Gardens take many forms, and have a variety of functions. They can serve as spaces of peace and tranquilty, a way to cultivate wildlife, or as places to develop agricultural resources. Globally, gardens have inspired, comforted, and sustained people from all walks of life, and since the Garden of Eden many iconic gardens have inspired great artists, poets, musicians, and writers. In this Very Short Introduction, Gordon Campbell embraces gardens in all their splendour, from parks, and fruit and vegetable gardens to ornamental gardens, and takes the reader on a globe-trotting historical journey through iconic and cultural signposts of gardens from different regions and traditions. Ranging from the gardens of ancient Persia to modern day allotments, he concludes by looking to the future of the garden in the age of global warming, and the adaptive spirit of human innovation. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This celebration of the style, design, and joy that pools bring to us brims with over 200 glamorous photographs. It is organized by swimming pool design from glimmering infinity pools with a view of the ocean to dramatic cascading waterfall pools and those in lush garden settings. Ranging from beautifully landscaped backyards to dramatic beaches and tropical paradise surroundings, the stunning pool locales show creative examples of pools as architecture and organic forms. In the mix are seductive pools owned by such celebrities as Cher and Dianne Keaton and leading designers Bunny Williams and Carolyne Roehm, as well as masterpieces by famed architects Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, and Luis Barragan. Splash concludes with a section on poolside elements, from tiled steps, patterned surfaces, and Jacuzzis to pool houses with outdoor showers, landscaping, furnishings, and much more. Every example evokes the enduring and irresistible appeal of the swimming pool.

Widely acknowledged as the last great landscape designer of the eighteenth century, Humphry Repton created work that survives as a bridge between the picturesque theory of Capability Brown and the pastoral philosophy of Frederick Law Olmsted. By turns inspired by and in opposition to the grandeur of Brown s estates, Repton s contribution to the British landscape encompassed a tremendous range, from subtle adjustments that emphasised the natural features of the countryside to deliberate interventions that challenged the notion of the picturesque. This remarkable book explores 15 of Repton s most celebrated landscapes from the early maturity of his gardens at Courteenhall and Mulgrave Castle to more adventurous landscapes at Stanage, Brightling, and Endsleigh that would point the way toward how we envision parkland today. With photography by Joe Cornish commissioned specially for the book, and including reproductions of key illustrations and plans for garden design from the famous red books that shed light on Repton s vision and process, this book illuminates some of Britain s most beautiful gardens and parks and the masterful mind behind their creation.

Millions of people have embraced both bullet and guided journals as a means of organizing their daily lives. A Year in the Garden combines the best of both trends, and the result is an agenda-like structure packed with prompts that encourage organization, creativity, and mindfulness. For gardeners looking to plan their time in and out of the garden, A Year in the Garden helps users track what they are growing and what they want to grow and features creative exercises inspired by plants. This high-end journal has all the bells and whistles--a dot-grid on high-quality bleed- proof paper, a ribbon marker, lay-flat binding, and an elastic closure.

This is a practical directory of garden produce with over 250 photographs. It is a comprehensive guide to vegetables, fruit and herbs, with advice on how to grow them in a healthy and chemical-free environment. It offers practical introduction illustrates the basic gardening materials and techniques you will need for successful organic gardening, helping you to grow beautiful and tasty produce for your kitchen. It offers guidance for choosing reliable varieties of vegetables and fruit, combined with tips on cultivation, after-care, harvesting and storing, as well as dealing with any common pests and diseases you may encounter. It is lavishly illustrated with over 250 inspirational and practical photographs, including step-by-step sequences demonstrating gardening techniques, luscious vegetable and fruit photographs, and over 25 hand-painted artworks. Creating and maintaining a working garden that is both safe and natural is becoming an increasingly common ambition among gardeners. This helpful guide contains directories of vegetables, fruit and herbs, each providing information on recommended varieties, their cultivation requirements, sowing, planting, harvesting and storage needs. From apple trees to rhubarb, a wide range of plants are covered. With its stunning photographs and a superbly well-informed text by award-winning authors, the book is the perfect guide for first-time growers and experienced gardeners wishing to transform their garden into a healthy, organic plot bursting with goodness.

Designing, creating, and maintaining a beautiful garden doesn't need to be time-consuming! Ideal for first time gardeners, Grow Low Maintenance contains everything you need to create a low-fuss garden without compromising on design or beauty. Short on time and want to keep things simple? This gardening book is full of low maintenance plants and techniques, featuring tips and tricks to keep your backyard in top shape with minimal effort! Inside the guide, you will find: -Mini-profiles of easy-care plants including pictures, characteristics, and essential needs -Simple tips and techniques, from choosing a weed control to sowing seeds and planting between paving stones -Essential know-how for minimising maintenance tasks including weeding, watering, and feeding Enjoy the fruits of your gardening! The perfect reference book for beginners or more experienced gardeners looking for easy management hacks, this simple guide debunks the myth that gardening requires hours of hardwork every week. Learn from the experts how to minimise watering, make the most of vertical gardening, and reduce the need to weed. Packed with practical, jargon-free know-how, this easy-to-use reference book includes everything from herb gardening to micro-woodlands and low maintenance water features. Short on space? This gardening guide will teach you which crops are suitable for small easy-care veg beds. Looking to attract animals to your garden? Find instructions on creating your own wildlife pond. Don't have access to a lawn mower? Now you can transform your lawn into a perennial meadow! Complete the Series: For more expert advice from DK, the UK's leading practical gardening publisher, discover the Grow series. There you will find know-how about how to garden more sustainably in Grow Eco-Gardening, how to fend off unwanted visitors in Grow Pests & Diseases, how to grow with limited space in Grow Containers, and much more!

Step outdoors and let your space nourish all of your senses and settle a busy mind. Discover how to garden to enliven all five senses - touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste - to build a connection with the world around you and bring joy and wonder into the everyday. Find out how simply being outside can help to ground and calm you, and learn what plants to grow to nourish both your mental and physical wellbeing. Ideas on planting and maintaining your garden, which you can put into practice quickly and easily, show how you can improve the sensory enjoyment of your outside space - no matter where you live and no matter what size your plot. Whether you want to fill a space with an uplifting fragrance, create a calming colour scheme, grow richly aromatic herbs, or select trees and shrubs for their soothing sounds, you can turn your plot into a sensory delight as a way to connect to the natural world around you.

For anyone already practicing, or turning to, biodynamic gardening and farming methods, numerous detailed questions arise, such as: * How do you make and use the key preparations, such as horn manure and horn silica? * How do you develop living, fertile soil? * Which treatments are best for controlling weeds, pests and disease? This manual, fully illustrated with explanatory diagrams and photographs, provides the answers. The book covers * all aspects of making and using biodynamic preparations and composts * managing the health of plants * controlling weeds and pests * working with cosmic rhythms * combatting common diseases such as mildew * working with seeds, pastes and root dips * care of fruit trees and vines This second edition also has extensive new chapters on large-scale farming, including livestock and cereal cultivation, and vegetable farming. The whole book has also been completely revised and updated. Although the technical aspects of biodynamic growing are exhaustively covered, the author also considers the human qualities necessary for this kind of agriculture to succeed. This is an invaluable guide for all biodynamic growers to have to hand daily.

In his insightful new book, Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind, contrary farmer Gene Logsdon provides the inside story of manure-our greatest, yet most misunderstood, natural resource. He begins by lamenting a modern society that not only throws away both animal and human manure-worth billions of dollars in fertilizer value-but that spends a staggering amount of money to do so. This wastefulness makes even less sense as the supply of mined or chemically synthesized fertilizers dwindles and their cost skyrockets. In fact, he argues, if we do not learn how to turn our manures into fertilizer to keep food production in line with increasing population, our civilization, like so many that went before it, will inevitably decline.

With his trademark humor, his years of experience writing about both farming and waste management, and his uncanny eye for the small but important details, Logsdon artfully describes how to manage farm manure, pet manure and human manure to make fertilizer and humus. He covers the field, so to speak, discussing topics like:

How to select the right pitchfork for the job and use it correctly

How to operate a small manure spreader

How to build a barn manure pack with farm animal manure

How to compost cat and dog waste

How to recycle toilet water for irrigation purposes, and

How to get rid ourselves of our irrational paranoia about feces and urine.

Gene Logsdon does not mince words. This fresh, fascinating and entertaining look at an earthy, but absolutely crucial subject, is a small gem and is destined to become a classic of our agricultural literature.

Get ready to journey into the huge world of growing small

The next garden trend combines the joy of gardening with the magic of miniatures. Gardening in Miniatureis a complete guide to creating lush, living, small-scale gardens. It has everything you need to pick up this new hobby, including scaled down garden designs, techniques for creating tiny hardscapes, miniature garden care and maintenance, tips on choosing containers, how to buy the right plants, and where to find life-like accessories. Inspiring step-by-step projects feature basic skills that can be recreated in any number of designs, like a tiny patio, a trellis, a pond, and a secret garden.

Whether you want to build a miniature empire in your garden bed or design a private garden with a pebble patio for an indoor centerpiece, Gardening in Miniatureis the primer for creating your own tiny, living world"

Hydroponics offers many advantages to traditional soil-based horticulture. These include greater control over many of the limiting factors, such as light, temperature, and pests, as well as the ability to grow plants in all seasons. With instruction from one of the top recognized authorities worldwide, Hydroponics for the Home Grower gives you step-by-step guidance on how to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, arugula, bok choy, and various herbs year-round within your home or in a backyard greenhouse. Read an Interview with Dr. Resh here With Dr. Howard Resh's help, you'll learn: Background information on how hydroponics evolved The nutritional and environmental demands of plants and how to control these factors How to provide formulations of nutrients optimal to the plants you wish to grow The many different hydroponic systems you can purchase or build for yourself Designs for different types of greenhouses with components to fit your personal taste and budget Crop selection and step-by-step procedures, including seeding, transplanting, training, pest and disease control, and harvesting-along with when to plant and when to change crops How you can grow microgreens on your kitchen counter The book includes an appendix with sources of seeds and other supplies, along with helpful websites and lists of books, articles, and conferences on growing hydroponically and caring for your crops. By following the guidelines in this book, you'll understand everything you need to know to get your home-growing operation up and running in no time.

Brighten your garden all year round with a wide variety of bulbs. Ideal for first-time gardeners, Grow Bulbs contains everything you need to bring year-round colour into your garden with bulbs. Learn how to plant, care for, and divide your bulbs, create stunning displays including naturalistic drifts and eye-catching containers, and choose from a huge range of bulbs, corms, and tubers with the book's handy seasonal directory. Packed with practical, jargon-free know-how, this easy-to-use guide has everything you need to know to help your garden Grow.