How to Grow

Nurture Your Garden, Nurture Yourself

By: Marcus Bridgewater

Narrated by: Marcus Bridgewater

“Garden Marcus is not only a trove of information if you’re looking to flex your green thumb, but a balm for the chaos happening in the world.”—Vogue

“Bridgewater’s planting tips are just as valuable when applied to life.”—The Root

In this transformative guide, TikTok’s most popular gardener, Marcus Bridgewater—aka Garden Marcus—offers lessons for growth rooted in lessons from the plant world to help cultivate the soul.

Marcus Bridgewater has been compared to Bob Ross and Mister Rogers for his soothing TikTok videos that relate botany to humanity. A gardener “who shares tips about caring for one’s plants and oneself” (New York Times) and “is not only a trove of information if you’re looking to flex your green thumb, but a balm for the pandemic-induced chaos happening in the world” (Vogue), his soothing observations on plants and life have made him a social media star. In caring for over 600 plants, Marcus has gained invaluable wisdom. Life inside us yearns to grow; like plants, humans maximize their potential when presented with the right conditions. Through care and attention, he reminds us, we can successfully cultivate growth.

Centered on a trinity of wellbeing—Mental Health, Physical Fitness, and Spiritual Awareness, How to Grow weaves together insights from the garden with stories from Marcus’s life to help you foster personal development. With lessons rooted in his experiences gardening—from how a replanted flourishing sweet potato vine is a reminder that all living things benefit from a change of scene, to how to embrace patience to foster growth—this inspiring guide helps you do “the dirty work” (pun intended) to discover kindness, patience, and positivity within. “We cannot make anything grow,” he advises. “But we can foster an environment where it may grow.”

How to Grow isn’t a gardening book. It is a self-help book that draws inspiration from the garden. Original, timely, and filled with nurturing wisdom, it takes perennial knowledge from plants to teach us about ourselves and opens our eyes to what we are capable of achieving.

Great listen

I really enjoyed this book! I started to follow Marcus on instagram and the seeds of positivity that he planted helped me through my day most times! If you are just needing a boost, this will do that for you! Even better when the author narrates the material!

A wonderful book

A wonderful book on healing, hope inspiration, and how we can gather all those things from the garden. I recommend it for anyone going through a tough time or even if you're not. It's a lovely book.

great

loved it. i thought it was a great read and I have learned about taking care of myself and the importance of it

Story telling

it was powerful to here the stories and being able to relate to some of the struggles and victories as well. it felt like I was having a coffee with a friend.

A Nurturing success!

Definitely a book worth reading or listening to! Marcus’ stories and the way he tells them are very inspiring. Tying the health and growth of plants to us (humans), are analogies I had never considered. There are insights and observations in this book that can help many of us overcome past or day to day struggles. I think this should be required reading for all students- of life, and those still in school. Enjoy!