Dear Garden Book Publisher: I have a bone to pick with you

August 6, 5:51 PMGardening ExaminerRobin Ripley

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Dear Garden Book Publisher:

You don't know this, but you love me. Why? Because I buy a lot of gardening books.

I haven't counted, but my best guess would be that I have about 150 or 200 on the shelves I had especially built to hold them all. I get my fiction fix from the local library now so that I can buy more gardening books. In fact, when I go to Barnes & Noble, I am predisposed to walk out with at least a dozen new books to add to my collection.

But I have to tell you that more and more I am walking out of the bookstore empty handed. It frustrates me. It probably frustrates you. So in the interest of a better relationship between us, let me tell you why I have a bone to pick with you.

1. There are just too darn many books that are largely comprised of a catalog of plants. Oh sure, there may be a few token pages about how to plan a shade garden or best practices in taking care of perennials. But the rest of many of these books consist of small photos of single plants, descriptions, including light, water and soil requirements. There may also be a few words about how to best use the plants and in what combinations.
   
   At the most basic level, these pages make for some fairly dry reading. There is no creativity in these pages.
   
   But frankly, guys, my biggest gripe is that it's all feeling a little redundant. I probably have 20 books that have the same descriptions of many of the same plants. Do I really need to buy another book with the same information? Can't we call enough enough?
   
   And, helllooooo! There is always the Internet! This information is readily available from dozens of reliable sources right at my fingertips. Enough with the plant catalogs already.
    
2. The garden photos are too freakin' small. Alright, I will admit that I have reached the stage in my life where I also complain about small type--especially in dark restaurants. But I have always complained about small garden photos. How can you tell anything from teeny tiny photos of an expansive garden? Individual plants get lost in the mass of green or red or whatever. The overall design and form is difficult to discern.
   
   If girly magazines can pony up for centerfolds, why can't you garden publishers include a few juicy centerfolds and spring for some larger photos?
    
3. While I'm complaining about photos...The plants are often taken out of the larger context. I suspect that you're attempting to deal with issue #2 above. But close-up shots of a single plant or a small combination don't tell me much about how the grouping is integrated into the whole. Back up, photographers!
   
   
4. Where the heck are the source lists? Surely I am not the only shop-a-holic that gets their jollies by making impulse purchases of things I see in magazines and books. But how am I supposed to do that if you don't provide me with a nice, juicy resource list in the appendix--complete with URLs, of course. Please, be an enabler!
    
5. Authors should have websites--and not just promotional websites. If I particularly like an author's style or ideas, I want to establish an ongoing relationship to make sure I keep up with their new ideas, projects and thinking. What better way than to visit their website regularly? Frankly, you're missing the boat on future books from your authors if you don't require that they join the online community of gardeners.

Thanks for listening, dear Garden Book Publisher. I love my garden. And those books are what get me through the months of biting cold here in Maryland when it seems that Mother Nature has abandoned me. I desperately want a whole new pile of garden books to get me through the winter. Perhaps this will help you give me what I need.

Sincerely yours,

Robin
Gardening Examiner