Tending our gardens is a lifelong pleasure. As we age, our energy and physical abilities become more limited. But gardens are magical, evolving places, with the potential to keep us young at heart, physically fit, out in the fresh air and full to the brim with joy and expectation. This ground-breaking book shows how easy it is for older people to carry on gardening. The different kinds of garden set-up are considered first, along with planning decisions and how best to keep safe and comfortable. An informative chapter looks at the main gardening activities and appropriate equipment, especially those that answer physical limitations. Different styles of garden are then presented: flower, vegetable, fruit, raised, herb, patio, vertical and indoor gardens, each one including projects and techniques, from building a raised bed to growing potatoes in containers. The final chapter is a directory that profiles the many planting choices available. Packed with projects, garden plans and step-by-step sequences designed for older gardeners who may not be able to exert themselves in the same way as they once could, this will appeal to active gardeners in their early retirement through to seniors with more limited abilities, and show how gardening can be a lifelong pleasure.

"This gorgeously-illustrated book makes the link between getting out in the garden, and the enrichment that can come as a result." - PlantBased mag "Clea sows a series of meditation techniques about tending the earth wholeheartedly, and shows you how to embrace gardening as a spiritually-enriching hobby to help reconnect you to nature." - Soul & Spirit mag "It promises to lift your soil and your soul! We love." - Woman's Own *BOOK OF THE WEEK* "Clea Danaan is on a gentle mission to help more people fall in love with the Earth." - NFU Countryside "We adore her beautiful little book, Mindful Thoughts for Gardeners, which will inspire you to reconnect with nature, help you live consciously through your planting, and accept unavoidable gardening pitfalls!" - Green Parent Mindful Thoughts for Gardeners reminds us how this spiritually enriching activity lovingly reconnects us to nature every day. Rooting each blossoming thought in deep ecology and conscious living, we unearth the power inherent in mindfully lifting the soil; it lifts our souls as well. This beautifully illustrated little book sows a series of 25 meditations about tending the Earth wholeheartedly, including: * Seeds, soil and roots * Small gardens * Plants and wildlife * Recycling in the garden * Community gardening * Permaculture * Seasons Author Clea Danaan explores the interconnectedness of nature in this carefully crafted small volume that any green-fingeredgrower will want to dig into. If you like this, you might also be interested in Seedbombs, Love Bees, Mindful Thoughts for Walkers and Nature Tonic.

The earliest record of an enclosed space around a homestead come from 10,000 BC and since then gardens of varying types and ambition have been popular throughout the ages. Whether ornamental patches surrounding wild cottages, container gardens blooming over unforgiving concrete or those turned over for growing produce, gardens exist in all shapes and sizes, in all manner of styles. Today we benefit from centuries of development, be it in the cultivation of desirable blossom or larger fruits, in the technology to keep weeds and lawn at bay or even in the visionaries who tore up rulebooks and cultivated pure creativity in their green spaces. George Drower takes fifty objects that have helped create the gardening scene we know today and explores the history outside spaces in a truly unique fashion. With stunning botanical and archive images, this lavish volume is essential for garden lovers.

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!

This critically acclaimed and definitive permaculture design book was the inspiration that BBC2's Brigit Strawbridge (of Its Not Easy Being Green) needed to attend her first permaculture design course with Patrick Whitefield, setting her and her family off on a voyage of discovery which is helping to introduce and inspire others. Already hailed in the UK, Europe and America as definitive, and reprinted by popular demand, The Earth Care Manual offers an inspirational yet practical vision of a sustainable future invaluable to those new to the subject as well as to the experienced practitioner. The permaculture movement started in the 1970s as a sustainable alternative to modern industrial agriculture, taking its inspiration from natural ecosystems. It initially placed an emphasis on gardening, with proponents of permaculture since expanding on its principles; addressing all subjects vital to sustainability, from building and community design to food, energy, water, microclimate and shelter. All of these topics and more are addressed in The Earth Care Manual, demonstrating that permaculture is an interconnecting framework linking a diversity of green ideas.Its aims are a low input, high output efficient use of resources, and genuine sustainability. The Earth Care Manual gives a vision of a sustainable future and the practical steps we can take towards it, both large and small, urban and rural. Written by Patrick Whitefield, one of Europes foremost teachers and practitioners of temperate permaculture, it explains in depth how to apply permaculture to any situation, from the smallest of buildings or apartments, to houses, gardens, orchards, farms and woodlands.

Gardeners across the nation are seeing clear signs of trouble in their home gardens, no matter the size-like many aspects of life on our warming planet, gardening practices need updates. In the Southeast, gardeners are under pressure to deal with increasing weather extremes, shifting hardiness zones, and seasonal unpredictability. Such environmental conditions are increasingly tough on plants as well as insects, pollinators, birds, and mammals. In this lively and heartening guide, Barbara J. Sullivan offers an essential, easy-to-use resource for adapting to the new realities of climate change. This book will empower southerners to grow beautiful gardens while using gardening practices that contribute to solutions for our shared environment. Surveys the science behind climate change and gardening Covers USDA hardiness zones 5a to 9b, which include thirteen southeastern states Gives advice on planning and installing gardens that will not only thrive but also help address critical environmental challenges Covers key topics ranging from designing a climate-friendly garden that will attract songbirds and pollinators to weaning off gas-powered tools to using water wisely Features a wealth of color illustrations, charts, and tables brimming with recommended native plants for the region

This carry-along version of our enormously popular Zen Gardening Kit provides a touch of tranquility on the go.

Packaged with a 32-page introduction to the aesthetic enlightenment of Zen gardening, it includes a tray, fine sand, decorative rocks, and miniature wooden rake.

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.

'The Gardener', is the winning project of the inaugural Syngenta Photography Award. Photographed by Jan Brykczynski, it is an extension of his previous projects in which he travelled to the outer corners of Europe to explore the lives of people in rural areas. This new work looks at how city dwellers try to connect with nature. The book documents urban gardens in Nairobi, New York, Warsaw, and Yerevan in Armenia. Jan Brykczynski approaches it as if the world were a single village, whose inhabitants seek to meet similar, and very human, needs. His focus is on low-income communities where people respond to a basic need rather than any passing fad. When they create their gardens, improvisation is all. The residents of these neighbourhoods make use of what is available - often re-using materials entirely out of context and in truly original ways. His particular interest is the way in which these spaces are arranged and in how structures for cultivation are created spontaneously. In some places these are an expression of group collaboration, in others they highlight individual imagination and the inventiveness of their creators. Yet there are surprising similarities across different continents, evidencing a collective consciousness and a common humanity.

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.

In The Cabaret of Plants, Mabey explores the plant species which have challenged our imaginations, awoken our wonder, and upturned our ideas about history, science, beauty and belief. Picked from every walk of life, they encompass crops, weeds, medicines, religious gathering-places and a water lily named after a queen. Beginning with pagan cults and creation myths, the cultural significance of plants has burst upwards, sprouting into forms as diverse as the panacea (the cure-all plant ginseng, a single root of which can cost up to $10,000), Newton's apple, the African 'vegetable elephant' or boabab - and the mystical, night-flowering Amazonian cactus, the moonflower. Ranging widely across science, art and cultural history, poetry and personal experience, Mabey puts plants centre stage, and reveals a true botanical cabaret, a world of tricksters, shape-shifters and inspired problem-solvers, as well as an enthralled audience of romantics, eccentric amateur scientists and transgressive artists. The Cabaret of Plants celebrates the idea that plants are not simply 'the furniture of the planet', but vital, inventive, individual beings worthy of respect - and that to understand this may be the best way of preserving life together on Earth.

This text is an introduction to harmonic analysis on symmetric spaces, focusing on advanced topics such as higher rank spaces, positive definite matrix space and generalizations. It is intended for beginning graduate students in mathematics or researchers in physics or engineering. As with the introductory book entitled "Harmonic Analysis on Symmetric Spaces - Euclidean Space, the Sphere, and the Poincare Upper Half Plane, the style is informal with an emphasis on motivation, concrete examples, history, and applications. The symmetric spaces considered here are quotients X=G/K, where G is a non-compact real Lie group, such as the general linear group GL(n,P) of all n x n non-singular real matrices, and K=O(n), the maximal compact subgroup of orthogonal matrices. Other examples are Siegel's upper half "plane" and the quaternionic upper half "plane". In the case of the general linear group, one can identify X with the space Pn of n x n positive definite symmetric matrices. Many corrections and updates have been incorporated in this new edition. Updates include discussions of random matrix theory and quantum chaos, as well as recent research on modular forms and their corresponding L-functions in higher rank. Many applications have been added, such as the solution of the heat equation on Pn, the central limit theorem of Donald St. P. Richards for Pn, results on densest lattice packing of spheres in Euclidean space, and GL(n)-analogs of the Weyl law for eigenvalues of the Laplacian in plane domains. Topics featured throughout the text include inversion formulas for Fourier transforms, central limit theorems, fundamental domains in X for discrete groups (such as the modular group GL(n,Z) of n x n matrices with integer entries and determinant +/-1), connections with the problem of finding densest lattice packings of spheres in Euclidean space, automorphic forms, Hecke operators, L-functions, and the Selberg trace formula and its applications in spectral theory as well as number theory.

Butterflies are brilliant pollinators and add vibrancy and colour to the garden. A summer's day wouldn't be the same without the gentle fluttering of delicate wings. They connect us with living and breathing nature and are an essential part of a dynamic ecosystem. However, in the past forty years, these insects, which were once a common sight in our gardens, are now in decline thanks to habit loss, climate change and the use of pesticides. But do not despair - there is a lot you can do to help improve their numbers! Planting for Butterflies will show you how you can attract these beautiful insects and help them to flourish by creating a butterfly-friendly garden. No matter how small or large your space - from a window ledge in the city to a country garden - Jane Moore offers advice on the nectar-rich blooms to grow, and when and where to plant them. This charmingly illustrated, practical guide will set your garden a flutter.

"For Northeastern gardeners--all of whom battle the serious problem that is deer browsing--this is definitely one for the library." --GardenRant The benefits of native plants are plentiful--less upkeep, more pollinators, and a better environment. In Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast, Ruth Rogers Clausen and Gregory D. Tepper provide a list of native plants that have one more benefit--they are proven to help prevent your garden from becoming a deer buffet. From annuals and perennials to grasses and shrubs, every suggested plant includes a deer-resistance rating, growing advice, companion species, and the beneficial wildlife the plant does attract. Let these beautiful natives help your landscape flourish! For gardeners in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Winner of the Best Book Award in the 2009 Garden Writers Association Media Awards Named an "Outstanding Title" in University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries, 2009 In this introduction to sustainable landscaping practices, Linda Chalker-Scott addresses the most common myths and misconceptions that plague home gardeners and horticultural professionals. Chalker-Scott offers invaluable advice to gardeners gardeners who have wondered: Are native plants the best choice for sustainable landscaping? Should you avoid disturbing the root ball when planting? Are organic products better or safer than synthetic ones? What is the best way to control weeds-fabric or mulch? Does giving vitamins to plants stimulate growth? Are compost teas effective in controlling diseases? When is the best time to water in hot weather? If you pay more, do you get a higher-quality plant? How can you differentiate good advice from bad advice? The answers may surprise you. In her more than twenty years as a university researcher and educator in the field of plant physiology, Linda Chalker-Scott has discovered a number of so-called truths that originated in traditional agriculture and that have been applied to urban horticulture, in many cases damaging both plant and environmental health. The Informed Gardener is based on basic and applied research from university faculty and landscape professionals, originally published in peer-reviewed journals. After reading this book, you will: Understand your landscape or garden plants as components of a living system Save time (by not overdoing soil preparation, weeding, pruning, staking, or replacing plants that have died before their time) Save money (by avoiding worthless or harmful garden products, and producing healthier, longer-lived plants) Reduce use of fertilizers and pesticides Assess marketing claims objectively This book will be of interest to landscape architects, nursery and landscape professionals, urban foresters, arborists, certified professional horticulturists, and home gardeners. For more information go to: http://www.theinformedgardener.com

A great must-have book packed full of brilliant tips and ideas from award-winning BBC radio gardening presenter and journalist, Steve Brookes. The book is a result of Steve's 30+ years as a professional horticulturalist and nearly 20 years as a gardening broadcaster and presenter. It is packed full of ideas for banishing slugs, snails, aphids, ants, cats, squirrels and countless other garden pests, plus many fun, money-saving and innovative tips for growing healthier plants in your garden. Steve has included many useful plant lists for different garden aspects and some brilliant recycling ideas that will really get you smiling. The book also forms the basis of Steve's 'The Greatest Gardening Tips in the World' live show, which he performs around the UK and on cruise ships across the world. Novice and experienced gardeners alike will find this a rewarding and enjoyable read, which they will refer to again and again!

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.

The Little Book of Little Gardens is an artistic demonstration and playful collection of the internationally acclaimed 'Pot Hole Gardener'. The UK's Sun newspaper described the popular and creative East London figure as the "Banksy of guerilla gardening." This collection of his best work is brought to life using the backdrop of a world mega-city urban environment transformed into this inspirational and photographic book titled The Little Book of Little Gardens. The Pot Hole Gardeners' journey from pot hole to pot hole provides unexpected scene's that brightens the lives of passers-by. As you take the journey with him, your imagination will wander in these themed yet informal gardens that use wonderful props and colourful seasonal flowers. The use of empty miniature benches and chairs inspires and questions the reader to ask - who uses them and why? What are the hidden messages or issues portrayed behind these small yet brilliant pop-up gardens? This must-have gift edition will take readers on a photographic journey down some of London's most iconic locations turning dirty into beautiful, crappy into happy; and doom into bloom.

"The Well-Tempered Garden is for gardeners who have not been dragged into this pursuit but are here because they love it." So writes Christopher Lloyd in the Introduction to this superb book. Here the beginning gardener will learn the basic skills of planting, pruning, weeding, staking, and deadheading. More advanced gardening enthusiasts are guided through ways to propagate plants, to select and care for different kinds of plants - perennials, shrubs, climbers, bulbs - and are also offered ideas about the many different kinds of gardens one might keep. He offers advice on roses, vegetables, fruits, ornamental plants, wild gardening in grass, and more. A strong-minded instructor, Lloyd knows that errors are inevitable, and rather than scolding encourages learning through experience. He opens our eyes to the beauty of the unexpected surprises that happen in the garden, whether on the part of the "fallible plant" or the "fallible gardener." All this from the man Henry Mitchell called "possibly the best garden writer alive." (6 X 9, 480 pages, illustrations)