The Layered Edible Garden Book Review – Modern Approach To Sustainable Gardening
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Tuesday, 29 September 2026 12:58
- Written by Janet Walker
The Layered Edible Garden, from Cool Springs Press and Quarto Publishing Group, introduces to gardeners the innovated, modern approach of creating a vertical layered garden that grows plants in communities, as one would find in nature.
Author and horticulturalist Christina Chung, across the 224 pages, introduces readers to the idea of "plant communities," departing from the tradition of neat rows of edible root vegetables, followed by sections of above ground shoot vegetables, and another neatly sectioned of other types of plants.
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The journey to writing The Layered Edible Garden: A Beginner's Guide to Creating a Productive Food Garden Layer by Layer, was developed over her time as the program coordinator and instructor for the British Columbia Botanical Garden's Horticulture Training Program. A discovery of Bok Choy growing randomly under her parents hydrangeas planted the seed into her soul and the rest grew over the years, as studies watered and nourished the idea of mixing gardening with sustainability.
The Layered Edible Garden: A Beginner's Guide to Creating a Productive Food Garden Layer by Layer, is presented across five chapters, including "Why a Vertically Layered Garden," "Building a Layered Garden," "Planting Composition" "The Layers," and "Maintenance."
Chapter One, "Why a Vertically Layered Garden," explains Chung reasoning behind crating a vertically layered garden, which simply means, planting from the ground up. She explains her idea of garden layers, which includes the use of trees and shrubs, and the benefits of an orderly, although hodgepodge, mix of plants. As sustainability is vital for year over year edible production, taking advantage of a vertically layered garden minimizes soil disturbance, and also creates less maintenance for the gardener.
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"Building a Layered Garden," Chapter Two, offers sound advice to those who wish to start this type of project. Plan. Plan, Plan, Plan. And to begin planning she introduces the idea of site analysis, which in large scale urban planning, this is understood, but for a backyard, patio, or other enclosed space, the notion of analyzing space seems a bit odd and yet it is critical to understand just how much space gardeners want to allot for the vertical garden.
Chapter Two walks readers through each of the necessary elements associated with the build, including exposure (where does the sun fall on the space), soil conditions (and which plants may modify the water availability), and should the space be so close to the garbage bins?
Once readers reach Chapter Three, "Planting Composition," we are understanding we are building a community of plants, and not defined, plant rows of yesteryear. "Plant Composition," is when we decide which plants, trees, shrubs, fruits, and roots, are welcome in our hybrid plant community.
Throughout the chapter, Chung also explains toxic plants and those prone to problems and the best way to propagate the plants and adds various ideas from seedlings to cuttings to layering and plant division.
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As we reach Chapter Four, "The Layers," the pictures explain the idea and includes the eight layers to an edible garden. For any edible layered garden, the canopy tree, is important to provide shade to the growing plants. She also explains the significance of adding new trees, working with those already in place or removing diseased trees. The canopy layer is comprised of trees that grow at least 40 foot, and she provides ideas of which will add beauty and benefit to the garden. Throughout the 88-page chapter, clearly the most in-depth, she walks through each layer providing ideas, and benefits of each suggestion.
Chapter Five, "Maintenance," is all about management of this vertical edible layered garden. Management and maintenance are at times interchangeable words, and building this type needs both management, seasonal management of each of the plants, and maintenance includes pruning, removing dead leaves, inspecting the growth process, and watering. Chapter five provides tips and includes charts to help new gardeners understand and helps answer the questions of mulch or compost, and other gardening suggestions.
The Layered Edible Garden, author Christina Chung, introduces a modern approach to maximize gardening space, and provides a step-by-step tips to build a multi-cultured bio-diverse backyard paradise filled with layers of edible plants that together, think safety in numbers, outcompete weeds, share resources and grow beautifully together.
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For those who appreciates boundaries and borders, and everything in its place, an organized approached to life, building a layered edible garden may not work, however if you can find order in chaos, a layered edible vertical garden, the Jackson Pollack of gardening, than it may work.
The Layered Edible Garden: A Beginner's Guide to Creating a Productive Food Garden Layer by Layer, with more than 200 attractive, and detailed gardening photos provides the readers with the knowledge and the approach, style, and system to unite the idea with a solid plan of action.
The Layered Edible Garden: A Beginner's Guide to Creating a Productive Food Garden Layer by Layer, is available online at Quatro Publishing and in book stores.
Title: The Layered Edible Garden: A Beginner's Guide to Creating a Productive Food Garden Layer by Layer.
Author: Christina Chung.
Language: English.
Release Date: February 2024.
Publisher: Quarto Publishing/Cool Springs Press.
Cover Design and Page Layout: Cindy Samargia Laun.
Illustrations: Erin Lowe.
Images: Used with Permission. See page 215 for book image credits.
Length: 224 pages.
ISBN: 978-0-7603-8559-3.
MSRP: $29.99 (U.S.), £22.00 (UK), $39.99 (CAN.).
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Under the banner of her production company, HL Productions, LLC, Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
