That the magic is there I know with all sureness. But if the volume of "music" is turned to Deafening and the speed of the car is pushed to Suicidal, you can't hear it or see it; you could fairly say it doesn't exist. Turn down the noise. Reduce the speed. Be like the somnolent bears, or those other animals that slow down and almost die in the cold season. Let it be the way it is....

No gardener would want an endless summer. Many think so, but the trains back from Florida are filled with homesick gardeners who get to the point that they would give every flash of scarlet in the world for the frozen ivy. It's all right for fancy people to head for lush places, but a gardener should stay steady and stay home. Let it come, whatever comes. The gardener walks always with the unseen crown of oak leaves, the invisible rush of roses, the tuberoses and the cestrums in his nostrils all through the decay of the year. Hold onto it, I say. It will come again. But far more than that it has already been and the gardener has been through it and in it. It was him. So is this winter him, this sleeted ivy, which was sacred, all the same, to the god.

So there it is. Go delete all your mindfulness apps and self-help eBooks, because whatever it is we're all chasing, Mitchell has found. Read this collection, and then go grow something, and learn how to let things be what they are.

[Cyber Dot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read this in 2018. It is a very entertaining book for any OCD plant lover. However, some of the plant information has not aged well over the years. Thus, if you read this book now, do it to revisit the delight that was Mitchell and not for garden advice. Henry Mitchell was a delightfully opinionated, witty garden critic. Miss him.

[Maureen Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading and looking at gardens. This one had a lot of weeds. I would have liked drawings or photos. He has a different climate so I lost interest. Also was a little repetitious at some points in the book. Though he loved his garden, he wasn't careful with the environment. He didn't have a true green thumb.

[Wilma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty dry but a few insights of various plants. I definitely wouldn't recommend it though.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for reading out on the porch as I am dreaming of nature and my own backyard

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

For pure enjoyment, there is no better reading, at least for a gardener, but perhaps for anyone.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not read all of the essays but enjoyed everyone I did read. I will be checking this one out again and again.

[Lanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so glad I discovered Henry Mitchell's books. Liked this one every bit as much as the first one I read. His dry sense if humor is wonderful.

[Darcee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of articles and anecdotes, originally published as a newspaper column I believe, reaching to the heart of the everyday gardener.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though very little of the plant suggestions are useful for me (I’m a Texas gardener) the book is a lovely mix of gardening advice and funny anecdotes.

[Laura Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learn more every time I read it. Even though he was in a warmer zone than mine, I learn. Also he's funny.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A couple of years ago, I found Ruth Reichl and fell in love with her and read all of her memoirs. Reading this book produced a similar feeling; I am both deeply comforted that Henry Mitchell existed, and thrilled that I found his writing, which is exactly my favorite kind of cozy prose.

A quote: "It is true, to an extent no beginning gardener will believe, that the beautiful effects of the garden are those of light falling on wonderful masses and details that come by luck, just in the nature of things. All you do is plant wonderful things--not necessarily rare things--and wait awhile and see what grows and what doesn't, and then just let the light fall, and it will be perfect."

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to read this book, you must really, really love gardening. He'll go on about a particular flower for many-a-pages, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you love shooting the breeze and rambling on about the nuances of let's say: fish ponds or irises. What made it for me was his sense of humor, or what I perceived as humorous :) his strong opinions laced with wit, satire & a touch of sarcasm were delightful in the setting of a garden. It's not the kind of book I'd read twice, but was good enough to walk through once & admire the scent of the flowers & get ideas for my own garden.

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mitchell used to write a gardening column for The Washington Post and his style is informed, witty and practical. The book uses the format of a full gardening year, each chapter representing each month, and since his garden was where mine is, many of his ideas (and failures) prove useful information to me. I know I've read this book before, but I'm glad I read it again. There is something to be said for reading gardening journals. There's an informality about them, and you usually feel like you are talking to a fine, gardening friend.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess if I can't be grubbing around in my own garden at this time of year, the next best thing is just to read about other's gardening experiences. The author was a columnist for the Washington Post for years and this is a collection of some of his columns. Very funny. Just the thing for morbid March weather.

[Audrey Driscoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

A second collection of garden essays by the inimitable Henry Mitchell, these arranged by month (a device often seen in garden writing). They range from humorous ("Before You Bring In The Plants, Make Sure Your Rugs Are Clean") to poignant ("Turn Down The Noise"). The latter rarely fails to move me to tears. Behind the wit and humour was a serious man and profound thinker -- truly an Earthman.

[Meryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always love a good gardening book in the winter time. This one gave me a few fun ideas (every time he mentioned his pond I wondered how my little terrier would react to gold fish), but was a little flower centric for this veggie gardening girl.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This and all Henry Mitchell's books are my favorite garden reading - not really how to books, but rather a collection of columns from the Washington Post in which he reflects on gardening and life, from the perspective of an enthusiastic, knowledgable, imperfect gardener.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Man’s Garden by Henry Mitchell (Houghton Miflin 1992)( 635.0). This is a collection of Mitchell's gardening columns. I love his garden writings – not so his other collected work. My rating: 6.5/10, finished 4/7/2012.

[Amy L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now this is a man who loves to garden. I apparently prefer to read about gardening. He inspires me, but not enough to go outside and water my plants when it's hot.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a book I would press on friends, but I was amazed at the breadth of his knowledge and loved his sense of humor. So many segments I wanted to read aloud for others to enjoy.

[Maria Kemplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henry Mitchell's reflections on favorite plants through the seasons of the garden.

[Cathy Heinsohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have probably loved reading these in the newspaper, but all together in a book did not work well.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my new "read in the morning & think about book"
Interesting and quirky essays.