The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers is a tutorial gardening guide by Sean & Allison McManus. Due out 27th April 2021 from Quarto on their Cool Springs Press imprint, it's 176 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats (ebook available currently).

This is an information dense but also upbeat and accessible guide for readers planning and creating their first gardens. There's a lot of general garden siting/building/planning information, so this is also a valuable resource for readers looking for info on growing herbs, and other edible crops. There's also a sister volume with the same layout from the same publisher releasing roughly the same time which is vegetable specific in focus.

The book has a logical layout: a short (easily understandable, not too technical) intro on plants and some good advice with steps on how to *start* (and not get bogged down or overwhelmed) is followed by step-by-step chapters on siting and planning, tools, soil building, seeds and plant material, implementation, seasonal tasks, garden management, troubleshooting and planning for next year. The authors are very upbeat and encouraging and the text is easy to understand.

The book also includes appendices in the form of online links and resources for further reading and tie-in bonus material on the authors' website. They also have a podcast which is worth a listen.

The photography is simply gorgeous. Nearly every page has full color photographs and illustrations.

This is a useful resource. It would make a superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, community garden groups, home library, and for homesteaders and home gardeners. Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Sean and Allison McManus have written a very thorough guide to start gardening. This was very comprehensive and my biggest complaint was that it was an e-book. When it comes to gardening/ self-help books I prefer a hard copy where I can take notes and just generally build off of. I wish they had discussed the container aspects a little more thoroughly but overall there was some very good explanations to what to look for when gardening.

4 stars for being a good guide with thorough information. Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group, Sean and Allison McManus.

Beginner based book on growing plants and flowers, I found it especially helpful since it gives your vocabulary a bit of a nudge. Great pictures, details, and ideas! Four stars!

THE FIRST-TIME GARDENER: GROWING PLANTS AND FLOWERS by Sean McManus and Allison McManus stresses eco-friendly methods and provides useful background, including sections on common mistakes and common problems (like those pesky deer or squirrels). Colorful art and beautiful flower images appeared throughout. They included many helpful charts and took the time to explain terms (annuals, etc.). I did find this book a bit difficult to read in the NetGalley app since my preference would be to skim, jump around and jot notes in a "how-to" book like this. I am curious to look at the bonus online material from the McManus' website named spokengarden.com and other resources in the appendices.

I found this book to be so helpful! Homesteading and becoming more self sustaining is a big interest of mine so I'll take what I learned from this book and it'll go a long way!

I really wanted to like this book. As a retired horticulture professor, I always searched for a suitable book to use in my beginning gardening courses. This book has some great features that would make it an excellent guide for new gardeners. The authors claim to use "only eco-friendly methods," and for the most part, that appears to be true. There are places where a bit more could be done, such as elaborating on integrated pest control and including instructions for checking moisture in soil in the watering section. There is also going to be a bonus online companion guide, most of which is not yet live at time of review. The one section that was live had a very helpful instructional video for determining soil texture. It looks like a lot more timely topics are planned.

The book is well organized with short paragraphs, simple language, and lots of appropriate illustrations. I particularly liked the key takeaway points at the end of each chapter. I do wish, however, that there would be a chapter on soil, rather than just tidbits scattered through various chapters. I understand the reasoning behind action-oriented chapter headings, but soil is just too important as a starting point.

I did find a few negatives. There are a few glaring inaccuracies (I will share them specifically in notes to publisher) and there are places where I felt the information presented could have been better organized. If these things were corrected, I'd seriously consider giving this book a 5 star rating. But, as a subject matter expert, I feel that these should have been caught prior to publication by subject matter reviewers, so I am somewhat disappointed that this might be published as is. But, overall, this book has great potential to become a classic, especially with the online guide as an accompaniment.

The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers: All the know-how you need to plant and tend outdoor areas using eco-friendly methods by Sean McManus & Allison McManus
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group – Cool Springs Press
Genre: Home & Garden
Release Date: March 9, 2021

The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers: All the know-how you need to plant and tend outdoor areas using eco-friendly methods by Sean McManus & Allison McManus is a great guide for beginner gardeners!

This easy to read guide is filled with so much information and beautiful pictures. I look forward to using some of these tips on my new garden!

I'm so grateful to Sean McManus & Allison McManus, Quarto Publishing Group – Cool Springs Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

There is some great information in this guide, clear breakdown in the chapters and good tips every few pages. Overall it is a good guide for a complete beginner as it goes right back down to basics.
I have some knowledge of plants but less out in the open so found the pace of this guide a little slow.

First, oddly enough I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for their patience with my galley reviews; while we've all had a rough (2020), there were additional issues that have held me from reading (gasp -yeah, so sad but true). However, I was super excited to see my galleys and read The First-Time Gardener since I've been increasing my indoor plant collection and learning by trial and error. I've read other gardening books and this one was full of information for the first time gardener (which I admit to being, no matter then years I've been growing indoors). The authors did a wonderful job in holding my hand while I learned about the anatomy of a plant, types of naturally sourced mulches and their benefits, pest control, pruning, etc. It's still a bit too much information for me to process, but I'll know I have to revisit this great resource. Some of it I can't put into practice just because of being a city-dweller, but I think this book encompasses all that's needed to have a beautifully growing garden. #TheFirstTimeGardenerGrowingPlantsandFlowers #NetGalley

The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flower by Sean McManus and Allison McManus is the gardening book that you need! It's like an encyclopedia of answers and tips for getting started and keeping going with your plants and flowers. Great step-by-step directions and beautiful full color photos throughout.

The title is not lying. This is really for first time gardeners who don't know a thing about garden plants and flowers. It will walk you through things like the difference between an annual and perennial, bulbs and seeds, planning your plantings, etc. There are a good number of color photos. I really wish there were more lists of good plants and flowers for beginning gardeners and pictures of them. Still, it's a great resource for those who are brand new to gardening.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.