Britain's favourite gardener Alan Titchmarsh has also been the most popular contributor to Gardeners' World magazine for the last twenty years. This collection of his very best columns, demonstrates just why he is regularly voted the readers' favourite. His brilliant writings are, in turn, practical - just how far back should we prune our roses? - opinionated - I always rail at people who go out on a Sunday afternoon to tidy their gardens. I mean, a garden is not a sock drawer - cheeky - I have a theory that gardeners grow to look like their soil and wistful - You've got to be a bit of a dreamer to get the most out of your garden. So lay down your trowel, take off your wellies, sit back and enjoy a bit of quintessential Titchmarsh.

'I like that you call brussel sprouts w*nkers' - DIANE MORGAN/PHILOMENA CUNK 'Your book was our bible all summer' - PEARL LOWE 'As a gardening beginner/twit I'm a huge fan' - KEELEY HAWES This is the gardening book reimagined for a new generation. A book for people who want to learn how to grow things, but haven't got a clue where to start. With the average person now spending an enormous 8 hours and 41 minutes in front of a screen every day, gardening is an easy way to escape for half an hour. Whether on a rented balcony or a sunny kitchen windowsill, it turns out growing something with your own two hands can make you feel better. Which is where HOW TO GROW comes in. Irreverent and inspiring, this book will equip you with all the know-how and confidence you need to take your first steps into a lifelong gardening love affair - trowel in one hand, drink in the other. From growing your first wonky courgette to completely transforming a shady patio garden, in HOW TO GROW, self-taught gardener Hollie Newton divulges all the secrets she's discovered over the past few years as she's journeyed from gardening novice to vegetable-grower-extraordinaire - all from her pint-sized London garden. With chapters on easy-to-grow veg, fruit, herbs, salad and flowers (along with plenty of tried-and-tested guidance to keeping those plants alive, and delicious recipes to make the most of your haul), you'll also learn everything from the basics of planning your garden to stylish design ideas. Focusing on small and urban spaces and including beautiful photography throughout, this is practical advice for a whole new generation of gardeners.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter: wherever you are, the seasons come and go, bringing changes both welcome and unexpected. Japanese by birth, but transplanted to Europe in adulthood, Miki Sakamoto has spent a lifetime tending her garden and reflecting on its mysteries. Why do primulas bloom in snow? Do the trees really 'talk' to one another? What are the blackbirds saying today? And is there a mindful way to deal with an aphid infestation? From rising early to walk barefoot on the grass each morning, to afternoons and evenings spent sipping tea in her gazebo or watching fireflies as she recalls her childhood in Japan, in Zen in the Garden Sakamoto shares observations from a life spent in contemplation - and cultivation - of nature. She shows us that you can create Zen in your life, wherever you live and whatever form your outdoor space takes.

Our planet, the Earth, is under threat, with potentially catastrophic consequences for ourselves and the other lifeforms it sustains. Yet Nature itself can still rescue us - with plants playing a pivotal role, in the countryside - and everywhere. In gardens and parks, plants are the mainstay of our relationship with the natural world, and we celebrate them for the pleasures they bring. However, that can be part of the problem: too often we value plants for their aesthetic qualities rather than the vital role they play in the ecology of the Earth. In Gardening in a Changing World Darryl Moore explores how gardens can be better for human beings and for all the other lifeforms that inhabit them. Recent developments in horticulture and plant science show us that we need to rethink our attitude to plants beyond purely aesthetic concerns, and to adopt more holistic approaches to how we design, inhabit and enjoy our gardens. He looks at the history of garden design, to show how we got to where we are today, and recommends ways of changing to new principles of sustainable ecological horticulture. This challenging and important new book will be essential reading for professionals and students of horticulture and garden and landscape design, as well as for anyone interested in making gardens part of the solution to the future of life on Earth.

For the Founding Fathers, gardening, agriculture, and botany were elemental passions: a conjoined interest as deeply ingrained in their characters as the battle for liberty and a belief in the greatness of their new nation.
"Founding Gardeners" is an exploration of that obsession, telling the story of the revolutionary generation from the unique perspective of their lives as gardeners, plant hobbyists, and farmers. Acclaimed historian Andrea Wulf describes how George Washington wrote letters to his estate manager even as British warships gathered off Staten Island; how a tour of English gardens renewed Thomas Jefferson's and John Adams's faith in their fledgling nation; and why James Madison is the forgotten father of environmentalism. Through these and other stories, Wulf reveals a fresh, nuanced portrait of the men who created our nation.

Learn all the secrets for creating fertile, productive soil anywhere. With more than 300 detailed illustrations and at-a-glance charts, Secrets to Great Soil solves all your soil problems and gives you techniques for year-round soil building.

InSecrets to Great Soil you'll find:

* The basics of soil pH and nutrients

* Quick methods for making compost

* Instructions for using organic mulches, soil amendments, and fertilizers

* Ways to customize your soil for a variety of vegetables, flowers, fruits, trees, shrubs, and lawns

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.

An estimated 10,000 baby boomers retire every day, and many of them are gardeners. As part of maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle, they need to adapt how they garden to ensure they can continue enjoying the hobby for years to come. In The Lifelong Gardener, popular garden speaker Toni Gattone shares adaptive gardening techniques that help readers garden smarter, not harder. Gattone offers tried-and-true methods that help eliminate the physical strain of gardening like buying new ergonomic tools, using raised beds, making small adjustments like using kneeling pads, and dozens of simple ways to make the garden comfortable. Throughout, Gattone maintains a positive and empowering tone that honors the garden and the gardener and focuses on the joy of aging. The perfect gift for older home gardeners, The Lifelong Gardener shows how a little advanced planning can make gardening a safe and fun daily activity.

The intimate Monk's Garden at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston embodies the design principles that inform the work of noted landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh. In Designing a Garden, Van Valkenburgh presents the design of the Monk's Garden at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, an intimate, walled garden that Laurie Olin has described as a masterpiece, and not a minor one. The book documents the evolution of the garden's design, which is based on the concept of meandering paths through a dreamlike woodland to create a contemplative space. Sketches and models show how the idea was worked out, and lush photographs reveal the completed garden through the seasons. Van Valkenburgh's text explores the origins of his love of landscape and plants in his family farm in Upstate New York and how this has influenced his intuitions as a designer. He shares the full background story of the Monk's Garden, focusing on the experimental nature of design work as well as the challenges and satisfactions of the small scale and the historic and cultural context. Designing a Garden provides a unique first-person account of the design process from the most prominent landscape architects in the country.

Deer are the most common problem a gardener can face. These cute but pesky animals think home-grown flowers and vegetables are delicious, and they can quickly devour hundreds of dollars' worth of plants. Common solutions often include the use of harsh chemicals or unattractive fencing. In her new book Deer-Resistant Design, Karen Chapman offers a new option - intentional garden design choices that help keep deer at bay. Chapman showcases real home gardens across North America that successfully coexist with wildlife. Each homeowner also shares their top deer-resistant plants, all welcome additions to a deer-challenged gardener's shopping list and guaranteed to put the fun back into nursery visits. A chapter on deer-resistant container gardens provides suggestions for making colourful, captivating, and imaginative containers. Lushly illustrated and filled with practical advice and inspiring designs ideas, Deer-Resistant Design is for every home gardener looking for beautiful, natural ways to keep deer out of their gardens.

Cultivate your passion to grow In a 1625 essay, Francis Bacon called gardens "the purest of human pleasures," and what was true then is even more so today--gardening can give you a serene refuge from the short-lived (and noisy!) distractions of modern life and a fertile basis for satisfaction that will bear fruit long into the future. To help you get started on your own leafy paradise, the new edition of Gardening Basics For Dummies grounds you thoroughly in the fundamentals of soil, flowers, trees, and lawns--and helps you get to know the names of what you're planting along the way! In a friendly, straightforward style, professional horticulturist Steven A. Frowine distills 50 years of gardening experience to show you how to start growing your expertise--from planning out your own mini-Eden and planting your first annuals, bulbs, and perennials through to laying the perfect lawn, raising tasty crops, and even introducing fish to your landscape! He also digs into the grubbier side of horticultural life, making sure you're as prepared as any seasoned farmer to deal with pests, weeds, and other challenges the earth will throw up at you. Create your ideal garden plan Become an expert on common flora with definitions and descriptions Know how to look after your soil Get creative with butterfly and children's gardens Whether you're beginning with a tiny garden in a box, or beautifying your property with tree-lined groves and flowery bowers, this is the ideal introduction to the intense pleasure of gardening and will make you happy to reap what you've sown!

The most comprehensive, entertaining, down-to-earth one-volume gardening reference ever, and highly praised:
"Barbara Damrosch delivers the goods."--"Chicago Tribune"
"Best of the crop."--"House Beautiful"
"Barbara Damrosch's writing has the snap of a good snowpea and the spice of an old rose."--"The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer"
"Covers just about everything you could think of and then some." -- "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"
"An extraordinarily comprehensive guide." -- "The San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle"
"Takes your soaring visions of garden splendor and plants them firmly in the ground."--"The Toronto Star"
Now the beloved classic is revised front-to-back. The new edition has gone 100% organic, which in Barbara Damrosch's hands also means completely accessible. It reflects the latest research on plants, soils, tools, and techniques. There is updated and expanded information on planning a garden, recommended plants, and best tools. Ecological issues are addressed much more extensively, covering lawn alternatives, the benefits of native species, wildlife-friendly gardens, and how to avoid harmful invasive species. More attention is paid to plants appropriate to the South, Southwest, and West Coast, while cold-climate gardeners are given detailed advice on how to extend the growing season. Simply put, the book is a richer and fuller compendium than ever before, with more text, more illustrations and garden plans, expanded plant lists, and gardener's resources. But Barbara Damrosch's core of practical, creative ideas and friendly style remain--she is still an "old-fashioned dirt gardener" at heart.

A backyard field of grains? Yes, absolutely Wheat and corn are rapidly replacing grass in the yards of dedicated locavores across the country. For adventurous homeowners who want to get in on the movement, "Homegrown Whole Grains" is the place to begin.
Growing whole grains is simpler and more rewarding than most people imagine. With as little as 1000 square feet of land, backyard farmers can grow enough wheat to harvest 50 pounds in a single afternoon - and those 50 pounds can be baked into 50 loaves of fresh bread.
In addition to providing information on wheat and corn, "Homegrown Whole Grains" includes complete growing, harvesting, and threshing instructions for barley, millet, oats, rice, rye, spelt, and quinoa, and lighter coverage of several specialty grains. Readers will also find helpful tips on processing whole grains, from what to look for in a home mill to how to dry corn and remove the hulls from barley and rice.
Chapters for each grain include inventive recipes for cereals, desserts, casseroles, salads, soups and stews, and, of course, home-baked breads, the crowning achievement of the home grain grower. Sara Pitzer shares dozens of ideas for using whole grains - from cooking sturdy wheat berries in a slow cooker to malting barley for homebrewed beer. Whether milled into nutritional flours or used in any of their unmilled states, wheat, barley, quinoa, and the other grain crops are healthful additions to every diet.

A beautifully illustrated devotional book that looks at what we can learn about God from tending our gardens. Richard Littledale invites you to push open the garden gate and join him as he discovers the joy of gardening. A reluctant gardener, Richard took up 'project garden' to help combat the loneliness of bereavement, only to find that the physical transformation of his garden mirrored a real change in himself too. Follow Richard's journey through 52 tales and uncover what gardening can teach us about patience, humility, hope, fruitfulness and the abiding goodness of God. Beautifully illustrated throughout, each tale includes a gardening story, a biblical reflection and a prayer. Whether you are an enthusiastic beginner or naturally green-fingered, this gentle and encouraging book reveals inspirational thoughts about life and God from the perspective of the gardener. Content Benefits: This beautifully illustrated gift book, containing 52 devotions, explores truths that we can learn about life, ourselves and God from tending our gardens. Each tale has a gardening story, a Bible verse and reflection and a chance to pause and pray Each gardening tale is written in a conversational and accessible voice Beautiful line drawings appear throughout the book adding visual appeal Encourages even reluctant gardeners to see the joy gardening can bring Helps gardeners see the link between the natural world and God Enables keen gardeners to see God in their work Explores the link between gardens and faith Enables you to spend time listening to God in nature Ideal resource for quiet times or devotional times Encourages those who are bereaved to take up gardening as 'ecotherapy' to help deal with grief Ideal inspirational gift for any green-fingered gardener Suitable for those just starting out or seasoned gardeners Hardback cover and internal illustrations make this a perfect gift for anyone who loves gardening Perfect gift for birthdays, celebrations, and more Binding - Hardback Pages - 368 Publisher - Authentic Media

Meant primarily for gardeners in USDA zones 8 10, "The Tropical Look" encompasses most of the southern U.S. and the West Coast. This groundbreaking encyclopedia of lush plants will also be useful to gardeners in other zones who are interested in growing tropical-looking plants (as opposed to strictly tropical plants, which cannot endure a frost) as half-hardy, annual, or conservatory plants.
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Small enough to take to the garden center or nursery, this book contains all the gardening information you need to decide which plants to select and how to care for them in your regional garden

Live a more sustainable lifestyle Historically referred to as a government program for revitalizing undesirable living areas, "homesteading" today has come to mean the pursuit of a self-sufficient lifestyle. Homesteading can include everything from keeping bees, growing vegetables, and composting to installing solar panels, creating a rain barrel, and canning your own food, --plus much more. Backyard Homesteading All-in-One For Dummies has a little bit of everything for the homesteader in all of us. It walks you through the basics of creating your own sustainable homestead and offers expert tips and tricks for making it as easy and successful as possible. Raise chickens Keep bees Compost Can and preserve This book gives you everything you need to embark on your own homesteading adventure.

Most of us lump plants together in one big family, and when pressed can only explain their grouping by what they're not--not an animal, not a mineral, and so just a plant. In reality, there are hundreds of different plant families, each grouped logically by a unique family history and genealogy. This brings sense and order to the more than a quarter of a million different plant species covering a diverse spectrum that includes soaring sequoias (Cupressaceae), squat prickly pear (Cactaceae), and luxuriant roses (Rosaceae). Plant Families is an easy-to-use, beautifully illustrated guide to the more than one hundred core plant families every horticulturist, gardener, or budding botanist needs to know. It introduces the basics of plant genealogy and teaches readers how to identify and understand the different structures of flowers, trees, herbs, shrubs, and bulbs. It then walks through each family, explaining its origins and range, and describing characteristics such as size, flowers, and seeds. Each family is accompanied by full-color botanical illustrations and diagrams. "Uses For" boxes planted throughout the book provide practical gardening tips related to each family. We have much to gain by learning about the relationships between plant families. By understanding how botanists create these groupings, we can become more apt at spotting the unique characteristics of a plant and identify them faster and more accurately. Understanding plant families also helps us to make sense of--and better appreciate--the enormous biological diversity of the plant kingdom.

Based on her hit Allotment Tales column for "The Scotsman and New Consumer Magazine", Antonia Swinson - the First Lady of the allotment - shares, not only her tips for gardening and allotment management, but also the effect of her time spent in the mud. Written with humour and vim You Are What You Grow is her extraordinary original vision of how the world ticks. Scything down the caricature of the allotmenteer, this is a social and political critique from an allotmenteer's point of view. Antonia explores issues such as the history of British land ownership, organic produce and self-sufficiency, community building and the psychological benefits to be found by allotmenteering. The work is divided by season with gardening tips, money saving ideas and promotion of healthy, and organic food.

Did you know that plants and plant products can be used to improve people's cognitive, physical, psychological, and social functioning? Well, they can, and Horticulture as Therapy is the book to show you how If you are already familiar with the healing potential of horticultural therapy, or even practice horticultural therapy, this book will help you enrich your knowledge and skills and revitalize your practice. You will learn how horticultural therapy can be used with different populations in a variety of settings, what resources are available, effective treatment strategies, and the concepts behind horticultural treatment. The first comprehensive text on the practice of horticulture as therapy, this one-of-a-kind book will enable the profession to educate future horticultural therapists with fundamental knowledge and skills as they embark on careers as practitioners, researchers, and educators. You come to understand the relationship between people and plants more deeply as you learn about: vocational, social, and therapeutic programs in horticulture special populations including children, older adults, those who exhibit criminal behavior, and those with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health disorders, or traumatic brain injury use of horticultural therapy in botanical gardening and community settings adaptive gardening techniques applied research documentation and assessment in horticultural practice Horticulture as Therapy establishes, integrates, and communicates a foundation of knowledge for horticultural therapists, other therapists, horticulturists, students, research scientists, gardeners, and others interested in this special and unique kind of therapy. By reading Horticulture as Therapy, you will see how you can make a difference in the health and well-being of so many people, today and tomorrow. Translated into Greek

We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life: supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and pepper drove the Age of Discovery, coffee beans fueled the Enlightenment and cottonseed sparked the Industrial Revolution. Seeds are fundamental objects of beauty, evolutionary wonders, and simple fascinations. Yet, despite their importance, seeds are often seen as commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more. This is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder, spun by an award-winning writer with both the charm of a fireside story-teller and the hard-won expertise of a field biologist. A fascinating scientific adventure, it is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.