Garden Railway Forum

My thoughts are turning towards choosing suitable plants for my SM32 scheme. I've seen the pinned thread in 'scenery' but would like something in hard copy and more detail. This title was mentioned in the 16mm Association's Handbook but whenever I've looked online, sellers want £25+ for. I appreciate it may well be a good book but I do not wish to pay that much. Particularly as the sellers aren't selling their titles at the listed prices - they seem to stay unsold for a long time, suggesting any demand is the sort from the seller for a high price rather than a genuine market price based on free supply and demand. I also note the prices tend to be remarkably similar, which I find rather suspicious.

If anyone has a copy in reasonable condition that they are happy to part with, please PM me.

Petersfield wrote: ↑Sun Oct 12, 2025 7:57 pm My thoughts are turning towards choosing suitable plants for my SM32 scheme. I've seen the pinned thread in 'scenery' but would like something in hard copy and more detail. This title was mentioned in the 16mm Association's Handbook but whenever I've looked online, sellers want £25+ for. I appreciate it may well be a good book but I do not wish to pay that much. Particularly as the sellers aren't selling their titles at the listed prices - they seem to stay unsold for a long time, suggesting any demand is the sort from the seller for a high price rather than a genuine market price based on free supply and demand. I also note the prices tend to be remarkably similar, which I find rather suspicious.

If anyone has a copy in reasonable condition that they are happy to part with, please PM me.

I think I have two copies so will be happy to part with one for a small consideration.

However, I am currently away until the end of November and so can't check or send it to you. So, if someone else steps forward you might be better going with them.

Rik

It was £22-50 when first published in 2013, and it has been out of print for a fairly long time, so I guess £25 isn't too bad. However, I must confess that although there are some lovely garden railway piccys in it, I was fairly disappointed with the actual plant/planting content and I wouldn't want to give very much at all if I was to get it now.

ge_rik wrote: ↑Mon Oct 13, 2025 11:00 am
I think I have two copies so will be happy to part with one for a small consideration.

However, I am currently away until the end of November and so can't check or send it to you. So, if someone else steps forward you might be better going with them.

Rik

Thankyou Rik - I'll keep an eye out but could well take you up on this in a few weeks.

philipy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 13, 2025 1:41 pm It was £22-50 when first published in 2013, and it has been out of print for a fairly long time, so I guess £25 isn't too bad. However, I must confess that although there are some lovely garden railway piccys in it, I was fairly disappointed with the actual plant/planting content and I wouldn't want to give very much at all if I was to get it now.

It's one of the snags of purchasing sight unseen - and one reason for me being reluctant to spend too much on unknown quantities. Many moons ago I ran a bookshop with a second-hand section. Excepting the odd rare title which I knew was a genuine collectors' item, most copies were put out at less than the original cover price. Some were more - usually the ones written by renowned authors and regarded as definitive works. Potentially this one falls into that category but keeping my eye on various online listings, all the sellers I see have their copies gathering dust for a long time, whereas some other books I've looked at only last a few days or a couple of weeks before being sold.

Re the content, that's interesting - and a bit offputting. If I was writing such a title I'd want to put lots of info and advice about the plants in. I haven't written a book like that but I have written some articles in that style - centred around good pictures with descriptions of the 'ingredients' and hints/tips on how to use them to best advantage. I have wandered around local garden centres and noted possible plants but lack the detailed horticultural knowledge to make good judgements. Lovely pictures are nice but available elsewhere (on here for a start!) so was hoping this title would give some pointers. ....


(Does anyone have any alternate titles or publications to suggest/recommend)?

I got mine from Booklaw, for a tenner plus postage.

They still seem to have them in stock.
https://www.booklaw.co.uk/alantic/pemdr ... -2013.html

To me, it has some interesting info in it, and some useful plant list tables as suggestions for plants to use in which locations (shade, sun, damp areas etc).

I wouldn't have paid £22 for it, but for a tenner and £3 postage I found it good value for the info it has.

albert ross wrote: ↑Tue Oct 21, 2025 8:40 pm I got mine from Booklaw, for a tenner plus postage.

They still seem to have them in stock.
https://www.booklaw.co.uk/alantic/pemdr ... -2013.html

To me, it has some interesting info in it, and some useful plant list tables as suggestions for plants to use in which locations (shade, sun, damp areas etc).

I wouldn't have paid £22 for it, but for a tenner and £3 postage I found it good value for the info it has.

Thankyou kindly. Booklaw did indeed have at least one left in stock and I've just ordered a copy, together with another title. I'm not quite a novice gardener but am far from expert, so grouping plants into types of locations would be useful. Philipy's comment did give me pause for thought but I thought at £9.99 I'd give it a try. Some parts of the line are a bit vague in my head, so I'd be happy to be a bit inspired and have some detail filled in by some good photos. One of our neighbours is a keen gardener, so there's every chance if I show her a photo of a plant, she can say that's a thingummy and I can ask for it at the local garden centre (which is fairly extensive and has staff who mostly know their stuff).