10 Best Books on Container Gardening (2023)

A hands-on approach is the best way to figure out what does and doesn’t work in the garden. Yet, while real-world experience is the ideal way to learn, there are plenty of opportunities for you to learn more about container gardening by reading.

Countless expert gardeners have spent years acquiring professional-level insights related to all types of gardening. To your benefit, many of those gardeners have been kind enough to put their knowledge into words.

So if you are stuck on a container gardening dilemma that you cannot solve or you simply wish to expand your gardening skills, finding a great book will serve you well. This article will introduce you to the 10 best books on container gardening to help you on your journey.

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Best Container Gardening Books

In many ways, container gardening offers you a lot of advantages that make it easier for you to grow healthy plants. But that does not mean you’ll be completely free of roadblocks. And even if your container gardening is going well, there is always room for you to improve.

The titles in the sections below will help you do just that. Some of these books take a broad approach to container gardening, while others focus on specific niche areas of container gardening. Either way, the advice from these authors is sure to elevate your container gardening skills.

McGee & Stuckey’s Bountiful Container

If growing edible plants in a container is your goal, then McGee & Stuckey’s Bountiful Container is the right book for you. The two authors of this book go into great detail about how to grow many edible container plants, including vegetables, fruits, herbs, and plants with edible flowers.

McGee and Stuckey also take time to give you tips on how to be a successful container gardener even if you live in an apartment with limited growing space. After you master the basics, they will introduce you to some advanced tactics such as successional planting strategies. The McGee & Stuckey book definitely deserves to be included on our 10 best books on container gardening.

Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Container Gardening

Visual cues can go a long way in helping you engage with and retain the information you learn. That is why the Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Container Gardening includes an extensive collection of photos and illustrations to help you build a better understanding of what is possible with container gardens.

As the name of this book suggests, this volume is comprehensive in the lessons it shares. Between the covers, you’ll learn how to arrange plants so that they look their best. You can also learn how to grow container plants that will work well in the same recipes. For that reason alone, the Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Container Gardening is one of the best container vegetable gardening books you can find.

Container and Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners and Beyond

Compared to other books on this list, Container and Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners and Beyond is a relatively short book. However, that limited length may be the most impressive part of this title. In just 150 pages, author Wendy Silveira gives help for beginner gardeners, advanced gardeners, those who want to grow in containers, and those who want to know how to use a raised garden bed.

In the text, Silveira takes you through a thorough step-by-step approach that will guide you through the entire process of raising container plants. You’ll start by learning how to sow seeds and eventually progress to understanding how to harvest your edible plants. The book also gives specific advice on how to grow plants in different seasons and how to use container gardens on a small scale.

Container Gardening for Dummies

Tomato Container Gardening

Tomatoes are one of the most popular plants to grow in the garden. The main reasons behind that popularity are that tomatoes are both easy to grow and extremely delicious. In response to that popularity, James Wood wrote Tomato Container Gardening to help any gardener grow tomatoes on their own.

Tomato Container Gardening will teach you about some of the most important varieties of tomatoes while describing the characteristics that make each one unique. After deciding which variety is best for you, James Wood will guide you through all you need to know about how to raise a healthy tomato plant in a container. This will include details on general care, avoiding common problems, and special insights that only the best tomato growers know.

Container Gardening: Through the Year

If you have spent even a single year gardening, you know that the plants you grow will change significantly throughout that time. Because of that fact, savvy gardeners must know how to alter their plant care based on the current and upcoming seasons. Container Gardening: Through the Year is a great tool to help you with that kind of adaptability.

Within this book, you will find many container gardening projects, each of which could inspire your next planting scheme. However, the real value of this book is that it gives you a week-by-week breakdown of what you will need to do to make each of those projects a success. The authors also share other important details about growth requirements and correct container dimensions.

The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible

Growing edible plants is likely one of the top reasons why many gardeners decide to begin container gardening. If that is your motivation, then The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible is a book you should not overlook. This book will give you all the information you need to grow a wide array of tasty vegetables.

Edward C. Smith is the author of this book, and he relied on decades-worth of experience to create what is one of the best books on container vegetable gardening. In the book, Smith reveals some valuable tactics that will control bests in a chemical-free way while also making vegetable container gardening both enjoyable and easy to do.

The Practical Encyclopedia of Container Gardening

The Practical Encyclopedia of Container Gardening is a great resource for anyone who is interested in container gardening. This book may not be a comprehensive guide to raising plants. But it will give you the ability to look up and learn about hundreds of common house plants just by turning a few pages.

For each entry, you’ll see images of the plant in question, as well as some information about what it takes to help that plant grow to its full potential. Along with that, you will find a few useful tips on how to arrange containers in your home. For those reasons and more, The Practical Encyclopedia of Container Gardening should have a home on the bookshelf of any serious container gardener.

Container Gardening Made Easy

Here is a book that is a fantastic option for any novice gardener who wants to start using containers. While container gardening is often easier than other forms of gardening, Container Gardening Made Easy will make this planting approach that much easier than it already is.

Container Gardening Made Easy is all about the basics of what container gardening is and what the main benefits of container gardening are. The book will also show beginners some of the best and easiest plants to grow indoors in containers. After that, you’ll begin to learn about some of the most common container gardening pitfalls and how you can avoid them.

Grow Bag Gardening

As you embark on your container gardening journey, you will soon find that there are many types of containers you can use. But among all of those options, using grow bags is one of the best approaches you can take. Grow bags offer some distinct advantages that other types of containers do not.

If you decide to take the route of using grow bags for your container garden, then Grow Bag Gardening is a book that you should own. This book will not only reveal some of the many reasons why grow bags are so beneficial, it will also give you extensive instructions on how to use them to grow impressive plants. If you’re into grow bag gardening, then this book should be part of your collection of best books on container gardening.

Final Thoughts on the 10 Best Books on Container Gardening

In the world of gardening, there is no substitute for actual gardening practice. But don’t forget that reading an informative book is a great way to supplement the knowledge you pick up in the field. If reading sounds like a great way to enhance your gardening experience, check out any of the books on container gardening on this list. 

Sources:

How to Use Succession Planting in Your Garden

Making the Most of Visual Aids

Growing tomatoes is easier than you might think