Bedding Plants

by Martin Fish

Published 5 April 2004
This new title in the highly successful Collins Practical Gardener series tackles the fine art of cultivating flower beds -- from seeds and plugs to glorious carpets of colour and scent!The book begins with a potted history of the subject of bedding plants. The reader is then guided through all stages of planning, planting and care -- how to go about designing a bedding arrangement, whether to buy in plants or propagate yourself, and how to keep your bed looking its best throughout the season. A special section shows how to care for tender perennials so that they last for several years. The main section of the book is a comprehensive directory of every conceivable bedding plant available. Each entry includes a visual chart listing the best varieties and indicating when to plant, length of flowering season, spread, height, moisture requirements and hardiness. In addition, quick-access care charts provide a hit list of care requirements and problems to look out for.
Contents include:* Introduction and History of Bedding Plants; Assessing Your Garden; Design -- planting combinations; Buying or Growing; Growing Bedding Plants from Seed; Growing Bedding Plants from Plugs and Seedlings; Planting & Aftercare; Perennial Bedding Plants -- propagation and care; A-Z of Bedding Plants; Troubleshooting; Pests & Diseases

Lawns

by Martin Fish

Published 7 March 2005
Keeping a healthy and verdant lawn can be a real challenge. Collins Practical Gardener Lawns looks at all imaginable aspects of starting and maintaining a lawn. Whether your lawn is mainly for your family or intended as a show piece, Lawns will provide all the know-how you need to design, prepare for, create and keep a lawn tailored to your needs. All the technical info is covered from ground roots up, including advice on sowing seeds, laying turf, buying equipment and making repairs. Individual design features are suggested, ranging from creating a wildflower meadow to planting bulbs through your lawn in eye-catching patterns and shapes. Each listing in the A-Z directory of grass types features a visual chart listing the best varieties and optimum sowing times. Quick-access care charts provide a hit list of care requirements and the troubleshooting chart tells you how to identify and solve many common problems. Also featured is a directory of pests, diseases and how to treat them, which means when something does go wrong you have all the information at your fingertips to help put it right.
Full of information, advice and practical tips, this no-nonsense guide to lawns is the most informative reference of its kind! Contents include: / History of Lawns / Types of lawn / Designing a lawn / Site/aspect / Soil types / Drainage / Preparing for a new lawn / Seed sowing techniques / Laying turf / Aftercare of newly laid lawn / Lawn Maintenance - tools, irrigation / Lawn repairs / Other lawn features / A-Z Lawn Grasses / A-Z Lawn Weeds and Broadleaved Weeds / Troubleshooting / Pests and diseases / Common name plant index and subject index