The Waste-Wise Gardener by Jean B. MacLeod

Author Jean B. MacLeod is a peerless maven of making do, as she proves with this well-constructed catalogue of gardening strategies, The Waste-Wise Gardener – Tips and Techniques to Save Time, Money, and Natural Resources While Creating the Garden of Your Dreams.

MacLeod begins with a brief introduction revealing her own gardening troubles and triumphs, then provides an alphabetical list of simple solutions for some of the thorny problems involved in home horticulture, which are generally easy to use, and some quite eye-opening.

For example, materials for the staking required for a variety of crops can be ribs from a discarded umbrella, old broom handles, or straightened wire clothes hangers. Some listings are products to make yourself, like sticky insect traps, or fungicide spray. Others are MacLeod’s experience-based general advisories on cultivation of vegetables and flowers, so the book acts as a general gardening guide, with tips on indoor gardening as well, in addition to her unique DIY tips.

The Waste-Wise Gardener feels like a real labor of love – a book that can inspire seasoned gardeners and even those without a green thumb, as she makes gardening seem accessible whatever your resources may be. MacLeod fervently believes that home gardens can relieve stress and be sources of “personal joy and fulfillment,” and this hands-on manual should help gardeners down that path, as it has an array of tips that are both inspiring and practical.

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