It's no secret that I love plants and gardening, and it is probably also no secret that I also love pretty much everything Monty Don has written or filmed, and this book is no exception. This was my second time reading it, and I don't doubt there will be a third time. It goes through a year in his garden (although the entries are taken from about a ten year span), reflecting on the hows and whys and whens of everything, all while being thoughtful, gentle, and informative. I'm very aware that gardening books aren't for everyone, but if you watched some Big Dreams, Small Spaces or Monty Don's French Gardens on the netflix and enjoyed it or felt buoyed up in the bleak midwinter, then I highly encourage you to see if your local library has this book on its shelves.
There are bits about children and family, and bits about plants, and bits about dogs, and bits that I read out loud to Josh, and bits that made me laugh, and all in all it's a really good example of how well a journal can work as not just a record, but a way to tell the story of a place and a way to see patterns emerge. While I was reading this I got an idea for a haskap berry hedge mulched with woodchips and underplanted with crocuses.
The only glaring fault in this book is the weird design choice on the front cover to put the dot of the "i" into the loop of the "g". Once I noticed it I couldn't stop staring.
