You know you're a gardening fanatic when... ... you favour your ride-on lawnmower over your Ferrari. ... you think talking dirty means whispering the word 'compost'. If this sounds all too familiar, read on to discover whether you've really gone to seed or you're just one petal short of a flower!

'Britain's ten million acres of private gardens add up to a vital haven for wildlife. Chock-a-block with ideas for encouraging wildlife into your plot, this pocket-sized book tells you how to make your off-street parking wildlife-friendly, why you should welcome wasps into the garden and whether you should let ladybirds overwinter in your home. One for budding David Attenboroughs.' - Mail on Sunday Foreword written by Isabella Tree of the Knepp Wildland Project. RHS How Can I Help Hedgehogs? offers more than 100 ideas for you to help wildlife thrive in your garden. Packed with simple, low-cost ideas that will make a huge difference to the natural world, the book suggests ways to help birds, bees, butterflies, beetles and many other declining species. Hopeful, informative and entertaining, with plenty of 'I-never-knew-that' mini-features, this is a book you and your family need, and one that you'll all enjoy, too. Includes topics such as how to increase the biodiversity of your plot and how to improve your soil without using chemicals. Includes... - Can I make my garden bat-friendly? - Do green roofs work? - Why should I love my weeds? - Should I keep honey bees? - Which flowers are friendliest for moths? - Where's best for a bird box? - Is garden lighting disruptive? ...and many more.

'Charming miscellany of rhymes and reflections celebrating the garden' CHOICE *** The perfect bedside book for the green-fingered - hilarious and touching poems on a gardening theme written and introduced by the nation's favourite gardener and presenter of ITV's Grow Your Own At Home and Love Your Garden, Channel 5's Secrets of the National Trust and with his own show on Classic FM. From touching poems on the peony, the snowdrop and the sweet pea to hilarious verse on Emily the Gardener and the Garden Design Course, this is Alan Titchmarsh's heartfelt and entertaining celebration of his favourite space - the garden.

Methods for improving ground and soil have undergone significant developments in recent years, particularly in terms of application and usage, and many innovative techniques have been introduced. However, it is of significance that in many areas the design process still lacks a theoretical framework. The papers included in this volume, written by international authors, deal with a cross-section of problems faced by many practising engineers and provide advice and guidance on how these problems can be dealt with in a practical manner.

Gardens across the globe come in many sizes and styles, but for the most part they share a remarkable number of similar components. Suzanne Staubach revels in this interconnectivity in A Garden Miscellany. In short essays meant to be dipped in and out of, Staubach shares the history, evolution, and contemporary use of all the parts and pieces that make up a home garden - from borders, compost bins, and decks to pergolas, roof gardens, statues, and troughs. Readers will learn that fairy gardens have their roots in the Tang Dynasty, the difference between an arbor and a pergola, how geometry plays a role in garden design, what a ha-ha is (a ditch deep enough to be a barrier that doesn't interrupt a view), and much more. Featuring bold and whimsical illustrations by Julia Yellow and filled with interesting facts and anecdotes, A Garden Miscellany is a fun and informative gift book for gardeners, plant lovers, and the naturally curious everywhere.

In the mode of her bestseller A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman celebrates the sensory pleasures of her garden through the seasons. Whether she is deadheading flowers or glorying in the profusion of roses, offering sugar water to a hummingbird or studying the slug, she welcomes the unexpected drama and extravagance as well as the sanctuary her garden offers.

Written in sensuous, lyrical prose, Cultivating Delight is a hymn to nature and to the pleasure we take in it.

Plants in Agriculture fulfills the need for a single text that promotes a comprehensive understanding of how plants operate in agriculture. By setting plant development firmly in the context of the realities of soil, climatic, and biological conditions the authors insure that this book wil be of wide use to crop scientists, horticulturalists, and pure and applied biologists. The strengths of this book are that it synthesizes subject matter from a wide range of perspectives, from sowing to harvesting, storage, marketing, and consumption of crops. Some major aspects, such as the impact of stress on yield and the effects of growing conditions on the nutritional quality of plants are synthesized for the first time. It is also a highly practical work that integrates knowledge from other disciplines, such as soil science, human and animal nutrition, and crop protection. Finally, it chooses from cool temperate, warm temperate, tropical, and arid agriculture to highlight the universal significance of principles. Simple terms and concepts are fully explained for the uninitiated.

Dr ULRICH MEVE'S book on Duvalia, one of the 30 genera comprising the group of stem-succulent Asclepiadaceae, is a piece of well-done research. The text is supported by excellent illustrations comprising full-page drawings and photo graphs making this monograph a very practicable contribution for both profes sional and amateur botanists. Dr MEVE'S species delimitations are mainly based on morphological, karyological and biogeographical studies, and therefore easy to follow. His taxonomic and well-established biogeographic conclusions have been supported by field observations in southern and eastern Africa. Without doubt, this book represents one of the best and most intensive monographs ever published for the Asclepiadaceae. The studies of Dr MEVE were initiated at my former chair of systematic botany in Kiel, the former work place of the renowned succulent plants specialist Dr H. JACOBSEN and the karyologist Prof. G. REEsE. Dr MEVE has been involved with Asclepiadaceae research for more than ten years, and his work is characterized by a meticulousness typical of him. He has made himself a name amongst colleagues as well as plant lovers by his remarkable number of scientific and popular publications, which are not restricted to succulent Asclepiadaceae."

Conventional wisdom says to garden from the bottom up, turning over the soil every spring until your back aches. Ironically, this does such a good job aerating that gardeners spend the rest of the season pulling weeds and replacing the suddenly energized (and easily used up) nutrients. Mother nature, on the other hand, gardens from the top down-layering undisturbed soil with leaves and other organic materials. In following this example and synthesizing the work of other perceptive gardeners, Lee Reich presents a compelling new system called weedless gardening.
"The Weedless Garden" is good for plants and it's good for people. It protects the soil, contributes to plant health, reduces water needs, cuts down on a gardener's labor, encourages earthworms and, of course, mitigates weed problems by keeping the seeds dormant. Four basic tenets form the system's backbone-minimize soil disruption; protect soil surface; avoid soil compaction; use drip irrigation-and the way to get there is simple. For a new bed or established garden, layering is key, and the perfect material to use is also among the most common-newspaper. Add organic mulch and compost on top, and plants are growing in rich, self-generating humus. From vegetable gardening to flower gardens to planting trees, shrubs, and vines, "The Weedless Garden" works everywhere-allowing the gardener to work quite a bit less.

What do you do when you find yourself living as a stranger? When Beth Lynch moved to Switzerland, she quickly realised that the sheer will to connect with people would not guarantee a happy relocation. Out of place and lonely, Beth knows that she needs to get her hands dirty if she is to put down roots. And so she sets about making herself at home in the way she knows best - by tending a garden, growing things. The search for a garden takes her across the country, through meadows and on mountain paths where familiar garden plants run wild, to the rugged hills of the Swiss Jura. In this remote and unfamiliar place of glow worms and dormice and singing toads she learns to garden in a new way, taking her cue from the natural world. As she plants her paradise with hellebores and aquilegias, cornflowers and Japanese anemones, these cherished species forge green and deepening connections: to her new soil, to her old life in England, and to her deceased parents, whose Sussex garden continues to flourish in her heart. WHERE THE HORNBEAM GROWS is a memoir about carrying a garden inwardly through loss, dislocation and relocation, about finding a sense of wellbeing in a green place of your own, and about the limits of paradise in a peopled world. It is a powerful exploration by a dazzling new literary voice of how, in nurturing a corner of the natural world, we ourselves are nurtured.

Jeder Wirtschaftsraum steht in einem Stoffaustausch mit der Umwelt. Auf der Input-Seite werden Rohmaterialien entnommen und auf der Output-Seite werden Emissionen und Abfalle abgegeben. Die Ressourcennutzung macht dabei nicht an politischen Grenzen halt. Hier wird erstmals ausfuhrlich beschrieben, wie der globale Materialaufwand industrialisierter Regionen bestimmt werden kann. Der Autor stellt die Moglichkeiten vor, wie die physische Basis von Wirtschaftsraumen aggregiert und detailiert ermittelt und bewertet werden kann. Erlautert wird dies anhand von Beispielen fur Deutschland und anderen Industrielandern sowie Ergebnissen sektoraler und regionaler Analysen (z.B. Baubereich bzw. Ruhrgebiet). Auch werden Analysen fur die Planung von Infrastrukturanlagen (Energie/Wasser/Verkehr) vorgestellt, mit deren Hilfe eine nachhaltigere stofflich-energetische Versorgung lokal umgesetzt werden kann."

Written in a clear and accessible style, Garden Practices and Their Science guides gardeners in the practical arts of plant husbandry and in their understanding of its underpinning principles. The author, Professor Geoff Dixon, is an acknowledged and internationally respected horticulturist and microbiologist; he intertwines these arts and principles carefully, expertly leading readers from one to the other. Achieving the manipulation of plant life is described in eight full-colour, well-illustrated chapters covering the growing of potatoes, bulb onions, legumes, small-seeded vegetables, soft fruit, bulbs and herbaceous ornamentals in great detail. Environmental factors controlling the successful husbandry of these crops is described in simple, non-technical language, increasing gardeners' enjoyment and competence. Gardeners are also informed of the tools and equipment they require and their safe use. Also provided are a series of simple, straightforward tests identifying the aerial and soil environments beneficial for plant growth using readily accessible domestic tools. Discussions of very straightforward techniques for vegetative propagation conclude this book. Each chapter ends with a list of the gardening knowledge that has been gained by readers. The structure of this book fulfils a longstanding need for descriptions of practical skills integrated with the corresponding biological reactions of plants. Emphasis is placed on gardeners' development of healthy soils, which encourage vigorous, active root systems capable of withstanding stresses-an aspect of gardening that rarely receives sufficient attention. Tailored for readers requiring clear and concise directions, this very practical book is an instruction manual directed at early-stage gardening learners. These include people of all ages and requirements such as new garden owners, allotment-holders, apprentices and students of basic levels in the Royal Horticultural Society's or City & Guilds qualifications, career changers, community gardeners and those needing applied biological knowledge for GCSE examinations.

This important book on the culture of the potato presents scientific information for potato growers in an easily accessible format and clear language. Managing the Potato Production System contains all the information needed to harvest a bountiful crop. The book is written specifically for field production-oriented technicians and growers and makes the knowledge of production systems easy for readers to apply by providing essential background information, suggestions for incorporating the information into a total production system, and sample forms for collecting data to assist proper and timely decision making. Special sections on harvesting and storage emphasize techniques for protecting the quality of the crop while other chapters provide helpful information on reporting trends in marketing to aid future planning efforts. This easy-to-use guide directs producers to the most critical areas of production, storage, and marketing, helping them to control or influence factors that will result in a healthy, plentiful crop. This is a valuable reference to be consulted for solutions to specific problems or ways to take advantage of opportunities as they occur.Managing the Potato Production System is more than abstract theory; the systems described here have been proven in one or more actual cases of potato production. The strategies devised in this volume help potato producers grow an economically viable crop in a manner that can be sustained over generations with positive impact on the environment. The book concentrates on the interpretation of scientific findings about potatoes and production beginning with a discussion of the origin of the crop, its distribution, and history of its production in the United States. Other chapters feature explanations of the factors which affect potato production including the genetics of Solanum tuberosum in regard to variety (cultivar) improvement and the effect of potato breeding on production.Specific topics covered in the book include: potato production historypotato marketingseed growing, certification, and purchasingsoil preparation and fertilitygrowth stages of the crop and how they are influenced by production practicespest identification and managementreduction of damage during harveststorage techniquesBecause this book covers basic and specialized topics, it is a valuable introduction for beginning level college students and an excellent problem-solving guide for growers, consultants, field workers, and extension specialists.

The Southern Gardener's Book of Lists, a sourcebook and workbook in one, has all the answers. With more than 200 lists of plants grouped by their horticultural characteristics and uses in the garden, this is the one-of-a-kind guide to spending less time and money on your garden. Veteran gardener and best-selling author Lois Trigg Chaplin recommends hundreds of plants for hundreds of uses, noting the specific Southern regions they grow in and sharing helpful hints and insights. Other special features include the tips, suggestions, and anecdotes of gardeners, nurserymen, designers, and horticulturists from across the South.

What are the best ways to defeat rising damp, combat yellowing cotton and fix noisy water pipes? How often should you pick your herbs to keep them bushy and healthy? Full of invaluable and easy-to-follow advice for indoors and out, "The Home Book" has all the answers for you. "The Home Book" provides simple techniques for cleaning, maintaining and repairing your home. Save money using "The Home Book's" own recipes for dishwasher, window and toilet cleaners, and follow the invaluable stain removal tips - did you know you can get rid of lipstick stains with kerosene and use milk when removing ink on cotton? Other handy hints are great for the environment as well as your budget, such as replacing regular light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent ones, and running your fridge between 3 C and 5 C to reduce electricity costs. Tips on growing herbs, container gardening, making your own straw compost and tending a worm garden will guarantee you get the best out of your outdoor space, whether it's a garden, backyard or apartment balcony. Every home, no matter how big or small, will benefit from this book that is packed with clever ideas, practical information and helpful hints, "The Home Book" is an indispensible DIY manual. Key points: includes hundreds of projects for around the home and garden to keep it clean and functioning; all clever tips that you wish you had learnt from your grandparents; covers a broad range of household tips, from cleaning, stain removal and do-it-yourself repairs to basic vehicle maintenance; and, includes all the need-to-know information on how to grow a healthy and sustainable garden, both for houses and apartments; includes environmentally-aware green options.

This is a concise calendar of practical tasks, covering all aspects of flower, kitchen and greenhouse gardening throughout all four seasons of the year. You can master a range of new gardening skills, with simple, illustrated step-by-step instructions. It includes suggestions for creative projects, as well as essential tasks to keep your garden looking good. It features a useful glossary of terms, and quick reference charts indicating what to do when in the garden. This practical handbook takes the guesswork out of knowing what to do when in the garden, right through the year. It gives advice on preparing the ground, sowing, planting and caring for plants, and harvesting fruit and vegetables, from early spring to late summer and into winter. Basic maintenance tasks are included, together with brilliant ideas for creative projects such as planting up a pretty hanging basket, making the most of summer bulbs in a mixed border, and which plants will extend the season. Illustrated with step-by-step techniques and packed with expert gardening tips, this book is an essential companion for every garden enthusiast.

Creating a beautiful outdoor space in under an hour a week. You can create a stunning garden that is quick to establish, and can be maintained in under an hour a week. It includes practical advice on using time-saving equipment and techniques for maximum effort in minimum time. It features inspiration for five easy-care gardens to suit your taste in design. It includes a useful chart of simple-to-grow plants, showing their individual cultivation requirements. It is perfect for every weekend gardener who wants to spend time enjoying their garden rather than working on it. Sections include easy garden maintenance, easy-care gardens, low-maintenance landscaping, low-maintenance plants, ideas for special features, easy-care plants and the common names of plants. If you long for a beautiful garden but have limited time to create and care for one, here is a quick and handy guide that will show you how to create the garden of your dreams with minimum effort. The book explains how careful planning, design and planting will ensure trouble-free gardening in the future and gives lots of useful information on the best equipment and techniques. There are recommendations for easy plants that require very little aftercare, as well as inspiration for five garden styles, and shortcuts to create usually time-consuming special features. With its wealth of invaluable advice, this is the ideal sourcebook for the time-pressed garden lover.

This title offers essential gardening skills and tasks, and a guide to 3000 plants, with more than 1900 photographs and illustrations. It includes step-by-step techniques on everything from planning and design to planting, propagation, care and cultivation through each season. It contains advice on choosing the best plants for all types of garden, with entries arranged alphabetically within plant categories for quick and easy reference. It includes information on caring for trees, shrubs, climbers, bulbs, annuals and perennials, growing vegetables, herbs and fruit, greenhouse gardening, and improving your lawn. It contains descriptions and essential cultivation information for over 3000 common garden plants. It is an essential box set for new gardeners and those who want to extend their gardening expertise. Whether you are an experienced gardener or a complete beginner, these two authoritative reference books contain everything you need to know about planning, planting and maintaining your garden, and choosing the best plants to suit your location. "The Visual Encyclopedia of Garden Techniques" includes all the essential gardening skills, such as improving your soil and planting flowers, shrubs and trees. "The Visual Encyclopedia of Garden Plants" is the perfect companion for selecting the best plants to create a beautiful and uniquely personal garden. With practical advice and over 1900 photographs, these informative books are indispensable for any gardener.

Learn to identify wildflowers in North Carolina and South Carolina with this handy field guide, organized by color. With this famous field guide by professional nature photographers Nora and Rick Bowers and by award-winning author and naturalist Stan Tekiela, you can make wildflower identification simple, informative, and productive. There's no need to look through dozens of photos of wildflowers that don't grow in the Carolinas. Learn about 200 of the most common and important species found in the region. They're organized by color and then by size for ease of use. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-page photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification. Book Features 200 species: Only North and South Carolina wildflowers! Simple color guide: See a purple flower? Go to the purple section Fact-filled information and stunning professional photographs Icons that make visual identification quick and easy Nature Notes, including naturalist tidbits and facts This new edition includes updated photographs, expanded information, and even more expert naturalist insights. Grab Wildflowers of the Carolinas Field Guide for your next outing-to help you positively identify the wildflowers that you see.

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

'Clever... valuable introduction to the study of plant science.' - Gardeners Illustrated RHS Botany for Gardeners is more than just a useful reference book on the science of botany and the language of horticulture - it is a practical, hands-on guide that will help gardeners understand how plants grow, what affects their performance, and how to get better results. Illustrated throughout with beautiful botanical prints and simple diagrams, RHS Botany for Gardeners provides easy-to-understand explanations of over 3,000 botanical words and terms, and show how these can be applied to everyday gardening practice. For easy navigation, the book is divided into thematic chapters covering everything from Plant Pests, and further subdivided into useful headings such as 'Seed Sowing' and 'Pruning'. 'Botany in Action' boxes provide instantly accessible practical tips and advice, and feature spreads profile the remarkable individuals who collected, studied and illustrated the plants that we grow today. Aided by this book, gardeners will unlock the wealth of information that lies within the intriguing world of botanical science - and their gardens will thrive as a result. This is the perfect gift for any gardener. Contents Includes... The Plant kingdom Growth, Form and Function Inner Workings Reproduction The Beginning of Life External Factors Pruning Botany and the Senses Pest, Diseases and Disorders Botanists and Botanical Illustration ... And Much More!

We all aspire to a beautiful garden that suits our lifestyle, but it can be hard to keep on top of the day-to-day care that gardens often require to look their best. Perfect for those who struggle with the workload, who want a space to relax in but aren't especially green-fingered, or for those are simply too busy to get stuck in, Weekend Gardening shows how to create an achievable garden that lives up to your dreams with just a few hours of work a week. * Explains the basic principles of labour-saving garden design * Practical gardening projects that can be completed in a weekend * Recommended easy-care plants * Solutions for difficult sites, including tricky soil types * Quick-reference seasonal tasks

Self Sufficiency begins in the home. It doesn't mean jumping ship and moving to a remote island, living off grid on a diet of pulses. Carl and Kal argue that it's about becoming less reliant on the weekly trip to the supermarket and more about making do. The A-Z of Practical Self Sufficiency is a guide to help you take those first daunting steps to a more rewarding and fulfilling lifestyle. It covers a wide range of topics, from A-Z; from helping you make your money go further (B= Budge Plans, bartering), to learning basic DIY skills (D) and looking at ways to produce a wide selection of crops whatever the size of your garden to but a few topics covered. With money saving tips on gardening, cooking, energy saving and even night schooling, this book strives to empower you with tried and tested methods and practices to help you along the way.