There is also a whole section on fruit that could be a great time saver, learning from others’ experience. Mulch and other soil building techniques are welcome, and raised beds and other features such as rain barrels and compost bins have their place.

He mixes annual hybrids, heritage varieties and perennial vegetables and has a pragmatic approach to selecting seeds and seed saving. If you keep having to duck your head to mow underneath a tree, or go up a ladder three times every summer to cut ivy out of the gutters, or hire a hedgetrimmer to cut the Eleagnus that keeps growing in front of the windows and blocking the light – do something about it! You should not sit down to read this book without a notepad to hand – you will probably need to keep a dedicated notebook for all the ideas and tips you will pick up and want to record and try out next season.If this was his aspiration, he came fairly close at times, with his modest suburban garden looking something like a miniature Garden of Eden. Written by an acknowledged expert, this friendly guide will help you grow food in whatever space you have - large or small, rural or urban - with minimal bought in inputs, and maximum satisfaction. Minimalist gardening appeals to all gardeners – every grower is excited by the prospect of increased yields and decreased effort – it’s a dream for anyone trying to combine food growing with a busy life or ageing body. It can quickly become impossible to combine the hard labour of conventional growing practice with busy careers and family life. I found it almost a complete practical gardening course that you can use as needed, a series of easy to follow practicals you will be itching to get out and try.

In the last chapter Patrick takes a look at permaculture beyond our own gardens and plots and gets us thinking about how we can move toward collaboration and integration with neighbours and wider communities.Patrick describes how to select plants based on what you like to eat and how to combine them in polycultures that confuse pests. The following 16 chapters each cover a specific aspect in detail and I found helpful wisdom and instruction in each but especially enjoyed the chapters on seeds and plants, shady gardening, slug controlling, perennial vegetables, pruning and building paths and steps.

This section is particularly helpful when it’s time to to start planning (or revolutionising) your plot for the next year, it’s also reassuring to conventional gardeners that they can make gains just by tweaking their existing practices and they don’t have to completely redesign from scratch. Perfect for watching and dreaming up new ideas during the winter months… As a follow-up to my Topiary Provocations video (which you can see on Youtube for free) I was asked to do a video for their Masterclass series on how to make topiary.Written by an acknowledged expert, this friendly guide will help you grow food in whatever space you have large or small, rural or urban with minimal bought in inputs, and maximum satisfaction. The Minimalist Gardener makes it all possible – we can all benefit now from the depth of experience and wisdom handed down to us by Patrick.