BOOK REVIEWS

Tips from the Old Gardeners

Duncan Crosbie
Past Times
Distributed by Bookwise
$NZ12.95

THIS slim compilation is one of those finds that you buy as a gift, only to put it on your own bookshelf. As the blurb says: "Duncan Crosbie takes a moderately straight-faced-look at old gardening tips which can prove helpful - or in some cases should be avoided."

We get tips on the weather, tips on companion planting, tips on combating pests and diseases and many more. And there are some good quotes - this one from botanist and 20th-century Christian humanitarian Evelyn Underhill: "We have descended into the garden and caught 300 slugs. How I love the mixture of the beautiful and squalid in gardening. It makes it so like life."

Rating: cheap, cheerful and useful.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH