ABSTRACT
Modern readers seem to have an inexhaustible appetite for gardening books: bookshops display an astonishing bounty of texts in the gardening section (usually located near the interior decorating and cooking areas). The overwhelmed booksellers categorize these books differently in every store: for example, you will find sections with books on annuals, perennials, vegetables, or roses (grouped by plant types), but also areas on container gardening, shade gardening, or organic gardening (grouped by type of garden practice). Writers, publishers, and booksellers alike face questions not easy to answer: why do gardeners need books? How do they use them? How does a book shape gardening practice, and how, in turn, is it shaped by practice or use?
