MBR: The Gardening Shelf
Midwest Book Review
Shocking Beauty
Thomas Hobbs
Periplus (Tuttle, Dist.)
364 Innovation Drive, N. Clarendon, VT 05759-9436
079465021X $29.95 www.tuttlepublishing.com
Thomas Hobbs is a master maker of gardens, and in SHOCKING BEAUTY he
offers his original perspective on garden design through a series of
literary, inspiring essays taking examples from exceptional gardens
throughout North America and Europe to show how gardens can be inspired
rather than arranged. Nature is the best example of how to blend colors
and textures to create 'shocking beauty', Hobbs maintains: full-page
color photos demonstrate this beauty.
Guide to Pruning
Cass Turnbull
Sasquatch Books
119 S. Main Street, #400, Seattle, WA 98104
1570614687 $19.95 www.sasquatchbooks.com
Bad pruning can do more than produce an unsightly tree: it can lead to
water sprouts, diseases, and even death. To keep this from happening,
consult Cass Turnbull's GUIDE TO PRUNING, which appears in its second
updated edition to pack n pruning pros and cons for hundreds of plants,
shrubs and trees. All the basics of when and how to prune are revealed
in a guide which teaches best practices.
Tropical Plants For Home and Garden
William Warren
Thames and Hudson
500 - 5th Ave., New York NY 10110
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
0500283419 $34.95
It's quite a simple formula: if you're looking to include tropical
plants into your home or garden, you can't be without this book.
Gorgeous color photos by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni pack a display of
equally gorgeous plants accompanied by details on growing needs,
propagation, cultivars, and use in home or garden environments. From
ferns and succulents to gingers and bananas, a wide variety of plants
of all sizes and types are covered to delight any who live in warm
environments or have greenhouses to stock.
California Native Plants For the Garden
Carol Bornstein, David Fross & Bart O'Brien
Cachuma Press
PO Box 560, Los Olivos, CA 93441
0962850586 $27.95 www.cachumapress.com
If you're a California gardener you can't be without CALIFORNIA NATIVE
PLANTS FOR THE GARDEN, which is deserving of ongoing recommendation as
one of the most comprehensive guides on the subject we've seen. Color
photos pack a comprehensive review of plants best suitable for
California gardens, covering cultivation, landscape design usage, water
needs, and more. From pruning requirements to common diseases and
insect problems, plants in CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS FOR THE GARDEN are
all thoroughly detailed.
Sunset Books
www.sunset.com
Three lovely gardener's guides provide very different references for
any seeking to make over and create a beautiful garden environment.
BEFORE & AFTER GARDEN MAKEOVERS (038031883, $16.95) tells how to create
not just an acceptable garden, but an interested and varied environment
juxtaposing stones, waterfalls, pathways and multicolored flora and
foliage for dramatic makeovers. From building raised beds to creating
curving pathways and adding color and variety, BEFORE AND AFTER GARDEN
MAKEOVERS comes packed with inspiration. Same goes for LANDSCAPING WITH
STONE (0386034785, $14.95), which tells how to use stone to create
pathways, steps, stairs, and walkways. Even rock gardens are included
in a guide which focuses not just on design ideas, but on how to
incorporate stonework into a living landscape for maximum effect. The
completely revised, updated edition of SUNSET WESTERN LANDSCAPING
(0376039159, $29.95) packs in over six hundred color photos and
examines how landscape and garden decoration may blend with decks,
pathways, and more. With its extensive photo galleries, WESTERN
LANDSCAPING is packed with lovely ideas.
Lawns Natural And Organic
Don Williamson
Lone Pine Publishing
1808 "B" Street, Suite 140 Auburn, WA 98001
9768200146 $16.95 1-800-661-9017 www.lonepinepublishing.com
Lawns Natural And Organic by lawncare expert Don Williamson is an
extensive, profusely illustrated collection of innovative,
comprehensive tips and strategies for the overall maintenance of
quality gardens and lawns for central and northern range of botanical
environment in America. Introducing readers to an expansive exploration
of the most common turfgrass species, soil and their nutrient
requirements, planning for existing light and water conditions, lawn
installation techniques, maintenance, including fertilization, aerating
and thatch control, pest management for insects, weeds and diseases,
troubleshooting for lawn repair and renovation, an annual lawn
maintenance calendar, and low-maintenance and groundcover alternatives,
Lawns Natural And Organic diligently compiles all the necessary
information for creating, organizing, and maintaining a beautiful lawn.
Lawns Natural And Organic is very strongly recommended to all
homeowners, landscapers and professional gardeners considering the
renovation a lawn -- as well those in the profession of lawn
maintenance for its outstanding and invaluable knowledge of lawn
upkeep.
Easy Garden Projects
Barbara Pleasant
Yankee Books/Rodale Books
400 S 10th Street, Emmaus, PA 18098
0899094007 $23.95 www.rodale.com
Easy Garden Projects: 200 Do-It-Yourself Ideas To Help You Grow Your
Best Garden Ever, knowledgeably compiled and expertly edited by Barbara
Pleasant, is a simply outstanding collection of innovative projects and
intelligent ideas for bringing greater ease to gardening in a good many
of its diverse aspects. Including instructional details of objects and
innovations such as a Long-Handled Watering Wand, fashioning a Flashy
Scarecrow, and making a Twig Tower in a pot, to making a Light Box from
a drawer, weaving a wheat Good Luck Charm, and building a Rock Swale,
Easy Garden Projects is an invaluable and practical "how to" reference.
Easy Garden Projects is very highly recommended to all gardening
specialists, hobbyists, and enthusiasts for its wealth of fun and
inexpensive tips and projects.
Cass Turnbull's Guide To Pruning
Cass Turnbull & Kate Allen
Sasquatch Books
119 S Main St, #400, Seattle, WA 98104
1570614687 $19.95 1-800-775-0817
Now in an updated second edition, Cass Turnbull's Guide To Pruning is a
no-nonsense guide to pruning plants the right way, since the wrong way
can lead to "water sprouts" (stringy, hairy twigs that grow straight up
on a tree) or other eyesores and disasters. Professional gardener Cass
Turnbull gives step-by-step instructions for pruning more than 160
species of trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines, and more. Over 150 b/w
illustrations clarify the various techniques, and new highlights of the
second edition include additional chapters on pruning ground covers and
hedges, expanded coverage of mounding-habit, cane-growing, and
tree-like shrubs, pruning tips organized by regions of America, new
illustrations, and more. Cass Turnbull's Guide To Pruning is a superb
supplementary reference and resource for gardeners, homeowners, and
landscapers.
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