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Can beer make plants grow? How about buttermilk? Or music - classical or rock? Is it true about planting trees in deep holes? And how about chasing insects with hot sauce and stopping slugs with eggshells? Remedies for all garden woes are there for the taking: the challenge is to know what will work and what won't. Fearlessly conducting original experiments and harvesting wisdom from the scientific literature, horticulturist Jeff Gillman assesses new and historic advice and reveals the how and w...

This inspiring and accessible hands-on book shows how simple gardening techniques can provide a dazzling plant display while helping the native wildlife. This new updated edition of the award-winning book (Garden Media Guild Practical Book of the Year) gives easy-to-follow instructions backed up with advice on planning and design, showing how we can share our outdoor space with nature. The authors show how to encourage beneficial garden species and discourage the more problematic ones. With its...

'A world-renowned horticultural tour de force, Arabella Lennox-Boyd is one of the most accomplished landscape designers of our time' House and Garden 'Arabella Lennox-Boyd's memoir-like account is a complete joy to read as well as to look at... A must' Country Life 'Testament to an extraordinarily creative and blooming life' Tatler Arabella Lennox-Boyd is one of the foremost garden designers in the world. She has created some of the country's most stunning private gardens, in addition to comm...

Over the years, Japanese gardeners have fine-tuned a distinctive set of pruning techniques that coax out the essential characters of their garden trees, or niwaki. In this highly practical book, Western gardeners are encouraged to draw upon the techniques and sculpt their own garden trees to unique effect. After discussing the principles that underpin the techniques, the author offers in-depth guidelines for shaping pines, azaleas, conifers, broadleaved evergreens, bamboos, and deciduous trees....

Pruning is essential to keeping trees, shrubs, and other plants healthy and beautiful. Not only does pruning keep plants from getting unwieldy and large, it also allows light and air to reach more branches, encourages fruit and blossom growth, removes diseased branches, and adds structural strength to plants. But many homeowners and gardeners feel overwhelmed by pruning. When is the right time to prune? How much should be removed? What's the difference between pinching and heading back? What too...

"Gardening with Shape, Line and Texture" bridges the gap between garden design books and plant reference encyclopedias. Leading landscaper Linden Hawthorne looks at plants from a designer's perspective (where color is often a secondary consideration) and emphasizes the important roles of plant shape. Part One reviews fine art principles and shows how they can be successfully applied to plant compositions by grouping plants into three heights: ground to knee, knee to navel, and navel to crown. Sh...

This 3rd Edition of Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning covers more than twenty additional plants in three new chapters. The result is the new definitive guide for the home gardener with friendly, expert advice from Cass Turnbull, founder of Seattle's PlantAmnesty, whose mission is "to end the senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs caused by mal-pruning." Nothing about pruning is obvious. In fact, most of it is downright counterintuitive. People try to prune plants like they cut lumbe...

If you're looking for something space efficient but can produce high yields, raised bed gardening would be the best option for you to try. Besides being efficient when it comes to space, it also solves a number of other issues such as dealing with difficult soil as well as your garden's accessibility. Raised bed gardens are basically made up of mounded soil that's surrounded by a frame to make sure it doesn't fall apart. They are usually at least 3 to 4 inches above the ground itself and each...

This book gives practical advice on how to design the kitchen garden, with tips on planning crops for maxmum efficiency, how to work with varying types of soil, and how to choose the right tools and equipment for specific tasks.

Imagine a thriving garden in your backyard, bursting with vibrantly colored blooms and lush green leaves, shaded by tall trees. Now imagine the same garden, alive with buzzing and flapping and chirping and croaking. Imagine the ecological impact of encouraging natural pollinators. Imagine the excitement of watching your garden become a hub of activity and learning about all of its different visitors. For those who relish observing nature in action, planning a garden to attract certain types of w...

Comprehensive, inexpensive, and the perfect companion for all gardeners. "If it isn't in Doc and Katy's book somewhere, it just isn't a problem". -- Saturday Review

Bestselling author Brett Markham's new handbook gives us the mini farming basics along with in-depth tips on vegetable gardening, fermenting, composting, and self-sufficiency in a handy new format and design. Includes: Soil management and making your own fertilizer Crop rotation and cover cropping Composting Seed starting and timing/planning Raised beds and pest management Pvc trellising and planting spacers Raising chickens, making your own chicken plucker, and butchering Growi...