The best garden books to save the planet

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a person who thinks gardening could be one of the most important endeavors anyone can do. I’m a writer, a speaker, and the recipient of eight Garden Communicators International media awards, including a Gold in 2021 for my column, “Rooting for You,” on the Hartley-Botanic Greenhouse website. My byline has appeared in numerous magazines such as Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Sunset, and This Old House. I’m always interested in great ideas for problem-solving in the garden.


I wrote...

The Healthy Garden: Simple Steps for a Greener World

By Kathleen Norris Brenzel, Mary-Kate Mackey,

Book cover of The Healthy Garden: Simple Steps for a Greener World

What is my book about?

This book connects how we garden in our own backyards with what happens outside our fences—in our communities, our public gardens, and our wild places. With the added advice of twenty horticultural experts and glorious garden photography, The Healthy Garden demonstrates how nourishing a more resilient landscape has the power to transform, not only the garden and the gardener, but also, the greater natural world. 

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of A Way to Garden: A Hands-On Primer for Every Season

Mary-Kate Mackey Why did I love this book?

Many garden books are structured in a classic four-seasons pattern, but this one goes beyond, by delineating the gardening year as steps in the essence of all living beings—from conception in January, adulthood in July and August, to death in December. This clever and thoughtful approach celebrates the fact that we are all woven into the fabric of the natural world. Add to that the author’s lifetime of good gardening experience and advice, and this book shows readers in intimate detail how to work with nature, not against her. 

By Margaret Roach,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Way to Garden as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For Margaret Roach gardening is more than a hobby, it's a calling. Her unique approach, which she refers to as "horticultural how-to and woo-hoo," is a blend of vital information to memorise (like how to plant a bulb) and intuitive steps gardeners must simply feel and surrender to. For more than twenty years Roach has shared her deep garden knowledge with an appreciative audience, first at Martha Stewart Living and now on her popular website and podcast. Now, with A Way to Garden, she explores how she and her way of gardening have changed over the years. Throughout, she shares…


Book cover of Grow Now: Go Beyond Organic, Rewild your Land, Sequester Carbon, Support Diversity

Mary-Kate Mackey Why did I love this book?

I see this as a companion book to my own book. The scope is similar, but more basic and granular in its information, whether it’s explaining what a “last frost date” is or outlining DIY crafts for attracting pollinators. But the overall message is the same—all our growing efforts are linked. The actions we take and the choices we make are far-reaching beyond our own back fences. Nature’s interconnectedness is the power gardeners have to save the planet, garden by garden.  

By Emily Murphy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Grow Now as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Homeowners are looking for actionable ways to help conserve the environment, and this hopeful, heartfelt guide offers them specific guidance on how to do so in their own home gardens. Want an easy, actionable way to reduce your contribution to emissions and food waste? Create your own climate victory garden. Garden plots in towns and cities are critical to supporting ecological diversity, and by instituting organic, regenerative practices and growing some of our own food, we can shift toward living in a more responsible way. In Grow Now, Emily Murphy, the founder of the popular website and podcast Pass the…


Book cover of The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City

Mary-Kate Mackey Why did I love this book?

Approximately eighty-three percent of folks in the U.S. live in cities. So, encouraging the greening of these artificial expanses is important to sustain us and all kinds of wildlife—birds, pollinators, even the soil biota. Consider this a gardening cookbook—with enticing recipes you’ll immediately want to go out and try. Whether it’s finding the space for growing, adding plants in an alley, or employing tactics to secure your fruits and flowers while living in close proximity with others, this book empowers readers to go out and garden, no matter where they live.

By Kathy Jentz, Teri Speight,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Urban Garden as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In The Urban Garden you’ll find dozens of inspiring and creative ways to grow flowers, shrubs, vegetables, herbs, and other plants in small spaces and with a limited budget.
 
Whether you want to grow on a balcony, rooftop, front stoop, or a tiny urban patio, turn your growing dreams into reality and build a gorgeous and unique garden that showcases your personal style while still being functional and productive. With the ingenious ideas and resourceful tactics found here, you’ll be maximizing yields and beauty from every square inch of your space, while also making a lush outdoor living area you’ll…


Book cover of The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook: Identify and Solve Common Pest Problems on Edible Plants - All Natural Solutions!

Mary-Kate Mackey Why did I love this book?

To stop polluting our natural world with killer chemicals, gardeners have to know the good bugs from the bad, and how to effectively deal with the latter without harming the former. That’s where this book steps up with the latest effective information. It reveals the fascinating scope of which denizens are living among your plants and discusses assorted methods to encourage more of nature’s allies, who will, in turn, help eliminate the foes, and create a vital and sustainable balance. 

By Susan Mulvihill,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook, you’ll find the simple, straightforward resources and tools you need to identify common pests of edible gardens and manage them without the use of synthetic chemical pesticides.

Climate change and newly introduced insect pests are changing the world of gardening. Pests that once produced a single generation per year are now producing two or even three, and accidentally imported pest insects have no natural predators to keep them in check. These leaf-munching critters can cause significant damage in short order, reducing your yields and costing you time and money, especially if your garden is…


Book cover of Grow: A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them

Mary-Kate Mackey Why did I love this book?

If you want to save the natural world, you have to love it first. And to love it, you have to know it. This gorgeously illustrated picture book is an important introduction. Grow encourages readers to be friends with fifteen common plants—from mint to orchids. Once recognized, and by learning a fascinating bit about them, these plants are no longer strangers, but companions. And that’s the beginning of love. The delightful drawings and fabulous plant factoids call for a read-aloud to younger children, or simply hand the book over to those already reading. This is an act of legacy—we need to bring along that next generation of passionate gardeners who will value our planet.

By Riz Reyes, Sara Boccaccini Meadows (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Grow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Discover facts about 15 plants, explore what makes them unique, and learn how to grow them

Grow beauty. Grow friendship. Grow flavor. Grow plants!

Discover 15 plants with incredible powers, then learn how to grow them. Meet each plant’s surprising relations (did you know the tasty tomato is a cousin of deadly nightshade?) and discover their history (bromeliads defended themselves against dinosaurs!). Then, follow the step-by-step instructions to grow and care for each plant, whether you have a big backyard or a sunny windowsill.

This fully illustrated guide to growing is the perfect introduction to plants for families everywhere.


You might also like...

Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)

By Robert W. Stock,

Book cover of Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)

Robert W. Stock Author Of Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Journalist Punster Family-phile Ex-jock Friend

Robert's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Me and The Times offers a fresh perspective on those pre-internet days when the Sunday sections of The New York Times shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation. Starting in 1967, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections over 30 years, innovating and troublemaking all the way.

His memoir is rich in anecdotes and admissions. At The Times, Jan Morris threw a manuscript at him, he shared an embarrassing moment with Jacqueline Kennedy, and he got the paper sued for $1 million. Along the way, Rod Laver challenged Stock to a tennis match, he played a clarinet duet with superstar Richard Stoltzman, and he shared a Mafia-spiced brunch with Jerry Orbach.

Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)

By Robert W. Stock,

What is this book about?

An intimate, unvarnished look at the making of the Sunday sections of The New York Times in their pre-internet heyday, back when they shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation.

Over 30 years, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections, innovating, and troublemaking all the way – getting the paper sued for $1 million, locking horns with legendary editors Abe Rosenthal and Max Frankel, and publishing articles that sent the publisher Punch Sulzberger up the wall.

On one level, his memoir tracks Stock’s amazing career from his elevator job at Bonwit Teller to his accidental entry into journalism to his…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in gardening, vegetables, and organic gardening?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about gardening, vegetables, and organic gardening.

Gardening Explore 86 books about gardening
Vegetables Explore 34 books about vegetables
Organic Gardening Explore 19 books about organic gardening