Green thumbs, rejoice! The classic Illustrated Guide to Gardening from Reader’s Digest has been freshly revised and updated. This new edition features full-color photography and illustrations and emphasizes organic solutions throughout.
This comprehensive guide covers flowers, trees, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, and herbs. It’s written in clear, accessible language that appeals to both experienced gardeners and beginners. Every entry is accompanied by color photographs and illustrations that make techniques and plant identification easy to understand for non-specialists.
Below is an informative piece by Fern Marshall Bradley, co-editor of The All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening: Planning – Selection – Propagation – Organic Solutions, exploring the benefits and values of organic gardening.
By Fern Marshall Bradley, Co-Editor of The All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening: Planning – Selection – Propagation – Organic Solutions
Many gardeners decide to stop using pesticides and synthetic fertilizers to protect the environment and to safeguard children and pets from harmful chemicals. But there’s another compelling reason to go organic: it can save you money. Here are six practical ways shifting to organic gardening puts money back in your pocket.
Plant Vegetables and Spend Less on Medical Costs
Studies indicate that the vitamin content in commercially produced fruits and vegetables has declined, which is worrying since fresh produce should be a key source of vitamins and minerals in our diets. Lower nutrient levels can leave us more susceptible to illness.
Growing your own vegetables is a simple, effective strategy to protect your health and cut down on doctor visits, cold and flu remedies, and supplement purchases. Homegrown produce picked at peak ripeness is rich in nutrients, and research shows that organically grown produce can have higher concentrations of some nutrients than conventionally produced crops.
Ditch the Lawn Care Service
Lawn care services can be expensive. Instead of paying a company, consider hiring a local teen to mow the lawn. For a healthier lawn without chemicals, set the mower height to at least 3 inches—taller grass shades out weeds naturally, reducing the need for herbicides. Use a mulching mower so grass clippings return to the turf, adding nitrogen and cutting the need for bagged fertilizers.
Once a year, spread a thin layer (about 1/4 inch) of high-quality compost over the lawn. The compost integrates quickly, supplying diverse nutrients and beneficial microbes that help suppress disease. These simple steps lower costs while improving lawn health.
Attract Beneficial Insects with Flowers, Not Pesticides
Over 90 percent of the insects in your garden are beneficial. Predators like ladybugs and lacewings, plus many small wasps and flies, help control pests naturally by eating aphids, mites, and other harmful insects or by parasitizing pest caterpillars.
To invite these allies into your garden, plant perennials and herbs that produce small flowers—adult beneficial insects feed on pollen and nectar. Yarrow, purple coneflowers, daisies, tansy, cosmos, marigolds, and zinnias are excellent choices. Buying a few seed packets and some perennials costs far less than purchasing pesticides and a sprayer, and the flowers add beauty to the landscape.
Skip Bagged Fertilizer and Use Cover Crops
Replace bagged synthetic fertilizer with seeds—specifically cover crop seeds like buckwheat or oats. Cover crops can build soil fertility comparable to chemical fertilizers while avoiding the damaging side effects of synthetic products. Chemical fertilizers can harm earthworms and beneficial soil organisms and often leach into groundwater.
Sowing cover crops prevents erosion, encourages earthworms and microbes, and naturally enriches soil. Lightly loosen the soil, broadcast the seeds, rake them in, and water to promote germination. After 4 to 8 weeks, mow or shear the cover crop and let the green material decompose in place. The result is a nutrient-rich bed ready for abundant vegetables, fruits, or flowers.
Lower Your Water Bill by Capturing Rain
Depending on your location, garden and landscape irrigation can account for a large portion of household water use. As water costs rise and supplies become constrained, capturing rainwater becomes both environmentally and economically smart.
For under $100 you can install a rain barrel to collect roof runoff, providing a free, reliable source of irrigation water for your garden. Rain barrels are widely available and simple to install—no special skills required. Using captured rain reduces your water bill and helps conserve municipal supplies.
Grow Fresh Gourmet Toppings at Home
Microgreens and fresh salad garnishes are popular at restaurants but often costly. You can grow microgreens year-round on a sunny windowsill at a fraction of the price. Reuse clean deli clamshells or shallow containers, add organic potting mix enriched with compost, and create drainage holes in the bottoms.
Broadcast untreated seeds (lettuce, arugula, broccoli, kale, dill, cilantro, basil, peas, etc.) over moist soil, cover lightly with mix, and place containers on a tray in a sunny spot. Mist daily until seedlings sprout, then water as needed. In about three weeks, when seedlings reach the two-leaf stage, snip them with scissors to use as flavorful, nutritious garnishes.
About the author: Fern Marshall Bradley co-edited The All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening with Trevor Cole. She is a writer and editor focused on gardening and sustainable living, and co-authored Reader’s Digest’s Vegetable Gardening. Bradley also conceived and edited The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Insect and Disease Control and The Expert’s Book of Garden Hints, among other titles, and is a former gardening books editor for Rodale.