My Favorite Gardening Book Ideas for Mother's Day 2024
Gardening books that are educational and look good on a coffee table make wonderful Mother's Day gifts for daughters, moms, wives, partners, grandmothers, you name it (or maybe you're shopping for yourself—we're here for it). You could give a book on its own or pair it with some of our favorite gardening tools and seeds and make your own little Mother's Day gift basket.
As a gardener, garden writer, and, most importantly, mom myself, I've rounded up some of my favorite books on gardening and garden design, plus some of my most-loved recipe books for using up seasonal garden harvests.
In no specific order, here are my top book ideas for the mom you're celebrating.
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Vegetables Love Flowers
Lisa Mason Ziegler
Help your loved one create a thriving, productive vegetable garden the natural way with this fantastic organic gardening book. Lisa talks about interplanting flowers with your vegetables to fight garden pests naturally and maximize your harvests. Not only will your giftee attract tons of pollinators to her garden after reading this book, she'll also be able to harvest her own beautiful bouquets of cut flowers to bring indoors.
Kitchen Garden Revival
Nicole Burke
I may be biased (cuz I wrote it), but I think this is one of the best garden design books out there. It walks the reader through the planning, building, and planting of a sophisticated and productive raised-bed kitchen garden, from design all the way to harvest. My goal with this book was to help gardeners of all levels find a better, more beautiful way to grow their own food than the traditional vegetable garden.
Garden Wonderland
Leslie Bennett & Julie Chai
No one compares to Leslie Bennet when it comes to writing about edible gardens. When I first really got into kitchen gardening, I read Leslie's book The Beautiful Edible Garden, and it had a profound effect on the way I gardened going forward. In her new book, Leslie reveals a ton of her garden design secrets.
Garden Wonderland is packed with tips for beautiful garden design in every kind of space. Plus, there are the most gorgeous photos and illustrations. This book can be your mom's new coffee table centerpiece but also something she'll refer to over and over again as she creates her own beautiful and bountiful landscape.
Read more about this brand new book from Leslie Bennett herself.
The Compost Coach
Kate Flood
This book is all about small steps each of us can take to live more sustainably. Don't worry if your mom/gift recipient lives in an apartment or doesn't have a garden yet. Compost Kate covers all kinds of ways to divert food scraps and rethink our waste. Reading this book and then starting a compost pile together would be a really fun, environmentally friendly project to take on as a family.
PlantYou
Carleigh Bodrug
In this bestselling cookbook, Carleigh of PlantYou dishes out more than 140 easy-to-follow, plant-based recipes. If your loved one is vegan or just looking to eat healthier, they'll find inspiration for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Plus, the meal planning and grocery shopping guides will take some of the mental load off the busy mom you're celebrating this Mother's Day.
Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables
Joshua McFadden
Six Seasons always tops my recommended books to read. In this garden-inspired cookbook, Joshua does exactly what I like to practice in my own kitchen, and that's eating and cooking seasonally. He shows us that our seasons are actually a little more complicated than we think, but he breaks it down in such an easy and digestible way, alongside the most delicious recipes! The mom in your life is going to be so inspired to cook seasonally and make the most of the garden or the farmers' market in her kitchen.
Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers
Erin Benzakein
Does your loved one need more flowers in her life? This book is the ultimate flower garden inspiration. Floral designer Erin of Floret walks you through flower care and techniques for designing the most gorgeous garden-fresh bouquets and festive wreaths. This book is perfect for flower lovers, gardeners of all levels, aspiring floral designers, home decor enthusiasts, and those who love to host dinner parties.
Pair this book with some flower seeds, and you've got a wonderful and thoughtful Mother's Day gift.
Martha Stewart's Vegetables
Martha Stewart
As someone who has always been way more comfortable in the garden than in the kitchen, I highly recommend Martha Stewart's Vegetables cookbook. It's full of simple recipes that make the most of your kitchen garden harvests. My favorite is the Swiss chard lasagna (it's kid-approved!). Most of the 150 recipes are vegetarian, but there are some ideas for meat, as well. This book makes dinner prep feel like a treat.
Simple Green Meals
Jen Hansard
Jen is a true leader in the Good Food Movement. She's the co-founder of Simple Green Smoothies, and she branches out a bit in Simple Green Meals to offer quick but super delicious vegetarian meals that are sure to please the entire family.
As a busy person, I've found Jen's ideas have made plant-based eating more accessible. None of her recipes take very long to whip up. I also like how she focuses on filling your body with nutritious foods. I've taken several of her plant-powered challenges now, and I always feel reconnected to my body and inspired to care for myself. I'm confident that any woman in your life will appreciate these simple recipes as much as I do!
Leaves, Roots & Fruit
Nicole Burke
I wrote this to be the best gardening book for helping beginners grow with their plants. If your loved one dreams of harvesting baskets full of delicious food but doesn't know where to start, this is the book for them. It outlines the steps of my gardening system that helped hundreds of my clients find gardening success—first by growing leaves, then roots, and finally fruiting plants. I included clear step-by-step instructions for setup, care, and harvest for each category of plants, complete with insightful tips for every level of gardener to grow with their plants.
A Garden Can Be Anywhere
Lauri Kranz
Lauri runs Edible Gardens LA, and she's a pioneer in the kitchen garden movement. This book goes in depth about how she creates the most beautiful, lush gardens in Los Angeles. She's even responsible for the gardens of some pretty big celebrities!
I've really come to appreciate Lauri online, and this book is written in such a gorgeous, welcoming style. It's the perfect gift for anyone looking to make the most out of their space.
Gardening for Everyone
Julie Watkins
This is another great garden book to make growing edible plants more accessible. Julia is a sustainability expert set on helping everyone grow more herbs, fruits, and veggies at home. She also includes some fun hands-on projects like how to build a teepee for pole beans, make your own wildflower seed paper, and enjoy refreshing herbal lemonade ice pops.
Grab a Garden Book to Help the Mom in Your Life Grow
I hope you found something on this list for the special person in your life who deserves to be celebrated this Mother's Day (and every day). Whether or not she already has a garden set up and growing, she'll love flipping through these gorgeous books and picturing what could be. If you still need some inspiration, explore more Mother's Day gift ideas here.
Thanks for being here and helping to make gardening ordinary again!
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