The Bedside Book Of The Garden

by D.G. Hessayon

There are times when we simply wish to read about our hobby and not be badgered by advice. If you enjoy reading about plants whether or not you can grow them, or enjoy discovering gardens you may never visit and could never hope to match, or are keen to learn how people gardened in the past and what they have contributed to our gardens today, then this is the book for you. It includes sections on the great gardeners in history; extraordinary and surprising plants; remarkable gardens around the world; key gardening moments in history; the wildlife in our gardens; things for the plant lover to do indoors, and other 'this and that' trivia, statistics and fascinating things you never knew, all illustrated with charming line drawings.
The perfect gift and as the title says, the perfect bedside read for a nation of gardeners.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Horticulture

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 9, 2008

About the author

David Gerald Hessayon was a British author and botanist of Cypriot descent who is known for a best-selling series of paperback gardening manuals known as the "Expert Guides" under his title Dr. D. G. Hessayon. The series started in 1958 with Be Your Own Gardening Expert and in 2008 it celebrated its 50th anniversary and the 50 millionth copy in print. They have become the best selling gardening books in history.

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what I was expecting, so I can't say I was disappointed. I was also slightly surprised that it was the British-ness that turned me off. Forty-five pages of British men who discovered exotic plants and brought them back to England. Forty pages of "plants," not many of whose entries were interesting. Thirty pages of "famous gardens," mostly British. NO PICTURES people. "Wildlife in the garden" referred almost exclusively to English animals. "Things to Do Indoors" and "This and That" were light and entertaining.

My favorite part: the words on the back cover.

"Gardening is about planning and planting and pottering, but it is also about sitting back occasionally and just looking and imagining...."

[Austen to Zafón · Rating 3 out of 5]

as the title indicates, this is nice bedtime reading. Not too taxing, but interesting. It certainly leaves you wanting to know more though, as it covers a lot very shallowly. And it would be nice if more of the pictures, especially the botanical drawings, were better captioned.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

12/16/25 My review pertains to the 2008 edition with 336 pages. The graphics and the fact that the book is of British origin appealed to me. The majority of the books in my gardening book collection, by choice, were written by British authors. Two impressions - the graphics are intriguing, but there are no accompanying captions. The captions (or sources) are listed on two pages at the end of the book. Many of the graphics do not have a caption listed there. More importantly, although I have read 111 gardening books since 2/7/22, both British and American, published over a wide range of time, this is the first book in which the typeface is so small that it is difficult to read. Initially I was using a magnifying glass to read the book, but gave that up due to inconvenience. The type is either 8 pt. or 10 pt. and definitely too small for comfortable reading. The chapters which I found interesting are “This and That” – “Wildlife in the Garden” – “People” – “Gardens” and “Looking Back.” Rarely do I skip over parts of books, but I did not read the chapter “Things to do Indoors.” That leaves “Plants” and “Wildlife in the Garden” which I did read.