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Books > Health, Home & Family > Gardening > General
Are you facing drought or water shortages? Gardening with Less
Water offers simple, inexpensive, low-tech techniques for watering
your garden much more efficiently - using up to 90% less water for
the same results. With illustrated step-by-step instructions, David
Bainbridge shows you how to install buried clay pots and pipes,
wicking systems, and other porous containers that deliver water
directly to a plant's roots with no or minimal evaporation. These
systems are available at hardware stores and garden centres; are
easy to set up and use; and work for garden beds, container
gardens, and trees.
"An invaluable resource for the home or commercial gardener who
wishes to plant native species."--Edward W. Chester, Austin Peay
State University
The natural landscape of Tennessee represents a unique treasure for
gardeners and nature lovers. Encompassing several geographically
distinctive regions, from the 6,000-foot peaks of the Unaka
Mountains to the swampy floodplain of the Mississippi River, the
state boasts nearly 3,000 native plant species. This stunning
diversity of life owes much to Tennessee's prime location at the
crossroads of mountain and prairie ecosystems and in the transition
area between northern and southern climate patterns.
In Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee, Margie Hunter
gives gardeners the knowledge they need in order to nurture this
natural heritage in their own gardens. Beginning with a survey of
the state's ecology--including geology, geography, plant life and
animal species--Hunter takes a holistic approach to the process of
gardening with native plants. The book's main section provides
detailed accounts of 450 species of wildflowers, ferns, grasses,
vines, shrubs, and trees native to Tennessee and adjacent states.
These descriptions, arranged according to plant type, include both
scientific and common name, flowering and fruiting times,
propagation methods, soil and light requirements, and distribution
patterns within the state. Nearly 400 color photographs illustrate
the species discussions.
No other book designed for the home gardener includes such
area-specific information on native species or such a comprehensive
listing of plants. Appendixes refer readers to other sources of
information and seeds, including mail-order nurseries, botanical
gardens, state agencies, native plant organizations, and
subject-specific conferences. A detailed bibliography also
contributes to the reference value of this book for gardeners,
landscapers, and nature lovers throughout Tennessee and in
neighboring states.
The Author: Margie Hunter, a long-time volunteer at Cheekwood
Botanical Garden, lives in Nashville.
Chris Madden's collection of cartoons about gardening and gardeners
will raise a smile for anyone who has even the slightest interest
in the patch of land outside their home. Concentrating on the
people in the garden as much as the activities that are performed
there, there are cartoons here for everyone who has a garden or an
interest in gardening (and whether they're interested in
cultivating the garden or simply sitting in it). The characters
introduced in the cartoons range from the obsessive gardener for
whom a single leaf out of place is a cause for concern, through the
person who'd rather dig the garden than decorate the kitchen (this
is the author's position), to the person whose idea of gardening is
lying on a lounger with a good book (perhaps this one).
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
Farm Whether 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 features Heating, Cooling, Lighting, and Irrigation Plant
Basics Propagation, Pruning, and Trellising Grafting And 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.
Soil is the basis not only for all gardening, but for all
terrestrial life. No aspect of agriculture is more fundamental and
important, yet we have been losing vast quantities of our finite
soil resources to erosion, pollution, and development. Now back in
print, this eminently sensible and wonderfully well-focused book
provides essential information about one of the most significant
challenges for those attempting to grow delicious organic
vegetables: the creation and maintenance of healthy soil. Chapter
2, "Understanding the Soil System," is alone worth the price of
admission. Gershuny and Smillie give lay readers and experts a
clear explanation of subjects--soil life and nutrient cycles--that
have confounded most authors. Nowhere will the reader find simpler
and more coherent descriptions of key concepts including cation
exchange capacity and chelation. There are other books about soil
available, including Grace Gershuny's comprehensive Start with the
Soil, and there are books that feature chapters on soil building.
What distinguishes The Soil of Soilis the authors' concise
presentation; they give readers important information, including
technical essentials, without getting bogged down in scientific or
quasiscientific mumbo-jumbo. In addition, useful tables list
specific compost materials, green manures, and other resources that
allow growers to translate into action the more general information
provided by the book. The soil-building techniques featured
include: Organic matter management Building and maintaining humus
On-site composting Green manures and rotations Cultivation and weed
control Nutrient balances and soil testing Using mineral
fertilizers Planning for organic certification Updates to the 1999
edition include analysis of Proposed Rules for the National Organic
Standards, and expanded recommendations for private testing
services and soil-testing equipment for home gardeners and organic
farmers. All of us involved in the cultivation of plants--from the
backyard gardener to the largest farmer--need to help regenerate a
"living soil," for only in the diversity of the soil and its
creatures can we ensure the long-term health of ourselves and our
environment. The Soul of Soil offers everyone a basic understanding
of what soil is and what we can do to improve our own patch of it.
Seen in this light, this practical handbook will be an inspiration
as well.
Parks are essential to our well-being; this has never been clearer
than it is today, and a recent surge of park development offers us
much to celebrate. Parks of the 21st Century presents 52 parks in
the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, and China that have turned
despoiled and polluted land (including former factories, railroads,
and industrial waterfronts) into beneficial landscapes. Landscape
architects have been referred to as the first environmentalists,
and Parks of the 21st Century shows how parks are being designed as
proactive, dynamic green spaces. The High Line in New York is an
early example of how an obsolete railroad could be transformed.
Opened in 2009, it now attracts nearly 8 million visitors a year.
In addition to providing public open space, these renewed
landscapes offer economic revitalization and large-scale
environmental improvement. Among the parks featured in this book
are designs by well-known professionals such as James Corner Field
Operations, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Kongjian
Yu/Turenscape, and Catherine Mosbach.
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Gardens of Corfu
(Hardcover)
Rachel Weaving; Photographs by Marianne Majerus
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R1,592
R1,383
Discovery Miles 13 830
Save R209 (13%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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"The Anxious Gardener's Book of Answers" identifies the 100 most
common gardening mistakes and gives gardeners the techniques to
prevent them. Or, if it's too late and they've already goofed,
there are tips to fix the mistake.
The book's 24 chapters tackle every kind of gardening disaster,
whether it has to do with plants, tools and techniques, or general
care and maintenance. Gardeners looking to prune their roses will
learn to hold off until late winter to avoid damaging plant tissue.
Gardeners that have allowed their mint to overgrow? Dunn advises
pulling it out and replanting it in a container to control the
root.
Organized by common garden topics and designed to be easily
dipped in and out of, "The Anxious Gardener's Book of Answers"
offers nuggets of wisdom based on Teri Dunn Chace's years of
hands-on gardening experience. Advice is humorously supported by
Colleen Coover's delightful illustrations. This accessible guide
will transform an anxious gardener into an informed, confident,
successful gardener with a mistake-free garden
Described here are the techniques and fundamental concepts
underlying the production and marketing of vegetable crops,
particularly those crops that contribute to the commercial vitality
of the vegetable industry in the western hemisphere. Those
resources which are fundamental to successful crop production,
natural, biological and economic, are covered, as well as the
vegetable management systems that integrate these resources. Also
included is specific information on each of the major vegetable
crops, such as history, botanical characteristics, production
techniques, pests, harvesting and marketing. In addition,
discussions are provided of social conflicts and problems that
arise from water and land use practices, pesticide application and
conservation.
Don't Just Plant Your Garden...Plan It Fifth-generation homesteader
Melissa K. Norris has found gardening to be one of the easiest and
most complex things there is. It really is as simple as plopping a
seed into the soil, giving it adequate light and water, and
watching it grow. But if you want to get the most out of your
garden and produce more food each year, you need a plan to help you
stay on track. This indispensable guide includes everything you
need to plan your garden, execute your plan, and record your
results, saving you time and hassle-and allowing you to have fun
with the process. You'll discover a series of charts and worksheets
to identify which gardening zone you are in, which crops make sense
for your family, and how much you'll need to plant. Then you'll
refer to a set of monthly instructions based on your gardening zone
and put together a customized plan using yearly, monthly, and
weekly charts to help you stay on track. The more you use this
planner, the more you will get out of your garden, and the more
you'll enjoy providing your family with healthy, organic fruits and
vegetables all year long.
'Excellent book.' Nigella Lawson 'Charming, inspiring, uplifting...
pure lovely.' Marian Keyes 'Read Rhapsody in Green. A novelist's
beautiful, useful essays about her tiny garden.' India Knight
'Glorious...for anyone who loves fruit, vegetables, herbs and
language. It makes you see them with new eyes.' Diana Henry 'A
witty account of 'extreme allotmenteering' for all obsessive
gardeners' Mail on Sunday 'An extremely entertaining and inspiring
story of one woman's passionate transformation of a small,
irregular shaped urban garden into a bountiful source of food.'
Woman & Home 'A gardening book like no other, this is the
author's 'love letter' to her garden. She relays warm and witty
stories about the trials and tribulations throughout her gardening
year.' Garden News '...this inspirational, funny book, written by
someone who hankers after a homesteader's lifestyle, will make you
look at even your window box in a new, more productive light.' The
Simple Things 'Gardening is not a hobby but a passion: a mess of
excitement and compulsion and urgency and desire. Those who
practise it are botanists, evangelists, freedom fighters, midwives
and saboteurs; we kill; we bleed. No, I can't drop everything to
come in for dinner; it's a matter of life and death out here.'
Novelist Charlotte Mendelson has a secret life. Despite owning only
six square metres of urban soil and a few pots, she is an extreme
gardener; the creator of a tiny but bountiful edible jungle. And
like all enthusiasts, she will not rest until you share her
obsession. This is the story of an amateur gardener's journey to
addiction: her attempts to buy lion dung from London Zoo and to
build her own cold frame; her disinhibited composting and creative
approach to design; her prejudices (roses, purple flowers, people
with orchards); and her passions: quinces, salad-leaves, herbs,
Japanese greens and ancient British apples. It is a story of where
fantasy meets reality, of the slow onset of a consuming love and,
most of all, of how gardening, however peculiar, can save your
life.
Part-gardening bible, part-call to action, award-winning authors
Kathleen Norris Brenzel and Mary-Kate Mackey present advice, tips,
and how-tos for gardeners seeking better health, increased
happiness, and stronger communities A gardening book for the times
we live in, The Healthy Garden combines practical advice for
starting a garden with a rare view into how home gardening builds
resilience, personal happiness, and community strength. Filled with
savvy tips from dozens of experts, each chapter celebrates the many
ways gardening works to build health. These professionals and
passionate plant people offer lively insights into landscape
design, soil science, nutrition, and plant choices. With its
can-do, Victory Garden approach, The Healthy Garden is essential
for anyone seeking to live closer to nature in their own backyards
In his articles and in best-selling books such as The Botany of
Desire, Michael Pollan has established himself as one of our most
important and beloved writers on modern man's place in the natural
world. A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto
not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere. "As
delicious a meditation on one man's relationships with the Earth as
any you are likely to come upon" (The New York Times Book Review),
Second Nature captures the rhythms of our everyday engagement with
the outdoors in all its glory and exasperation. With chapters
ranging from a reconsideration of the Great American Lawn, a
dispatch from one man's war with a woodchuck, to an essay about the
sexual politics of roses, Pollan has created a passionate and
eloquent argument for reconceiving our relationship with nature.
Too often gardening advice comes in the form of rules: do this,
don't do that, buy this, don't buy that, plant this, don't plant
that. But this kind of guidance can stifle cre ativity and personal
expression, resulting in gardens that feel impersonal and generic.
With Fearless Gardening, Loree Bohl - founder of the popular blog
The Danger Garden, has written a call to arms that urges home
gardeners to grow what they love. Readers will discover advice on
gardening outside their zone, shopping for unique plants, and
taking risks in gar den design. They will also find tips on how to
discover their personal style and expand their plant palette. Bohl
profiles exemplary gardens from across North America that showcase
each gardener's unique taste and style and will inspire home
gardeners to discover their own.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER NIGEL - One of Britain's favourite
dogs! MONTY DON - One of Britain's favourite presenters. When Monty
Don's golden retriever Nigel became the surprise star of BBC
Gardeners' World inspiring huge interest, fan mail and his own
social media accounts, Monty Don wanted to explore what makes us
connect with animals quite so deeply. In many respects Nigel is a
very ordinary dog; charming, handsome and obedient, as so many are.
He is a much loved family pet. He is also a star. By telling
Nigel's story, Monty relates his relationships with the other
special dogs in his life in a memoir of his dogs past and very much
present. Witty, touching and life-affirming, Nigel: My family and
other dogs is wonderfully heart-warming. Monty Don is a great
writer coming out of the garden and into the hearts and homes of
every dog lover in the UK. 'I have always had a dog, or dogs. I
cannot imagine life without them. I am just as much a fan of Nigel
as any besotted viewer. In the book I explore why we love dogs and
what they mean to us emotionally and domestically. I look back on
all the dogs in my life - all of which I have loved deeply and
which have been an essential part of my life. So, this is the book
of Nigel - but also the book of all our dogs in every British
family and a celebration of the deep love we feel for them' Monty
Don
Written as he talks, this is Monty Don right beside you in the
garden, challenging norms and sharing advice. Discover Monty's
thoughts and garden ideas around nature, seasons, color, design,
pests, flowering shrubs, containers, and much more. Read about the
month-by month jobs he does in his own garden that he hopes are
relevant to you. Monty's intimate and lyrical writing is
accompanied by photos of his garden, showing areas rarely seen on
television. This is the perfect gift for the gardener in your life.
"I have written many gardening books but this is the distillation
of 50 years of gardening experience. It has all the tips and
essential pieces of knowledge that enable you to make your garden
grow well, and it also shares my view that gardening is the secret
to living well too." - Monty
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