The Cannabis Grow Bible
The most comprehensive guide to marijuana gardening ever written is back with all new information and updated advice for cannabis enthusiasts. Over 200 additional pages of all new information are included in this book, from all new lighting equipment and techniques, to highly advanced cannabinoid extraction techniques and detailed, step-by-step gardening guides for novice and professional growers alike. This book contains over 700 pages, with all new photos and step-by-step guides to every aspect of marijuana horticulture, plant breeding, and hash production. Featuring a handy quick start guide at the beginning to allow growers to get started right away, and hone their techniques as they read the later chapters in more detail. The biggest, most comprehensive, and straightforward guide to marijuana horticulture ever published.
Miniature Bonsai
This step-by-step bonsai book shows you how to craft super mini bonsai--the smallest form of bonsai! Miniature Bonsai reveals the Japanese art of super-mini bonsai gardening. As rewarding as full-scale bonsai cultivation is, mini bonsai is affordable, straightforward to learn and kind to your busy schedule. It's a complete gardening experience--a plant raised from seed or cutting, carefully potted, grown and maintained over time--a world of green in a pot no bigger than a demitasse or a thimble. From mixing the right growing medium to choosing the perfect pot to displaying your mini bonsai, this Japanese gardening book gives you basic techniques and valuable tips to help you grow miniature: flowering trees pines maples oaks junipers and other varieties of tiny trees and potted plants that are readily available and last for yearsWith Miniature Bonsai you'll learn how to: Select plants that thrive as mini bonsai Work with seeds and small cuttings Match the right plant to the right pot Buy and prepare the growing medium Maintain and drain your miniature bonsai Display and enjoy your prized bonsai plants And much more!A pleasant pastime, a perfect gift, a beautiful addition to spaces small and large--Miniature Bonsai will show you how to make it happen.
100 Perfect Plants
Bring the beauty of National Trust gardens to your own little patch with this foolproof plan for creating a great garden.Bring the beauty of National Trust gardens to your own little patch.Some 80% of people who visit NT properties do so 'to look at the garden'. And one of the glories of NT gardens are their incredible beds and borders - plants that bring colour, drama and surprises year round. In this book, senior NT gardener Simon Akeroyd gives you a foolproof plan to get similar effects in your own garden with 100 key plants. How to plan, how to plant, how to prune. All of the plants will be easily available, and he will give alternatives if you want to mix things up. The book is organised seasonally, with features on important skills and tasks for each season - such as testing your soil, planting bulbs, pruning for winter and so on.
No Dig Organic Home and Garden
"A manual for self-sufficiency"--Lia Leendertz, Gardens Illustrated No dig organic gardening saves time and work. It requires an annual dressing of compost to help accelerate the improvement in soil structure and leads to higher fertility and less weeds. No dig experts Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty, explain how to set up a no dig garden, including how to: - Make compost and enrich soil- Learn skills you need to sow and grow annual and perennial veg- Harvest and prepare food year round- Make natural cosmetics, cleaning products, and garden preparations The no dig approach works as well in small spaces as in large gardens. The authors' combined experience covers methods of growing, preparing and storing the plants you grow for many uses, and includes recipes and ideas for increasing self-reliance, saving money, living sustainably, and enjoying the pleasure of growing your own food, year-round. An acknowledged expert in no dig and author of a half-dozen books on the subject, Charles' advice is distilled from 35 years of growing vegetables intensively and efficiently. Stephanie, a kitchen gardener, grows in her small, productive home garden and allotment, and creates no dig gardens for restaurants and private estates. She creates delicious seasonal recipes made from the vegetables anyone can grow. She also explains how to use common plants you can grow and forage for to make handmade preparations for the home and garden. Winner of the 2017 Peter Seabrook Practical Book of the Year Award
Veg Patch
What could be tastier than vegetables, picked straight from your back garden? Growing your own vegetables can be a rewarding pastime and you don't need a big garden or allotment to cultivate your favourite veg, as they can grow well in containers and smaller urban spaces.A reissue of Home-grown Vegetables (2007). A practical and inspirational guide to growing your own squashes, greens or root vegetables.What could be tastier than vegetables, picked straight from your back garden? Growing your own vegetables can be a rewarding pastime and you don't need a big garden or allotment to cultivate your favourite vegetables, as they can grow well in containers and smaller urban spaces.This beautiful and practical guide celebrates the produce of allotments and gardens, from carrots and courgettes to artichokes and aubergines. Each vegetable entry details all you need to know about sowing, growing and harvesting with essential gardening notes and tips for successful planting.With beautiful illustrations throughout, you will find all you need for a healthy garden bursting with fresh produce all year round.
How to Grow Stuff
The essential guide to the simple art of growing stuff. Feeling green-fingered but not sure where to start? This book is for you. Growing stuff--herbs, veggies, salad, flowers, and plants--is fun and pretty easy. You just need some practical knowledge--all in this book--and a bit of space--a window ledge, pot, or plot of soil. Then, have fun growing basil, mint, parsley, rosemary, chillies, courgettes, rocket, tomatoes, geraniums, pansies, lavender, osteospurmum, daffodils, hyacinths, muscari, tulips, succulents, aloe vera, money plants, maidenhair ferns, and oxalis. If you have no outside space at all, you can grow everything here inside, too.
Plant Spirit Gardener
Gardening can deeply nurture our heart and soul, especially if we become aware of the invisible realms and want to be a co-creator with the spirits of nature. We can be shamans in our own backyards practising 'divine gardening' with the down-to-earth esoteric wisdom in this book, the eighth from Australian-Irish geomancer Alanna Moore. Everything a sensitive gardener needs to do to profoundly connect with Mother Nature is here. There are instructions for learning pendulum dowsing and its applications for the garden, with eleven charts and lists of information to dowse from. This unique reference book, a paperback of 206 pages, is full of universal and also highly personal insights. It is richly illustrated with 106 all colour photographs and nine line diagrams to help you discover and practise the fascinating art of gardening with the devas - the fairy kingdom.
Don't Repot That Plant!
Why is my plant dying? Will Creed answers your indoor plant care questions that are not answered anywhere else - providing real answers to real questions non-professionals have about caring for their plants. Other plant care books perpetuate many of the out-of-date or unrealistic techniques or confusing information that has changed very little over generations. Included here are specific care requirements for dozens of the most popular house and office plants. Learn to care for your plants properly, from buying the right plant for the right place, to preventing or treating disease. Don't repot that plant! Repotting is rarely necessary. A plant may seem rootbound- but it loves its pot just the size it is. It is healthy, it is thriving. Contrary to conventional wisdom, repotting a plant isn't always the answer. Get the light right - make sure you have the right light intensity available for the particular plant species Learn how much each plant species needs to dry out Learn to prune Learn to identify plant pests and treat them early Don't bother about humidity and fertilizer/plant food
Square Foot Gardening
Is it ripe? Take your gardening to the next level with this practical guide to ripeness. Whether knee deep in the garden or shopping at the market, you'll learn the best time to pick edibles and how to identify the most perfectly ripe produce. Square Foot Gardening: Growing Perfect Vegetables includes more than seventy edibles with details on varieties, history, tips on when to pick and when to buy, what to look for when buying produce in the market, best places to grow certain produce, picking advice, what to avoid buying, storage, and ripening tips. With dozens of photographs of ripe, over ripe, and under ripe edibles, as well as details on nonvisual signs of ripeness such as taste, feel, and smell, Square Foot Gardening: Growing Perfect Vegetables will leave no doubt in your mind whether you're dealing with ripe or not ripe.
Water Features for patios and gardens
Water Features for Patios and Gardens is an inspirational guide to water features and patios and gardens that will turn your home into a lifestyle experience. It is a comprehensive, practical guide to designing, building and installing ponds, formal pools and the full range of water features for patios and gardens of all sizes and styles. Whether you want to create an ambitious water garden which will attract wildlife and birds, build a pretty, reflective lily pond, or simply include an ornamental fountain on your patio, here you will find the ideas and instructions to complete your plans with ease. There is a wide range of waterproofing information, from inexpensive polyurethane and geotextile membranes to sealed concrete and fibreglass. There are instructions on how to seal a variety of containers with step-by-step illustrations. This book will show you how to plan and institute your designs, detailing tools and materials, sealants, pumps, and filters. Design ideas are well illustrated and include several before and after examples guaranteed to inspire even the most reluctant handyman. Once you have established your new water feature, learn how to maintain it, stock it with fish, and attract birds, frogs and other creatures to your new environment. There are also details about marginal plants, floating aquatic plants, and rock garden plants, with full colour photographs to assist with plant identification. Create a feature that will refresh and revitalise your outdoor area, whether you want a natural pond for keeping fish, a more compact feature using planters to enliven your patio, a simple Japanese feature, or a trickling stream which looks as if it occurs quite naturally. With this beautifully illustrated book, you will be able to create the water feature of your dreams.
The Humane Gardener
A philosophical and practical guide for the gardener who hopes to wants to create a backyard garden in harmony with nature. Why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. An eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson uses engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the United States, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists to demonstrate how we can apply the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. A book for gardens of all shapes, sizes, and budgets. Includes detailed chapters that address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. Includes a Getting Started section complete with general information, suggested further reading for specific regions, native plant information and regional databases, and native plant retail sources and suppliers. Who is the humane gardener? The humane gardener practices compassionate landscaping. They attract wildlife and peacefully resolve conflicts with all the creatures that may inhabit their garden. They see the garden as a meeting place for all creatures, not a territory to be defended.
The Composting Troubleshooter
A BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESSFUL COMPOSTINGHave you ever been frustrated at how long it takes to produce compost at home?Do you know something's gone wrong with your compost but not sure what?Are you bothered by troublesome flies in your compost bin?If so, then this book is for you.SUCCESSFUL COMPOSTINGAlthough there are plenty of books written about how to make compost, few focus on preventing problems and providing advice on what to do when things don't quite go to plan.In The Composting Troubleshooter, compost expert Dr Jane Gilbert explains the composting basics and sets out how you can compost effectively. By blending both art and science, the key components needed for successful composting are clearly explained and illustrated using easy-to-understand diagrams.PREVENTING PROBLEMSYou'll learn how to prevent composting problems by blending different materials, getting the structure of the heap right, and adjusting the moisture levels.'The Composting Troubleshooter' provides an in-depth description of the different types of materials that can be composted, listing their key properties and things to keep an eye on. You'll also find out about materials that may cause you problems, or taint your compost.TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEMSUnlike other composting books, The Composting Troubleshooter, provides detailed advice on how to overcome a range of different composting problems. It is accompanied by a quick Look-Up Troubleshooter guide to help point you in the right direction.The book also contains chapters on: alternative composting methods; putting your compost to work; health and safety; and useful resources.By understanding the composting basics described in this book, you'll be empowered to make and use compost effectively. You'll also know what to do if things go off kilter. Both you and your garden will be able to reap the rewards.
The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants
The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants is a beautifully illustrated giftable gardening reference book, which combines exquisite botanical illustrations with practical self-help projects. Every day sees a discovery in the press about the new uses of plants, and it's certain that most of our most important drugs are derived from plants. From willow (used to procure aspirin) to periwinkle (used in chemotherapy to treat lymphoma) many common garden plants have provided cures in modern medicine. In this book readers can discover more than 200 life-saving plants and 25 home-grown remedies to make themselves. Each home cure is described and illustrated with step-by-step photographs to show how you can be a gardener and heal yourself.
The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook
Best practices for the eight most profitable crops: tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens, lettuce, herbs, and microgreens"Mefferd's book fills a gaping void in the literature for market growers. I highly recommend it to anyone growing in greenhouses, or who aspires to."-- Ben Hartman, author of The Lean FarmWhether growing in a heated greenhouse or unheated hoophouse, this book offers a decision-making framework for how to best manage crops Today only a few dozen large-scale producers dominate the greenhouse produce market. Why? Because they know and employ best practices for the most profitable crops. The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook levels the playing field by revealing these practices so that all growers--large and small--can maximize the potential of their protected growing space. Whether growing in a heated greenhouse or unheated hoophouse, this book offers a decision-making framework for how to best manage crops that goes beyond a list of simple do's and don'ts. Author Andrew Mefferd spent years consulting for growers using protected agriculture in a wide variety of climates, soils, and conditions. The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook brings his experience and expertise to bear in an in-depth guide that will help readers make their investment in greenhouse space worthwhile. Every year, more growers are turning to protected culture to deal with unpredictable weather and to meet out-of-season demand for local food, but many end up spinning their wheels, wasting time and money on unprofitable crops grown in ways that don't make the most of their precious greenhouse space.In The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook comprehensive chapters include: Protected Growing Structures and their featuresHeating, Cooling, Lighting, and IrrigationPlant BasicsPropagation, Pruning, and TrellisingGraftingAnd Much More!Mefferd's book is full of techniques and strategies that can help farms stay profitable, satisfy customers, and become an integral part of re-localizing our food system.From seed to sale, The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook is the indispensable resource for protected growing.
We Made a Garden
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 best approach. It has been hailed as everything from a blueprint for the creation of a modern cottage garden to a feminist manifesto. Fish's good sense, practical knowledge, and imaginative ideas will inspire gardeners everywhere.
Succulents
Inspiring, practical and richly photographed, this comprehensive guide offers creative ideas and DIY projects using beautiful low-maintenance, water-wise plantsSucculents are the ultimate easy-care plant: versatile, effortless to grow both indoors and outdoors, and drought tolerant. From Aloe and Agaves, to Senecio and Taciveria, this handbook by leading garden expert Robin Stockwell highlights 200 of the easiest, most useful, and gorgeous plants, and shares advice on care and cultivation. Readers will find inspiration for imaginative and exciting new ways to use succulents in striking garden designs, containers, vertical walls, and indoor arrangements, as well as step-by-step projects, such as living bouquets and terrarium ornaments.This is the essential reference for landscapers, home gardeners, and anyone looking for a thorough introduction to the perfect plant for modern times.
101 Organic Gardening Hacks
Shawna Coronado, one of America's most creative gardeners, gives you her library of clever gardening tricks in 101 Organic Gardening Hacks. If you ask garden author Shawna Coronado what a hack is, she might just wave her hand toward her own back yard. She could be pointing at the garden bench she created from leftover wood posts and a few cinder blocks, or the rows of wine bottles buried soldier-style along a winding pathway, or even the garden soil itself, which is blended by hand from an organic soil recipe she devised. In 101 Organic Garden Hacks you'll find the top tips, tricks, and solutions Shawna has dreamed up in her career as one of America's most creative gardeners. Some are practical timesavers; others offer clever ways to upcycle everyday items in your garden. One characteristic every hack shares is that they are completely organic and unfailingly environmentally friendly. Divided into a dozen different categories for easy reference, each hack is accompanied by a clear photo that shows you exactly how to complete it. With these hacks, discover how easy it is to: Fertilize your soil the all-natural way with tips on using manure, mulch, epsom salt, coffee grounds, and different types of compost made from kitchen and garden waste. Maintain your garden with eco-friendly tricks for repelling pests and conserving water, including making earwig traps and harvesting rain water. Attract pollinators with plant selections and DIY feeders and homes. Transform your outdoor space into an elegant retreat with garden decor from recycled items like an old chandelier. And much more! If you are looking for resourceful ways to improve your garden and promote green living values right at home, you'll love paging through this fascinating, eye-catching book.
The New Canadian Garden
An exciting vision of the blossoming new role gardening plays for this generation and the next. In The New Canadian Garden, Canada's gardening guru, Mark Cullen, explores new trends that are redefining today's gardening experiences. Many of us are utilizing small urban spaces -- balconies, patios, and even rooftops -- and growing our own fruits, vegetables, and herbs, both at home and through community gardens. Mark has lots of suggestions about which crops will work best for your particular space and how to attract birds, bees, and butterflies to your garden. And he combines the best practical information with an insightful approach to help improve your gardening skills. The New Canadian Garden is a must-have reference for anyone gardening in a Canadian climate.
The Jewish Gardening Cookbook
A down-to-earth approach to spirituality that links your garden with biblical tradition. "Perhaps you're asking, 'What is a "Jewish garden"?' Though it is essentially a collection of plants, it's really more than that. You don't just grow plants in a Jewish garden; you incorporate them into your life. Some will help transport you to different times and places; others will provide your senses with aromas, tastes, and beauty. All will help you experience a more personal attachment to God and to Judaism."-from the IntroductionThis guide shows how your gardening can sustain your spirit in new ways, whether you grow one fig tree on an apartment terrace, or five acres of wheat in the country. It may also help you realize, as never before, that for each fruit and vegetable associated with every holiday, there is a profound and sustaining reason.To ancient Jews, figs symbolized prosperity, grapes signified fertility, and olives represented the renewal of life. Barley was the chief cooking staple, and dates were a honey substitute. The Jewish Gardening Cookbook gives clear and easy-to-follow instructions on how these foods-and more-can be grown and used for holidays, festivals, and life cycle events. For example, following the cycle of the Jewish year, it explains how to grow apples to bake in apple-raisin-nut cake at Rosh Hashanah, potatoes for latkes at Hanukkah, and ways to maximize use of your zucchini crop with zucchini nut bread at Purim.The Jewish Gardening Cookbook provides tasty vegetarian recipes so that what you grow can be enjoyed during holiday meals, bringing our biblical past into our lives as people who have a profound relationship with the Land of Israel.
Late Bloomer
There are times in a gardener's life when what we want to do and what we can do are at odds. Our knees and backs may be complaining, our energy isn't what it was - yet our desire to get our hands in the dirt is as strong as ever. Or maybe we've downsized to a much smaller outdoor space that doesn't look promising at all. What to do? In Late Bloomer, garden designer Jan Coppola Bills shows us how to successfully rethink our approach to gardening as we age. The author is a second-half-of-life gardener who helps her many friends and clients achieve easy care, low cost, eco-friendly, simple and beautiful gardens. It's all about maintaining a joyful, healthful connection with the soil - but without the toil. Late Bloomer is part garden philosophy and part on-the-ground strategies and tips from the author and expert gardeners across the U.S. With color photos on almost every page, this inviting and practical book is organized around the four tenets of the Late Bloomer philosophy: Simplicity. Beauty and Harmony. Comfort and Ease. Relaxation and Letting Go.
The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse
Build your own passive solar greenhouse for year-round food production in any climate Fresh, local nutrient-dense fruits vegetables are hard to find in winter in cold climates. Growing warm-weather crops like tomatoes, bananas, avocados, and other perennials is nearly impossible using conventional structures. The solution for millions of backyard and small-scale commercial growers is self-heating solar greenhouses. The Year-round Solar Greenhouse is the one-stop guide to designing and building greenhouses that harness and store energy from the sun to create naturally heated, lush growing environments even in the depths of winter, covering principles of solar greenhouse design and siting, glazing material properties and selection, controlling heat loss, ventilation, and construction methods. Additionally, an in-depth section covers sustainable ways of heating the greenhouse without fossil fuels, including using thermal mass and storing heat underground with a ground to air heat exchanger. Variations include attached solar greenhouses, earth sheltered greenhouses, plus integrating hydroponics and aquaponics. More than a dozen case studies from across North America provide inspiration and demonstrate specific challenges and solutions for growing year-round in any climate. Grow your own food, anytime, anywhere using the power of the sun!
Gardenista
Named a Best Gift Book for Gardeners by The New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Domino magazine, and Goop. The team behind the inspirational design sites Gardenista.com and Remodelista.com presents an all-in-one manual for making your outdoor space as welcoming as your living room. Tour personality-filled gardens around the world and re-create the looks with no-fail planting palettes. Find hundreds of design tips and easy DIYs, editors' picks of 100 classic (and stylish) objects, a landscaping primer with tips from pros, over 200 resources, and so much more.
The Garden Awakening
Bring in the energy of wild places and work in harmony with the land to grow your own food and live sustainably. In this beautifully illustrated book, award-winning garden designer Mary Reynolds encourages us to create a bond with the land to restore its health and feel its energy. Drawing inspiration from permaculture traditions as well as the ancient multi-tiered approach of forest gardening, Mary demonstrates how to create a magical garden that is an expanding, living, interconnected ecosystem. The Garden Awakening is both art and inspiration for any garden lover seeking to create a positive and natural space while incorporating sustainable living such as growing your own food. It combines practical step-by-step instructions with spiritual, ancient Celtic stories to help you awaken any garden space, nurturing it to benefit both the land and the people in it. This design approach allows ecosystems to be whole and in balance while providing a place for human beings to live happy and productive lives. Transform your garden into a vibrant, wild area that embraces the spiritual side of nature with this wonderful read.
Figs
FIGS (Rare and Heritage Fruit Cultivars #13) The taste of a tree-ripened, freshly-picked fig, is sublime. Never judge figs on the specimens available in supermarkets, which are often dry and inferior. A ripe, fresh fig should be tender and slightly soft. When you bite into it, a silky surge of juicy, rich flavour fills your mouth, tasting like jam eaten straight out of the jar - only infinitely more subtle and complex, with overtones of honey and wine. The interior of the fruit is packed with luscious flowerlets lapped in a sweet, glistening syrup. The fruit of the fig tree has been sought out and cultivated by man since ancient times, and is now widely grown throughout the temperate world, both for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Hundreds of named fig cultivars now exist, but only a handful are commercially grown. Find out more about the amazing heirloom varieties within these pages. This book is one of a series written for 'backyard farmers' of the 21st century. The series focuses on rare and heritage fruit in Australia, although it includes much information of interest to fruit enthusiasts around the world. 'Heritage' or 'heirloom' fruits such as old-fashioned varieties of apple, quince, fig, plum, peach and pear are increasingly popular due to their diverse flavours, excellent nutritional qualities and other desirable characteristics. They are part of our horticultural, vintage and culinary inheritance. To pick a tree-ripened heritage fruit from your own back yard and bite into it is to experience the taste of fresh food as our forefathers knew it. During the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries fruit diversity was huge, but in modern supermarkets only a limited range of commercial fruit varieties is now available to consumers. Heritage, heirloom and rare fruit enthusiasts across the world are currently reviving our horticultural legacy by renovating old orchards and identifying 'lost', unusual and historic fruit varieties. The goal is to make a much wider range of fruit trees available again to the home gardener. This series of handbooks aims to help.
Garden Friends
A guide to keeping garden pests away organically.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 other animals such as hedgehogs, bats and frogs are also renowned pest-munchers, while bees, butterflies and other insects will happily pollinate your flowers, fruit and vegetables. Encouraging just a few of these 'friends' into your garden will soon ensure your prized plants are blooming.This practical guide describes all of the wonderful wildlife that is helpful to have in your garden and how to spot them. Packed with hints and tips on how to encourage the critters into your space and make sure they stick around, this guide is a must-have for any gardener.
Wildlife in Your Garden
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 wildlife can bring daily enjoyment right into the backyard. Inside Wildlife in Your Garden: How to deal with and even appreciate the insects in your garden Reptile and amphibian backyard visitors and how they can contribute to a healthy ecosystem "Birdscaping"--planning and planting with birds in mind A special section on hummingbirds that includes an illustrated guide to twelve common types Using binoculars and field guides to identify birds by sight and by calls Different types of pollination and the plants and food crops that depend on it Butterfly metamorphosis and gardening for the different life stages How bats and moths take over pollination duties at night Learning to coexist with four-legged furry friends who like to dig and forage Natural ways to protect your garden from pests and discourage harmful wildlife
Mason Bee Revolution
The national media regularly features dire stories on honeybee colony collapse and its danger to our food supply. But there's another, unsung bee that has the potential to save the planet--the mason bee. Mason Bee Revolution explains how docile, hard-working, solitary mason bees (and their compatriots, the leafcutter bees) are even more productive pollinators than honeybees, and keeping them can be a fun, easy, backyard hobby for gardeners, conservationists, foodies, and families everywhere. Why these bees? Bee pollination is critical for about 80 percent of US agricultural crops, increasing crop value by an estimated $15 billion annually. Since 2006, nearly a third of all honeybee hives have been lost each year, due to parasites, pesticides, habitat loss, climate change, and a newer malady called Colony Collapse Disorder. While scientists search for answers to save the honeybee, Dave Hunter and his company, Crown Bees, are leading the effort to increase the population of other highly efficient pollinators: One mason bee can produce twelve pounds of cherries, via pollination, where it would take sixty honey bees to achieve the same. Mason Bee Revolution is an easy-to-follow guide to keeping both mason and leafcutter bees. It tells you how to set up, care for, and harvest your own bees and what types of plants and habitat encourage mason and leafcutter bees, as well as provides general information on other common pollinators and bee-related facts, projects, and personalities.
The Complete Illustrated Book of Herbs
This beautifully illustrated complete guide to herbs unlocks the secrets of these wonder plants--from planting and harvesting to cooking and storing--including their health benefits. This beautifully illustrated, complete guide to herbs unlocks the secrets of these wonder plants--from planting and harvesting to cooking and storing--including their health benefits. Now you can discover the joy and pleasure of growing your own herbs--for spicing up meals, creating crafts, treating ailments, and more. In this comprehensive and beautifully illustrated herbal guide you'll find information on their history, cultivation, propagation, and harvesting, along with a wealth of great ideas for using herbs everyday in a variety of ways. This guide unravels the mysteries of these versatile plants, with savvy tips and simple formulas for maximizing their powers. Did you know? - Mint can repel ants, flies, mice, and moths - Garlic can seriously lower cholesterol - Chives, fennel, tarragon, thyme, oregano, and winter savory are perennials - Rosemary was used in the Middle Ages for its tranquilizing effects, and it is still a digestion aid Known for alleviating common ailments, herbs are an ancient natural wonder--herbs are hotter than ever. Extremely informative and fascinating, this book will help you find which herb can treat various complaints. Throughout the guide are instructions for bursting-with-flavor recipes, health-care products, decorative craft ideas, insect repellents, cosmetics, cleaning agents, and much more.
The Garden Interior
The Garden Interior is the inspiring story of how one garden raised a family and what goes on inside the heart and mind of a gardener.
Basilius Besler's Florilegium: the Book of Plants
A magnificent pictorial document of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time, the Hortus Eystettensis is in a class of its own when it comes to the range of flowers engraved. First published in 1613, the 367 copperplate engravings by Basilius Besler (1561-1629) capture the spectacular diversity of the palatial gardens of Prince-Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen (1593/95-1612) in Eichst瓣tt, Bavaria, Germany. The meticulous illustrations are organized according to the four seasons, and, following the classification system used today, show plants belonging to a total of 90 families and covering 340 genera. The whole collection is regarded as one of the finest treasures of botanical literature; it was described by Carl Linnaeus, the legendary 18th-century botanist and zoologist, as an "incomparable work." Besler's pictorial catalog long outlived the gardens, which were destroyed in 1634 by invading Swedish troops. In auction, the asking price for a first-edition copy of Hortus Eystettensis is now more than half a million dollars. With this edition, TASCHEN opens up the garden to a much wider audience: a rich and beautiful record, destined to keep the garden's beauty in bloom.
Vegetable Gardening
At a time when natural, organic food is at a premium and consumers want to know where their food comes from, a home vegetable garden seems like a no-brainer. Vegetable Gardening shows readers how to go from "backyard to table" in plots of any size--whether you live on a large piece of property or have a spot in a community garden, you can reap the healthy, delicious rewards of growing and eating your own fresh vegetables. From artichokes to zucchini, author Carol Klein shares the expertise gained from her years of gardening success to help gardeners of all skill levels select suitable locations, choose what to plant, determine when to plant, and nurture a garden full of thriving vegetables. Profiles of more than forty garden favorites include advice on where to grow, sowing and planting tips, how to care for the crop, harvesting instructions, storage and cooking ideas, common pests and diseases, and notable varieties. Inside Vegetable Gardening: The benefits of a backyard garden Considerations for your garden site, including soil type, drainage, and exposure Tips for growing in small spaces Examples of different setups for watering your plants Dealing safely with weeds, pests, and parasites A seasonal guide to planting and harvesting Step-by-step instructions for planting more than forty types of vegetables
Afton Villa
Genevieve Trimble's remarkable story of Afton Villa began with a tragedy. In 1963, fire ravaged the forty-room Victorian Gothic plantation home on the historic estate, bringing to ashes over 170 years of history. Over the next decade, its once-regal serpentine entryway and carefully laid out gardens gradually deteriorated, as vines strangled the rows of azaleas that once welcomed guests. A place of enchantment crumbled toward extinction.The irreversible loss of Afton Villa's once pristine nineteenth-century gardens and carefully built stately home did, however, inspire Trimble to seize the opportunity to protect the derelict property from oblivion and she and her husband purchased the estate in 1972. This ambitious move initiated a forty-year regeneration of one of the most treasured and legendary gardens in Louisiana. Afton Villa documents Trimble's decades-long restoration project while providing a history of the original owners and paying tribute to the other people who contributed to its rebirth. Focusing on preservation, Trimble reveals how the garden's original footprint survived as well as how she thoughtfully introduced new flora into the terraced landscape, including the foundation ruins of the house, under the guidance of landscape architect Neil G. Odenwald. With steep learning curves and devastating setbacks, including hurricane destruction, each milestone in the recovery of Afton Villa marked a triumph of collaborative will over adversity. Hundreds of visitors every year journey to St. Francisville to enjoy the result of Trimble's arduous and rewarding efforts. The moss-draped oaks welcome them to a rolling vista of daffodils, cherry trees, and a boxwood parterre as well as hundreds of other features in this thirty-five-acre garden. With a vivid narrative and beautiful images, Afton Villa: The Birth and Rebirth of a Nineteenth-Century Louisiana Garden captures the story of this remarkable restoration.
The Downsized Veggie Garden
This is a timely, "especially for now" book, when growing food at home is at the top of many family to-do lists. Small is beautiful, and integrating a small, easy-to-manage garden into hectic everyday life is easy. In The Downsized Veggie Garden, low maintenance is the mantra. And so is making smart, creative use of the space we have - whether it's outdoors, indoors, in-ground, in containers, on a balcony railing...or even going vertical. Garden expert Kate Copsey takes the reader season-by-season, plant-by-plant, with essential tips about soil, seed-starting, plant choices, non-chemical fertilizing, watering, choosing the right containers, veggie garden planning and planting, and much more. This fully illustrated book is a one-stop guide for the beginner gardener or the downsizing gardener.
Totally Bonsai
"Learn the ins and outs of proper bonsai design and care with this beautifully illustrated Japanese gardening book. Creating your own bonsai tree is simple, calming and serene, and best of all, it lets you bring the outdoors inside, even if you don't have a lot of space. Imagine an enormous redwood shrunk to a size you can carry in one hand, but perfect in every detail. That is the joy of bonsai--the re-creation of nature in miniature. With Totally Bonsai you can learn everything you need to know to become accomplished at the art of bonsai tree care and cultivation--how to pick a plant, what tools you'll need, and how to trim and style your plant. At the heart of the book is a species directory detailing both outdoor and indoor bonsai. It includes 10 easy-to-grow types of bonsai plants that are great for the beginning bonsai enthusiast, as well as another 40 species that need a little more care With Totally Bonsai you will: Discover the small but perfectly formed world of the bonsai Learn the secrets to growing a healthy tree Properly pot or repot your bonsai Recognize pests and diseases and how to treat them Discover the techniques for shaping, bending, and transforming your bonsai Totally Bonsai is a wonderful introduction to bonsai tradition and practice, including a historical overview of many styles of Japanese, Korean, Singaporean and Chinese bonsai, or penjing. Whether you want to grow a bonsai with dramatically exposed roots, create a spectacular twin-trunked landscape or cultivate a romantic sweeping cascade, Totally Bonsai will show you how."
Good Berry Bad Berry
Let's go out and pick berries! Foraging for wild berries is one of the most enjoyable and delicious of family outdoor activities. Berries grow in all parts of North America and come in a wide variety of colors, sizes and shapes. But how do you know which ones are safe to eat and which could make you sick, or worse? Good Berry Bad Berry is the authoritative one-stop guide to identifying and safely enjoying these healthy "superfruits" -- with clear descriptions and full color photographs of 40 of the most widely available berries in North America (including a separate listing of berries found only in certain regions). Packaged with heavy matte-laminated pages and concealed-wire binding for handy, water-resistant use outside.
The Cancer Survivor's Garden Companion
THE BOOK IN 19 WORDS: A CANCER PATIENT DISCOVERS THAT GARDENING IS GOOD MEDICINE - AND FINDS A POWERFUL HEALING PARTNER IN HER OWN BACKYARD. Jenny Peterson is a breast cancer survivor. Her long road through cancer treatment was hard, emotional and often deeply depressing. The one thing that pulled her out of the darkness was her desire to be able to garden again. Peterson credits her garden with clearing her mental fog and overcoming her depression, physical limitations and pain. The Cancer Survivor's Garden Companion explores the therapeutic benefits of this vital "earth connection." With gentle empathy, beautiful photographs and easy how-to steps, she shows others how to create their own backyard haven for healing - a personal restorative garden - with a bonus of well-grounded guidance about diet, exercise, mental focus and spiritual renewal.
Building Raised Beds
For beginning gardeners and homeowners, this handbook shows you exactly how to plan, build, and plant a simple raised bed. Fully illustrated step-by-step instructions make it easy and ensure success! In just a weekend, using a few basic materials and minimal building skills, you can set up a complete garden bed adapted for vegetables, flowers, or herbs.
Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales
Straw bale gardening is an inexpensive, low-maintenance way to grow a bounty of food in a small space. All you need is a bale of straw, some fertilizer, and your favorite vegetable seeds! Craig LeHoullier's step-by-step instructions show you how to do everything from sourcing the straw and setting up your bale to planting, dealing with weeds and pests, and harvesting.
Landscapes and Gardens
Using ten landscape architectural projects on three continents, Landscapes and Gardens presents the case for green landscapes and public gardens in the city. The authors discuss, through short essays, their approach to public open space, green landscapes, and human-scaled gardens. Highlighting strategies for the design of public landscapes and gardens, the use of appropriate materials and plant species, and how site and climate influence the final design, Landscapes and Gardens is a lush collection of beautiful images of gardens, big and small, providing inspiration for those who love parks, gardens, and gardening. Long focused on the importance of public space, and specifically "green" public space, the authors recognize landscape as the primary wish by the public. As programmed elements come and go, the landscape is there for the long term, and can adjust to the changing uses of our public space. Within the landscape, the garden offers meaning as it ties back to the cultural, the natural, and the agricultural. Like the landscapes they inhabit, public gardens must be robust. The design must be bold and simple, retaining the qualities of the garden that we enjoy so much -colors, plant structures, textures, and seasonal changes that delight. The landscapes and gardens included the book provide examples of strategies by which the balance of robustness and richness can be achieved in gardens set within public parks in the city. The themes employed by Hargreaves Associates promote the garden as a critical element of the public park and cultural landscape, creating public gardens that provide a direct personal connection to nature, quiet respite, and rich inspiration.
