Pacific Gardening Guide

Lin Good, a consultant, was Associate Librarian at Queen’s University.

There is no shortage of books on gardening; but then, there are many
gardens. These range from acres of botanical delights to window boxes on
high-rise balconies, and the gardeners who tend them are always ready to
exchange ideas or seek advice. Tarrant provides practical advice in an
engaging manner on cbc’s The Canadian Gardener. He writes in the same
clear, effortless style.

Tarrant’s book is for those fortunate gardeners who live on the West
Coast, reputedly the North American equivalent of Eden. His guide is
eminently practical. It contains the usual chapters—on lawns,
perennials, shrubs, and so on—all with explicit directions on
cultivation and pest control. The numerous black-and-white illustrations
are mainly drawings of techniques or structures, but there are also some
simple, lovely designs.

This book will appeal most to beginning gardeners and to those who
collect a broad range of titles. With due allowance for climatic changes
and calendar variations, it can be useful even to gardeners who have to
cope with the climatic conditions in other parts of Canada.