• Practical information on soils, potting mixes and fertilisers
• How to deal with dead plants, mulch and compost
• Information on water usage
• Key issues for gardening in pots

“His new book explains in … clear language everything you need to know about your soil.”
Burke’s Backyard Magazine, June 2001

“I am going to recommend a book that no serious gardener can be without. ... If you buy no other book on gardening, then buy this one for a common-sense approach to the soil in your backyard that you are going to convert into a garden.”
Cedric Bryant (Canberra Sunday Times 8 July 2001)

“The territory covered in this well formatted publication is totally practical and should help any gardener improve the worst of soils, select the best fertiliser for particular plants, not to mention minimise water use.”
Grass Roots no.147 Oct/Nov 2001

“This book is a ‘must’ for all of us who care about our plants both in the garden and in containers. It is clearly set out, reads easily and full of practical issues which we all face in our gardening.”
Pat Webb (Growing Australian December 2001)

“This essential guide has been revised and expanded to include a wealth of new information to help gardeners cope with poor soils.”
Nancy Brewer (Melbourne Weekly November 4-10, 2001)

“ … offers a chance to get down to the grassroots and better understand the ways in which soils and plants interact.”
The Sunday Tasmanian 6 January 2002

“This book could be described as an instruction manual for gardening, providing the same benefits that a workshop manual would for a car. Reading it won’t make you a better drier, but as far a keeping things running smoothly and being able to fix things when they go wrong you will be streets ahead.”
Andrew Seccull (The Age 6 April 2002)

“… contains a wealth of information for practical gardeners, including how to improve the worst of soils, choose the best fertiliser for particular plants, and minimise water use.”
The Land 22 August 2002

“For the very best advice on preparing the soil for your new garden or improving the soil in you existing garden is to buy a copy of Kevin Handreck’s Gardening Down-Under – A guide to healthier soils.”
Cedric Bryant (Canberra Sunday Times 3 April 2005)

. . . and reviews for the 1st edition

“A must for all gardeners, Kevin Handreck’s well-organised book answers many common garden questions, as well as some not so common.”
Anouk Bedford, Gardening News, 1994

“I recommend this valuable book to all gardeners.”
Anne Latreille

“This very practical book allows us to eliminate the guesswork and transform hope to practical confidence. The soil condition below the surface is a very complex area of living organisms and food for them and the plants. This hidden world is revealed to us in such a practical, down-to-earth way that anyone can follow the simple advice …”
W.H. Payne, Australian Plants v.17 no.140 September 1994

“Gardening Down-under provides a lot of practical information left out of most gardening books.”
Garden Guide

“The single most useful Australian gardening book.”
Vogue LIVING, Feb/Mar 1996