Offering a broad perspective on how to make the best of the precious resource of water in your garden, this book reveals how conserving water in your garden does not necessarily restrict the gardener to dry gravel beds, but can also involve lawns, leafy crops, and flowery borders. Topics covered include the natural science of water-efficient gardening, choosing a style and design, water-efficient plants, and techniques to save on water.

What can I do? Gardeners are asking themselves and experts this question with increasing urgency about the deer that threaten their carefully cultivated lawns and gardens. With the increased development of suburban and rural land and the lack of natural predators, deer populations are exploding and living closer to humans than ever before and they're nibbling on more beloved blooms as well. How can the deer be stopped? What plants are safe? Peter Loewer has the answers in Solving Deer Problems. In this manual, he addresses several key topics, including plants that will withstand a whitetail attack, chemicals that can safely be used as deer repellants, fences that will keep deer away from those choice garden beds, trapping and relocating cervids and other garden pests, and numerous tricks to keep the pesky creatures out of your yard. Peter also discusses the less-prominent threat of deer-borne diseases and ticks and how to protect yourself and your pets. He even touches on car vs. deer collisions and how you can prepare yourself to achieve the best outcome incase a deer is ever caught in your headlights. Don't wait until your prize flowers, vegetables, or shrubs are a deer's meal. Pick up Solving Deer Problems for all the clear answers on what you can do about your deer problem.

'A beautifully photographed guide for gardeners' - Daily Telegraph 'Nick offers solutions for every season' - Country Living 'A thought-provoking and beautifully written book' - Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener, Great Dixter In 365 Days of Colour in Your Garden BBC Gardeners' World presenter Nick Bailey shows you how to plant and manage your garden, whatever its size, to ensure year-round colour and interest. Initially explaining simple colour theory principles and how to apply them to your garden, the book goes on to highlight beautiful plants and planting combinations for every season no matter what type of garden you have. With chapters covering the longest flowering plants, pot recipes and gorgeous plants for difficult sites, along with a comprehensive seasonal directory, this book will inspire and delight both experienced gardeners and beginners alike.

Douglas W. Tallamy's first book, Bringing Nature Home, sparked a national conversation about the link between healthy local ecosystems and human well-being. In his new book Nature's Best Hope, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation. Tallamy advocates for homeowners everywhere to turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats and mitigate the effects of development and corporate agriculture. This home-based approach doesn't rely on the federal government and protects the environment from the whims of politics. It is also easy to do, and readers will walk away with specific suggestions they can incorporate into their own yards. Nature's Best Hope is nature writing at its best - rooted in history, progressive in its advocacy, and above all, actionable and hopeful. By proposing practical measures that ordinary people easily can do, Tallamy gives us reason to believe that the planet can be preserved for future generations.

Anyone who raises livestock or keeps horses must deal with manure. This Storey BASICS(R) guide shows you how to make this process manageable, useful, and even profitable. Organic dairy farmer and soil scientist Mark Kopecky explains the fundamentals of storing, composting, and spreading manure; the nutritional content of manure from various animals; and how to handle, transport, and market manure for additional income. You'll soon discover that your farm's waste may be its biggest asset.

Humans and the world around us have been governed by the waxing and waning of the moon since the planet came into being. Over the centuries different civilisations have embraced these natural cycles, and so lunar gardening has been around for as long as man has pulled food from the soil; once practised by the Incas and Native Americans, this tried and trusted method has been largely forgotten. John Harris, head gardener at Tresillian Estate in Cornwall, has been using Moon Gardening for over forty years. The methods he uses can be implemented anywhere, you do not need fancy tools, expensive seeds or substantial acreage, but instead, given time, patience and care, the results can be breath-taking. This is gardening at its most natural and organic. The Natural Gardener charts John's story from a rudderless young lad in a Cornish village to being charged with the salvation of the long-neglected gardens at Tresillian. As he shares how to follow these simple principles, he imparts his abundance of horticultural knowledge from years spent working in harmony with the soil, providing a timely link back to nature and the reassuring regularity of the seasons.

Design the Perfect Landscape for Your Home - In 12 Simple Steps!

Let Janet Macunovich's practical approach to design help you transform your yard and garden into the landscape of your dreams! New homeowners and first - time landscapers will love this specific, easy-to-understand method. Experienced gardeners will appreciate the professional advice and helpful tips for improving their yards and gardens. Whatever your experience, this book will help you avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes. Most important, it will teach you how to customize a landscape design unique to your needs.

Beans are easy to grow, easy to cook, delicious, nourishing and beneficial for us and the planet. Growing your own beans not only helps you build healthy soil in your garden, it also provides you with a nutrient-rich diet. Beans can play a role in reducing the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer - they are good sources of protein, fibre, folate, iron and potassium - and they can reduce your carbon footprint and food miles as well! This fascinating book brings together Susan Young's 10 years of experimentation with multiple varieties of beans. She clearly explains how to sow, grow, harvest, dry, store and cook them, and shares her six 'must grow' varieties. Go on a tasty culinary journey around the world and discover a range of colourful and historic beans, from the pink 'Fagiolo di Lamon' of Italy to the black and white 'Bosnian Pole' bean. Learn which varieties are best for eating fresh from the pod and those that are best for drying and storing for later use. Beans offer year-round nutritious meals, and dried beans can be the star of the show with their fabulous diversity of flavours, colours and textures.

In Postcards from the Hedge, Jill Appenzeller reflects on life, family, and human nature in the context of her ever-changing garden. The book is a collection of vivid vignettes that span all four seasons as well as decades of memories both in and out of the garden. From Gossip Girls, the story of the neighborhood kids organizing a garden club, to I Don't Want It Perfect I Want It Tuesday, about all the things that never get done in life as well as in the garden, this is the story of humbling failures and unexpected surprises, of friends and friendships, and the gift of being present in the moment. Filled with humorous anecdotes and surprising insights. Postcards from the Hedge explores what gardening can teach us about ourselves and the world we live in.

Join two of the world's most influential garden designers, Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen, as they describe their ideal perennials, bulbs, grasses, ferns and small shrubs for your natural garden. This comprehensive compendium classifies these 1200 plants according to their behaviour, strengths and uses. An ideal plant is one that is both beautiful and robust, performing reliably with very little input from the gardener - and without artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Rather than striving for big, bold masses of colourful blooms that are vigorously pruned back as soon as they have finished flowering, their innovative approach to gardening involves choosing plants chiefly for their form - leaves, flower heads and stems included - which means they retain their natural beauty through all the seasons. Find within: 1200 beautiful and reliable plants used by top garden designers Full descriptions and growing instructions Unique easy-to-follow classification according to growing behaviour and use in the garden Natural gardening, without artificial fertilizers or pesticides More than 250 full-colour photographs With these plants and expert advice, create a garden that will thrive with the life of the insects and birds it welcomes.

Revel in the extraordinary expressions of water-inspired architecture known as AquaTekture! Discover the vision and construction challenges imaginative designers faced to craft the inspirational designs shown here. Unconventional, daring, and creative are only some of the words used to describe these pools, spas, and water environments. Now in its third year, the Global AquaTekture Visionary Awards (GAVA) features 59 exceptional installations. View magnificent visions of artisans who garnered these coveted awards. Over 190 color photos take you on a private tour around the globe to view awe-inspiring, prized design applications. Enjoy projects that exemplify AquaTekture, including water-inspired architecture from exclusive residences in Australia, Acapulco, and Austin, to the Swarovski Crystal Sparkling Hill Resort holistic spa in Canada and Francis Ford Coppola's Winery in California.

'Delightful... Pavey writes with warmth and spirit, and brings this space to life' Penelope Lively 'Captivating and grounded... If this book was not as much a pleasure to write as it is to read, I'll eat my hat and gardening glove' Observer After years spent living amid the thrum of London, Ruth Pavey yearned to reconnect with the British countryside and she endeavoured to realise her long-held dream of planting a wood. Touring to the West Country in the late 1990s, Pavey found herself in the Somerset Levels. On seeing this expanse of reclaimed land under its wide, soft skies she was struck by its beauty and set-out to plant a wood, tree by tree. She bought four acres, and over the years transformed them into a haven where woodland plants and creatures could flourish an emblem of enduring life in a changeable world. A Wood of One's Own is the story of how she grew to understand and then shape this derelict land into an enduring legacy a verdant landscape rich with wildlife. Interwoven with Pavey's candid descriptions of the practical challenges she faced are forays into the Levels' local history, as well as thoughtful portraits of its inhabitants both past and present. Accompanied throughout by the author's evocative hand-drawn illustrations, A Wood of One's Own is a lyrical, beguiling and inspiring story; a potent reminder of nature's delicate balance, and its comforting and abiding presence.

The healthier your plants, the happier you'll feel! A Beginner's Guide to House Plants teaches you how to bring your indoor spaces alive with lovely and easy-to-maintain plants -- and how to keep them healthy. It provides detailed instructions on how you can unleash the power of plants to energize and relax you, and how to promote well-being by greening your environment. In this book you'll find hundreds of useful tips, including: How to select the right plants for your spaces and lifestyle Practical advice on purchasing, potting and styling your plants How to care for many different types of plants--from succulents and ferns to exotics A mini field guide to over 60 popular plants you should know about And so much more! Cultivating house plants can be both creative and fun! Plant expert Ryusuke Sakaino provides tips on how to use colors, textures, patterns and shapes to create a lush living space, with one plant or many. His gorgeous photos will inspire you to add greenery to every room in your home and office. No longer just a pandemic hobby, plants deserve to be a permanent part of your lifestyle!

A beautifully designed, full-color personal account of what it means to become a gardener, filled with specially commissioned color photography, watercolors, and fine art. To make her new house in Connecticut truly feel like home, Catie Marron decided to create a garden. But while she was familiar with landscape design, she had never grown anything. A dedicated reader with a lifelong passion for literature, Marron turned to the library of gardening books she'd collected to glean advice from a variety of writers on gardening and horticultural topics both grand and small. Marron's quest to become a gardener, however, was about more than learning the basics about mulch or which plants work best in the shade. She sought something far more elusive: to identify the core qualities and characteristics that make a person a gardener and an understanding of what a garden could mean to her as it had to multitudes of other gardeners over the centuries. In Becoming a Gardener, Catie Marron chronicles her transformation into a gardener over the course of eighteen months, seeding the details of her experience with rich advice from writers as diverse as Eleanor Perenyi and Karel Capek, Penelope Lively, and Jamaica Kincaid. As she digs deeper into her readings and works in the garden itself, Marron not only discovers the essence of gardening but in the words of Michael Pollan, "the endlessly engrossing ways that cultivating a garden attaches a body to the earth." A delightful blend of informed opinion, personal reflection, and practical advice, Becoming a Gardener explores topics as varied as the composition of dirt, the agricultural wisdom of avid kitchen gardeners George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the healing power of digging in the soil, and the beauty of finding solitude in nature. Throughout, Marron carefully plants special illustrated features, such as musings on the merits (and detriments) of the rose, essential tools, moonlight gardening, children's books which feature gardens, and her favorite gardens around the world. Also included is an annotated list of recommended writers, books, and films related to gardens and gardening, and a monthly to-do calendar. Featuring specially commissioned illustrations by the Danish team All the Way to Paris, and stunning photographs by acclaimed photographer William Abranowicz that capture the pastoral beauty of Marron's Connecticut garden, Becoming a Gardener is a very special and moving portrait of life and the enduring power of literature and nature that is sure to become an instant classic.

In this book, Sharon Amos explains how to design and create a beautiful garden for little or no money, offering tips on bartering for clippings, getting a bargain at garage sales or neighbourhood fairs, digging up suckers or adapting wild species and controlling them in a garden environment. She provides a comprehensive directory of 80 plants including detailed advice on where and how to grow a wide variety of garden favourites, from snowdrops to poppies. With beautiful illustrations, Plants for Free is the perfect gift book for cultivating your garden on a budget of next-to-nothing.

An exploration of how plant behavior and adaptation offer valuable insights for human thriving. We know that plants are important. They maintain the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. They nourish other living organisms and supply psychological benefits to humans as well, improving our moods and beautifying the landscape around us. But plants don't just passively provide. They also take action. Beronda L. Montgomery explores the vigorous, creative lives of organisms often treated as static and predictable. In fact, plants are masters of adaptation. They "know" what and who they are, and they use this knowledge to make a way in the world. Plants experience a kind of sensation that does not require eyes or ears. They distinguish kin, friend, and foe, and they are able to respond to ecological competition despite lacking the capacity of fight-or-flight. Plants are even capable of transformative behaviors that allow them to maximize their chances of survival in a dynamic and sometimes unfriendly environment. Lessons from Plants enters into the depth of botanic experience and shows how we might improve human society by better appreciating not just what plants give us but also how they achieve their own purposes. What would it mean to learn from these organisms, to become more aware of our environments and to adapt to our own worlds by calling on perception and awareness? Montgomery's meditative study puts before us a question with the power to reframe the way we live: What would a plant do?

As readers and critics around the country agree, any new book by the renowned garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence is like finding a buried treasure. "A Rock Garden in the South" will not disappoint. Released posthumously, this book is not only a welcome addition to the Lawrence canon, but fills an important gap in the garden literature on the middle South.
Lawrence, in her usual exquisite prose, deals with the full range of rock gardening topics in this work. She addresses the unique problem of cultivating rock gardens in the South, where the growing season is prolonged and humidity and heat are not conducive to such planting. She describes her own experiences in making a rock garden, with excellent advice on placing stones, constructing steps, ordering plants, and making cuttings.
At the same time, what she writes about here is in large part of interest to gardeners everywhere and for gardens with or without rocks. As always, she thoroughly discusses the plants she has tried--recommending bulbs and other perennials of all sorts, annuals, and woody plants--with poetic descriptions of the plants themselves as well as specific and useful cultural advice. "A Rock Garden in the South" includes an encyclopedia of plants alphabetized by genus and species and divided into two parts: wood and non-woody plants.

Ben Raskin's wide-ranging work in varied locations makes The Woodchip Handbook a really useful overview of the possibilities afforded by woodchip. Charles Dowding, author of Charles Dowding's No Dig Gardening The first and only complete guide to sourcing and using woodchip - an abundant, inexpensive and ecologically sustainable material - for savvy growers and landscapers at any scale, from farm to garden to greenhouse. The Woodchip Handbook is the essential guide to the many uses of woodchip both in regenerative agriculture and horticulture. Author Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture and Agroforestry at the Soil Association, draws on his extensive practical experience using woodchip, provides the latest research from around the world and presents inspiring case studies from innovative farmers. The book explores and unlocks the tremendous potential of woodchip to enhance soil health and plant growth: As a natural mulch for weed suppression, temperature buffering and water conservation As a growing medium for propagating plants As a decomposing source of warmth for hotbeds in the greenhouse or hoop house As a carbon-rich compost ingredient that supports beneficial fungi and microorganisms As a powerful soil health booster when applied as small-sized ramial chipped wood As an ideal substrate for growing many kinds of edible or medicinal mushrooms As a sustainable, versatile and durable material for foot paths and ornamental landscaping Some of these techniques, like mulching - or the renewable harvest potential from coppicing and pollarding trees - have been around forever. Yet there is always new science to be discovered, such as the role that salicylic acid from willow woodchip can play in preventing tree diseases or promoting livestock health when used as a bedding material. Whether you are a commercial grower or farmer, a permaculture practitioner or a serious home gardener producing your own fruit and vegetables, The Woodchip Handbook will show you how to get the most out of this readily available and renewable material. I did not know the world needed a whole book on woodchip, but from the first chapter I could not put this book down. Alys Fowler, author of The Edible Garden and The Thrifty Gardener

A journal with a perpetual diary, a manual of gardening to inform and inspire, packed with illustrations and an introduction by Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School Three quarters Charles's advice on how to grow great crops, one quarter writing space for each day. Use it year after year to make the best decisions, with your notes alongside Charles's suggestions, for future reference. Advice in the diary section is linked to each week of the season and takes you through the whole process, from clearing weeds, feeding soil and sowing to harvests and storing vegetables. * Advice on sowing and planting methods, plus raising plants at home * Best sowing dates - seeds neither fail in cold nor start too late * Advantages of no dig, saving time, giving fewer weeds and bigger crops * How to maintain control of weeds through timely mulching and hoeing * How to feed soil just once a year, for strong and healthy growth * When and how to make all the harvests, with advice on storing produce too.

*** 'So you know you want to start gardening but you have no idea where to begin? ... Simon Akeroyd gives step-by-step guidance on everything from creating a cactus collection to growing fruit in hanging baskets. The book turns what is often a daunting task into bite-size steps that can often be done in an afternoon.' George Hudson, Evening Standard, favourite garden publications of the year Aimed at first-time gardeners, those in rented accommodation or anyone with limited outdoor space, this book teaches how to take stock of an environment and start a garden. With ideas for gardens, patio spaces, courtyards, balconies and interiors, these 50 easy-to-adopt ideas provide the steps to success for even the most inexperienced gardeners. Contents include: - Create a floral display with bulbs that last all year - Grow pet-friendly plants - Create a vegetable harvest in pots - Add height in flat spaces - Make a mow-free lawn - Hang plants around your home

This book defines and describes the ancient craft of bonsai, explaining the best trees and shrubs to use as well as the importance of size, proportion and aesthetics. The art of display is also examined, with useful advice on pots and containers, as well as how to display bonsai indoors and outdoors. The techniques of this precise art form are clearly described, and there is guidance on tools, propagation, and soil types, as well as on basic pruning, shaping and wiring. An invaluable bonsai directory provides information on a variety of popular species, while a chapter on caring for bonsai gives advice on general maintenance, as well as coping with pests and diseases. A unique section describes 15 of the most popular styles and includes how-to instruction on how to achieve each example.

Go beneath the soil with this hand-drawn guide! This book is sure to become your go-to reference for all things bonsai. Beautifully illustrated with details and views a camera simply can't show, Introduction to Bonsai offers a unique and insightful look at these mini ecosystems. This complete guide contains all the information you need to create and maintain your own bonsai: Handy monthly bonsai maintenance schedules detail proper watering, pruning, wiring, transplanting and other upkeep activities throughout the year Leaves, fruits, flowers, and processes are presented up-close to help make growing and upkeep as successful and simple as possible Diagrams show where, how much, and in what direction pruning, wiring, watering and other maintenance should be performed Clear, detailed illustrations of every part of the bonsai ensure that you'll see everything you need to see, exactly as you need to see it--making this a great resource for collectors and enthusiasts at all levels Learn the specific ways to care for more than 40 types of popular bonsai trees, including: Flowering Bonsai--cherry blossom, dogwood, azalea and lilac Fruiting Bonsai--crab apple, persimmon, Chinese quince and burning bush Coniferous and Deciduous Bonsai--maple, Japanese beech, black pine and salt cedar Prepared by the editors of Japan's popular Bonsai Sekai (Bonsai World) magazine,this handbook is designed to make care and maintenance easy for bonsai beginners--from seeds to root systems and from basic watering to your first transplant.