Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your green thumb to the next level, having a trusted gardening book by your side can make all the difference. To help you grow your gardening knowledge, we’ve rounded up 10 of the best books for beginner gardeners.

1. The Beginner’s Guide to Edible Herbs by Charles W.G. Smith

This book covers over 50 common kitchen herbs, with details on growing, harvesting, and using each one. It’s a handy reference packed with practical advice for novice herb gardeners.

2. Vegetable Gardening 101 by Ed Smith

The basics have never been easier! Ed Smith breaks down gardening fundamentals like soil preparation, plant spacing, watering, and more using straightforward language and helpful illustrations. It’s a great primer for first-time vegetable growers.

3. The Old Farmer’s Almanac Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook

A classic for good reason, this detailed handbook explains the ins and outs of planting, maintaining, and troubleshooting issues with all types of vegetable crops. The customization by growing zone is invaluable for success.

4. Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway

Permaculture design helps you work with nature, not against it for fruitful, low-maintenance gardens. This book shows you how using ethical guiding principles. Flowing through examples makes concepts stick.

5. Mini Meadows by Mike Lizotte

Trade in resource-hungry grass lawns for gorgeous, biodiverse mini meadows! Using native plants suited to your region, Mike Lizotte details how to convert even small, urban spaces into vibrant habitats for pollinators and other wildlife.

6. The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds by Robert Gough

Learn how to harvest and save seeds from your healthiest, most productive plants for free future crops. This comprehensive seed saving guide boasts instructions for over 300 vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

7. Homegrown Pantry by Barbara Pleasant

Preserve your backyard bounty with 100 recipes for pickling, drying, freezing, fermenting, and more. This book shares delicious ways to keep eating garden-fresh all year long while reducing food waste.

8. Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte

This fun guide to companion planting helps you place vegetable varieties together in your garden for benefits like pest control, bigger yields, and enhanced flavors. The handy charts take the guesswork out of it!

9. Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon

When resources run short, fertile, resilient gardens matter more than ever. Develop self-reliant skills with this manual for highly productive gardening intensive in small spaces.

10. The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour

Even cold climates can enjoy homegrown produce year-round thanks to Niki Jabbour’s savvy techniques, like cold frames, hoop houses, and succession planting. Customizestrategiesto your zone for non-stop harvests.