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Get the best out of your outside space by calling on your garden 'friends'. Introducing helpful wildlife into your garden will help to control pests, maintain a natural chemical-free balance and encourage your garden to bloom, whether you have a large garden, an allotment or a simple window box. Some plants are great 'friends' and are endlessly useful – sweetpeas are good for regenerating tired soil, for example, while marigolds repel pesky greenfly away from your prized cabbages. Birds and oth...

Creating beautiful, healthy bonsai is a wonderful skill that anyone can learn, with a little time, patience, and this all-inclusive manual. With color photos and drawings to illustrate the points, it introduces all the cultivation techniques; offers expert advice on location, soil types, watering, and pest control; and provides intricate instruction on training the bonsai--including pruning, wiring and stretching it. An A-to-Z guide of all the popular species showcases varieties that range from...

The book looks in detail at how shrubs and climbers can be used in different ways in the garden, whether this is as specimen plants and focal points or in mixed and shrub borders in association with other plants. The versatility of shrubs and climbers is celebrated, with practical guidance on using them in containers, as hedging and screening plants, alongside paths and entrances, and as ground-cover. There are also helpful suggestions on using climbers to clothe walls and fences and add height...

The authors have compiled eight small format books that cover the most popular subjects for gardeners in the Plant Chooser Series. The series is aimed at the less-expert gardener who may be buying plants for the first time.

Japanese plants have had an unmistakable influence on the gardens of the world. Who can imagine gardens without flowering cherries, hostas, Japanese maples, or magnolias? For all the popularity of these plants in international gardens, however, few gardeners know the full story of Japanese plants --- their history and uses in gardens in Japan, their horticultural merits for gardens of all kinds, even the meaning and symbolism of their native names. Now for the first time, a color encyclopedia pr...

Foliage comes in a mind-boggling variety of color, shape and growth habit. But which ones complement each other and work best for the many garden situations people have? Fine Foliage gives the home gardener 60+ examples of plant combinations that work for every purpose, whether in sun or shade, path or meadow, porch or poolside. Each plant combination is introduced with an on-site photograph and "Why This Works" text, accompanied by individual close-up photos and quick-tip info about care, site,...

Drawing on two decades of fieldwork in the United States and fifteen Latin American countries, the authors bring together current knowledge of the structure, ecology, human uses, conservation value, evolution, and diversity of the forty-one genera of American woody and herbaceous bamboos. They also discuss three genera of basal grasses that resemble bamboos. They describe the importance of bamboos to South American landscapes and cultures, explaining how jungles of Guadua and thickets of Chusque...

Inspiration for gardeners everywhere! Margery Fish's classic work on creating a cottage garden is back in print in a brand-new edition. In the 1960s, Margery Fish and her husband Walter decided to transform an acre of wilderness into a stunning cottage garden. The beautiful and timeless We Made a Garden recounts the trials and tribulations, successes and failures, of her venture with ease and humor--from choosing the most suitable hyssop for the terraced garden to battling with her husband on...

The proteas (Proteaceae) are a large and ancient plant family of Gondwana origins with an impressive diversity of flower and form, and an intriguing distribution pattern throughout mainly the Southern Hemisphere. Through spectacular photography, Lewis J. Matthews has captured the stunning beauty and unique characteristics of a broad range of cultivated species and cultivars. Some of these are well known while others are either new introductions or lesser known examples considered to be worthy of...

The popularity of native North American plants has soared in recent years, for many good reasons. Whatever draws you to native plants, you'll find no better or more authoritative guide than Allan Armitage. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's foremost horticulturists, Armitage describes more than 630 species and cultivars of perennials, biennials, and annuals that are native to the United States, bringing to each plant a wealth of practical knowledge and the full weight of his experience an...

Designed to be read for pleasure as well as for reference, this book offers uniquely reader-friendly plant descriptions without the use of intimidating horticultural jargon. Many of the photographs were specially commissioned for this book and clearly show the plants described. The perfect source book and reference manual for anyone building a garden plant collection and looking for inspiration and practical advice with over 950 colour photographs