Giant perennials are show-stoppers in the garden. There is something magical about the fact that starting from nothing in spring they rise to towering heights by midsummer only to disappear again for the winter. These are plants that make a statement and can be used to provide a backdrop to a herbaceous border or as specimens to draw the eye and amaze the visitor. From the astounding gunnera, 2.4m (8ft) with its leaves as big as the biggest golf umbrella, to the spectacular verbascum (giant mullein) as tall as a tree at 1.8-2.7m (6-9ft), or the socking great Eupatorium purpureum, with 2.1m (7ft) tall stems and cinnamon pink flowers. Quite simply these plants make us feel like Lilliputians. Covering a wide range of herbaceous perennials, including some biennials and bulbs, Giant Perennials provides at-a-glance information for everything you need to know about these amazing plants. In addition to design ideas and planting suggestions, Giant Perennials has an extensive directory of these majestic plants with easy-to-use symbols that show you size, spread, planting situation, cultivation needs and hardiness. Whether you have a large country garden or a small town plot, you can give you

Grow your own is a comprehensive guide providing practical guidelines that will teach you how to fully utilise your garden (large or small) by means of alternative as well as traditional growing methods. The recommendations aren’t limited to the more ordinary plants, either. Grow any variation of vegetables, fruit, nuts or even herbs and spices. This guide is logically presented to discuss the respective plants along with brief, but thorough, guidelines detailing requirements for soil preparation, propagation, cultivation, harvest and storage. Enjoy additional tips about cultivating in containers, choosing the most suitable plants for different spaces, deterring pests, companion planting, and combatting diseases and other problems. A handy summary about each plant offers a quick reference with nifty textboxes that highlight other interesting facts about the plant species concerned, to gain some bonus insights.

Save vegetable seeds as you harvest so your favorite plants can grow again next season. In this Storey BASICS(R) guide, Fern Marshall Bradley covers everything you need to know to successfully save seeds from 20 popular garden vegetables, including beans, carrots, peas, peppers, and tomatoes. Learn how each plant is pollinated, where to store your collected seeds through the winter, and how to test their replanting viability in the spring. Now you can grow the delicious varieties you love year after year.

A variety of practical gardening topics in handy small-format books that can be kept by one’s side while working in the garden.

The series was inspired by the author’s numerous visits and lecture tours to gardening clubs across the country. With South Africa’s variable climate and topography, each region presents its own set of unique challenges that make gardening a truly specialist hobby. But in spite of these problems, almost every South African town boasts exquisite gardens. This series aims to inspire and equip gardeners across the country with the knowledge and know-how to create a beautiful garden of their own.

In each book the secrets of successful gardening are summarised in ten key concepts.

Planned topics in the series include:

• Planning the garden
• Choosing plants for the garden
• Preparing the garden for planting
• Irrigation systems
• Composting and other types of nourishment
• Pests and diseases
• Water features and ponds
• Creating focal points in the garden
• Lighting for the garden
• Pruning
• Bulbs
• The winter garden
• And many more

Don't like spending money in garden stores? Think you can make it yourself for a fraction of the price or find a cheaper option? Dave Hamilton shows you how. By recycling and reusing materials creatively and making the most of what you have, you can gather all you need to grow your food on a budget. Whether it's building your own shed from scrap, constructing a path out of recycled materials, or storing your harvest without a freezer, it's all here. This practical guide takes you on a frugal journey through the seasons, from planning your space and setting up a plot to raising, harvesting, and storing your plants. It offers money-saving tips every step of the way, and tips on the actual gardening. It's crammed full of satisfying projects, from seed saving and making your own plant feed to building a fence or garden shed and gives step-by-step instructions, with easy-to-follow diagrams.

How to Read Gardens is the essential guide for garden lovers and visitors alike. Visiting gardens has never been more popular but not many of us understand what we are looking at when strolling through a beautiful garden - are we looking at an original landscaped site or a recreation? Is the planting matter authentic or made up of modern hybrids? Are the steps and terracing in the Italianate style or are they Arts and Crafts? The truth is that most gardens of any age are like a palimpsest: successive generations have changed and influenced the soft and hard fabric of the place over time. Inevitably many of the gardens we wander through today are an amalgam of changing fashions and circumstance. How to Read Gardens gives you all the knowledge you need to tease out the clues that will tell you the complete story of a garden's past. From the grandest estate to the smallest suburban plot, this book will enliven and inform every visit.