For centuries, before you could pop into the supermarket and come out with paracetamol and cough mixture, people turned to plants.

Today, if we pick a dock leaf to rub on a nettle sting, we are tapping into that vein of natural wisdom which helped our ancestors – apart from when it didn’t.

The Herbal was a book which listed plants, their properties, appearance and uses; before the apothecary or chemist, people might pay a herbalist for a tincture to cure their ailments.

The use of plants for healing purposes forms the origin of much modern medicine. Many conventional drugs originate from plant sources – for example, aspirin (from willow bark), quinine (from cinchona bark), and morphine (from the opium poppy). The seasoned journalist and gardening specialist Ann Treneman knows all this. A herbalist for our times, she shares her plant lore, wit and wisdom in this magnificently illustrated book.

The Garden Cure lists ‘100 Remarkable Remedies for the Curious Gardener’ in a compendium of horticultural answers to myriad problems which will fascinate even those who give the trowel a miss. There’s something in these beautifully written pages for everybody. Did you know that gardening for 30 minutes burns 167 calories, equal to playing badminton?

For those of a more contemplative nature, Treneman has entries on ‘Death, fear of’, ‘Stress, need to reduce’, and ‘Poetry, lack of’. Small ways of helping with those issues may include poppies, petunias and peaches.

The entry on poetry is a good example of her style; with lightness of touch she reveals real soul, seguing from the loneliness of online life, through sublime lines from the 17th-century poet Andrew Marvell, to Japan for gardens and Haiku. A delight.

The entry on ‘Insomnia, dealing with’ reminded me to be sure Valerian is in my nightly herbal tea; and to get St John’s Wort tablets for ‘Mild Depression, relief of’.

One entry points out that ‘the history of alcohol is as old as plants’ – my regular gin and tonic would once have contained enough quinine to help combat malaria. If you are feeling that life is all too ‘Humdrum’ the author’s cure is within easy reach: plant bulbs. A pot on a windowsill and a good book to read are readily available. Hooray!

Gardens and parks must remind you of the changing seasons. And since holly and ivy are on the horizon I’ve no doubt that The Garden Cure will find its way into countless lucky gardening socks this Christmas.