Helen Young’s best gardening books of 2024

Fancy a spot of armchair gardening? These 2024 titles are perfect for garden inspiration, or just to make you green with envy.

The Paddington garden of artist Kathryn Del Barton. Picture: Nicholas Watt

This year’s crop of garden books offers plenty of choice for holiday reading or gift giving. Highlights include The Natural Gardener by garden designer Richard Unsworth (the image of artist Del Kathryn Barton’s garden, above, is taken from that book), and Visionary: Gardens and Landscapes for our Future from photographer Claire Takacs. Indoor plant addicts will love The New Plant Collector by Darryl Cheng and The Plant Society Design Handbook by Jason Chongue, a plant stylist’s guide to creating beautiful living spaces. Broccoli & Other Love Stories by Tasmanian market gardener Paulette Whitney is a trove of advice, stories and recipes that will appeal to gardeners and chefs, while The Tiny Gardeners by Kat Macleod aims to inspire littlies to be gardeners and nature enthusiasts. The classic textbook Australian Native Plants by John Wrigley and Murray Fagg, now in its seventh edition, details thousands of native plants, while Angus Stewart’s Favourite Australian Plants covers 500 popular natives for your garden. Further afield, The Tree Atlas by Lonely Planet, features the world’s most amazing trees and where to find them.

Poinsettias - They Keep on Giving

Poinsettias – grown as flowering pot plants for the Christmas market – can last for months indoors in a well-lit position, making them good value as gifts and decoration.

‘Princettia Bright Pink’

‘Christmas Feelings Red’

As well as traditional red they’re available in other colours, including these.

EMBARGO FOR TWAM, 07 DECEMBER 2024. FEE MAY APPLY. Poinsettia Christmas Feelings Marble. Photo: Ball Horticultural Company

‘Christmas Feelings White’

Q&A

Our fishpond has turned green. Will plants stop that happening? I like floating and flowering aquatic plants; which ones would you recommend?

Richard Faure-Field, Ashmore, Queensland

Green water is a sign that algae are proliferating, caused by excess nutrients – nitrates from decomposing waste and phosphates from fertiliser, or too much fish food. Excess sunlight can be a factor, too. Plants will help use up the nutrients; a mix of floating, bog and marginal plants is best. Try waterlilies, irises, cannas and bladderwort, ideally from a local supplier. Water aeration and filtration will help keep the water clean; algae treatment products are available from pond specialists.

What can we plant, preferably native species, in an old sand pit? It’s under a brushbox tree, so mostly in shade – but it gets some hot sun in the late afternoon.

Marlies Johnson, Melbourne

First, amend the sand with compost and aged manures; aim for a pH of 5.5-6.5. Plectranthus (now Coleus) would be an ideal thing to plant; try silver-leafed P. argentatus or the pretty variegated P. ‘Blue Spires’. Branching flag grass (Libertia paniculata) adds texture and has delicate white flower sprays. Flowering shrubs include dwarf native frangipani (Hymenosporum ‘Gold Nugget’) with fragrant flowers; Swan River pea (Gastrolobium celsianum) with silvery leaves; wax flower (Philotheca) and native mint bush (Prostanthera). The last two also have aromatic foliage.

What potted plants that will survive on just rainfall and very infrequent maintenance would suit a part-sun area we overlook at work?

Wilson Oh, Adelaide

Succulents are your best bet. There’s a huge range but various agaves have dramatic form and achieve an impactful size. Euphorbia ‘Firesticks’ has red-yellow pencil stems and grows to 2-3m. Yuccas and jade plant (Crassula ovata) are also very tough. Use large pots that hold moisture for longer; mulch with pebbles. Water until the plants are established.

Send your questions to: [e-mail] The best three questions for December/January will each win a 20m, kink-free Liano Life hose set valued at $113, with a 15-year warranty, from Gardena. November’s winner is Lyn Stiller of Queensland for her question about cypress pine sawdust.

The Liano Life 20m hose set.