In the multifaceted world of gardening, the same questions arise time and time again. Organised season-by-season, this book promises to answer the 1000 most-asked questions that can frustrate all gardeners alike. Drawing on her years of experience in gardening, former panellist and researcher for the BBC's Gardeners Question Time Daphne Ledward has answered them all. From knowing how to identify your soil type, the finer points of pruning and propagation, and seeds versus seedlings; to the thorny problems of dealing with chronic pests and diseases, and finding plants for difficult places, this book is the answer to all of the most frequently asked gardening questions. Get the most out of your garden, big or small, and discover answers to common issues such as: - what type of soil is best for your garden - how to select the best plants, vegetables and herbs according to your space - how to get your plants through a difficult winter - how to best care for your plants, be it bulbs, roses, vegetables or even your lawn - how to make your own compost

Includes: *500 recommended plants & designs*planting tips and growing conditions *rules and principles of container gardening color, flowering time, height, spread and hardiness of each plant *photos showing each plant in a container setting *covers MN, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH

With a revolutionary new "Climate Battery" design for near-net-zero heating and cooling By the turn of the nineteenth century, thousands of acres of glass houses surrounded large American cities, becoming a commonplace symbol of the market garden and nursery trades. But the possibilities of the indoor garden to transform our homes and our lives remain largely unrealized. In this groundbreaking book, Jerome Osentowski, one of North America's most accomplished permaculture designers, presents a wholly new approach to a very old horticultural subject. In The Forest Garden Greenhouse, he shows how bringing the forest garden indoors is not only possible, but doable on unlikely terrain and in cold climates, using near-net-zero technology. Different from other books on greenhouse design and management, this book advocates for an indoor agriculture using permaculture design concepts-integration, multi-functions, perennials, and polycultures-that take season extension into new and important territory. Osentowski, director and founder of Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute (CRMPI), farms at 7,200 feet on a steep, rocky hillside in Colorado, incorporating deep, holistic permaculture design with practical common sense. It is at this site, high on a mountaintop, where Osentowski (along with architect and design partner Michael Thompson) has been designing and building revolutionary greenhouses that utilize passive and active solar technology via what they call the "climate battery"-a subterranean air-circulation system that takes the hot, moist, ambient air from the greenhouse during the day, stores it in the soil, and discharges it at night-that can offer tropical and Mediterranean climates at similarly high altitudes and in cold climates (and everywhere else). Osentowski's greenhouse designs, which can range from the backyard homesteader to commercial greenhouses, are completely ecological and use a simple design that traps hot and cold air and regulates it for best possible use. The book is part case study of the amazing greenhouses at CRMPI and part how-to primer for anyone interested in a more integrated model for growing food and medicine in a greenhouse. With detailed design drawings, photos, and profiles of successful greenhouse projects on all scales, this inspirational manual will considerably change the conversation about greenhouse design.

Legendary gardener and plantswoman Beth Chatto describes how she transformed a piece of wasteland into a lush and blooming garden in this beautiful book, filled with helpful tips and practical advice. The story of how Beth Chatto created her gravel garden on 'possibly the driest, and the most windswept, piece of soil in England' has a message of hope for gardeners everywhere. At the outset she promised herself: 'This garden was not to be irrigated in times of drought. Once established the plants must fend for themselves or die.' The results, eloquently described by the author and beautifully portrayed in Steven Wooster's specially commissioned photographs taken through the seasons, testify to the triumphant outcome of the adventure. Showing how her principles can be applied on any scale, this book is an essential read for any gardener facing water shortages and poor soil. Rich with hard-won tips and expressed in Beth Chatto's matchless style, this is a gardening classic.

Discover how to keep your garden in the best of health. Ideal for first-time gardeners, Grow Pests & Diseases contains everything you need to know to prevent and treat a wide range of plant pests, diseases, disorders, and more. Far more than a simple list of treatments, this book shows you how to keep plants in top condition, recognise the signs of ill-health, and decide whether or not intervention is needed, while the fully illustrated ailment directory is organised by symptom and plant type for quick and easy identification. Packed with practical, jargon-free know-how, this easy-to-use guide has everything you need to know to help your garden Grow.

First published in 1977, this book--from one of America's most famous and prolific agricultural writers--became an almost instant classic among homestead gardeners and small farmers. Now fully updated and available once more, Small-Scale Grain Raising offers a entirely new generation of readers the best introduction to a wide range of both common and lesser-known specialty grains and related field crops, from corn, wheat, and rye to buckwheat, millet, rice, spelt, flax, and even beans and sunflowers.

More and more Americans are seeking out locally grown foods, yet one of the real stumbling blocks to their efforts has been finding local sources for grains, which are grown mainly on large, distant corporate farms. At the same time, commodity prices for grains--and the products made from them--have skyrocketed due to rising energy costs and increased demand. In this book, Gene Logsdon proves that anyone who has access to a large garden or small farm can (and should) think outside the agribusiness box and learn to grow healthy whole grains or beans--the base of our culinary food pyramid--alongside their fruits and vegetables.

Starting from the simple but revolutionary concept of the garden "pancake patch," Logsdon opens up our eyes to a whole world of plants that we wrongly assume only the agricultural "big boys" can grow. He succinctly covers all the basics, from planting and dealing with pests, weeds, and diseases to harvesting, processing, storing, and using whole grains. There are even a few recipes sprinkled throughout, along with more than a little wit and wisdom.

Never has there been a better time, or a more receptive audience, for this book. Localvores, serious home gardeners, CSA farmers, and whole-foods advocates--in fact, all people who value fresh, high-quality foods--will find a field full of information and ideas in this once and future classic.

Most books on bonsai cover matters such as history, cultivating techniques, designing and training principles, general care and maintenance and propagation techniques. Very few books are available on designing and styling bonsai. However, it is essential that the bonsai enthusiast should master these challenging techniques in order to train plant material into quality bonsai. Practical Guide to Bonsai Styles of the World is a comprehensive guide to more than forty bonsai styles, covering the traditional Japanese and Chinese styles as well as six unique African styles. Each style is illustrated and discussed in detail, with line drawings and photographs showing the characteristics and variations of the style, suggestions for plants suited to each individual style and for the most appropriate containers. Now in its third edition, the book has been completely updated with additional information and full-colour photographs throughout, and a user-friendly design and colour-coding that makes the book easy to use.

Everything you need to know about bonsai care, maintenance, design, and arrangement. With clear explanations of bonsai and what it is, these 101 easy-to-grasp tips have everything you need to get the results you want. Build knowledge and confidence with this must-have pocket guide, filled with the essentials you're looking for including pointers and advice on cultivating bonsai plants. Create a sense of balance and serenity in your home with these beautiful miniature trees and bring the ancient practice into the 21st century. Using a step-by-step approach, 101 Essential Tips: Bonsai explains design and style principles, which containers to use, how to cultivate a bonsai plant and more. Learn about the different suitable species, from Japanese red maple to Scots pine, find out how to prune, reshape with wiring, implement Saikei and rock planting, and develop a watering routine to keep your living art healthy. Whether you want to build on your basic skills or become an expert, 101 Essential Tips: Bonsai is right for you. This pocket guide is chock-full of information to guide you, inspire you, and give you the knowledge and confidence you're looking for.

A beautiful and accessible seasonal guide to herbalism from the historic botanic garden. Discover the best times of the year for growing specific healing herbs and also when and how to forage for wild medicine, such as water mint, St John's Wort, hawthorn berries and rosehips. Recipes are included for how to use these herbs, along with folklore stories from herb wives and hedge witches, the meanings behind their names and the history of how these natural medicines were discovered. There are plenty of tips for how to create your own medicinal herb garden, even with just a few pots, along with a biodynamic guide for sowing, planting and harvesting. Including detailed hand-drawn line illustrations to help deepen your understanding, The Herb Almanac is the perfect gift for any nature lover. CONTENTS INCLUDES: Introduction Including using herbs as seasonally appropriate remedies and tonics, an overview of herbs in folklore, wild medicine, magic, superstition, ritual, tradition and literature and herbs in religion and floriography (the language of flowers) Gathering and Using Herbs Including safe, legal and successful foraging, a brief introduction to growing your own herbs and preparing, drying and preserving herbs Witches' Brews: Poisonous Plants Including an overview of herbs with interesting stories that cannot be easily used, e.g. wormwood, hemlock and mandrake Herb Encyclopedia Including detailed information on over 50 different herbs

Regenerative practices for the farm, garden, orchard, forest, and landscape Mycorrhizal fungi have been waiting a long time for people to recognize just how important they are to the making of dynamic soils. These microscopic organisms partner with the root systems of approximately 95 percent of the plants on Earth, and they sequester carbon in much more meaningful ways than human "carbon offsets" will ever achieve. Pick up a handful of old-growth forest soil and you are holding 26 miles of threadlike fungal mycelia, if it could be stretched it out in a straight line. Most of these soil fungi are mycorrhizal, supporting plant health in elegant and sophisticated ways. The boost to green immune function in plants and community-wide networking turns out to be the true basis of ecosystem resiliency. A profound intelligence exists in the underground nutrient exchange between fungi and plant roots, which in turn determines the nutrient density of the foods we grow and eat. Exploring the science of symbiotic fungi in layman's terms, holistic farmer Michael Phillips (author of The Holistic Orchard and The Apple Grower) sets the stage for practical applications across the landscape. The real impetus behind no-till farming, gardening with mulches, cover cropping, digging with broadforks, shallow cultivation, forest-edge orcharding, and everything related to permaculture is to help the plants and fungi to prosper . . . which means we prosper as well. Building soil structure and fertility that lasts for ages results only once we comprehend the nondisturbance principle. As the author says, "What a grower understands, a grower will do." Mycorrhizal Planet abounds with insights into "fungal consciousness" and offers practical, regenerative techniques that are pertinent to gardeners, landscapers, orchardists, foresters, and farmers. Michael's fungal acumen will resonate with everyone who is fascinated with the unseen workings of nature and concerned about maintaining and restoring the health of our soils, our climate, and the quality of life on Earth for generations to come.

This is the organic cookbook that includes over 140 imaginative and inspiring recipes. It is the organic gardening book that is an essential reference guide to natural techniques, with advice on applying organic principles to all aspects of garden planning, design and maintenance. It is an expert and practical guide for the home cook on understanding the issues around organic food and drink. It features a comprehensive survey of organic ingredients, from fabulous fruit and vegetables to tender meat and poultry, hearty breads and handy storecupboard items. It is packed with practical advice and clear, step-by-step sequences to show you how to achieve the best results in ornamental, wildlife and kitchen gardens. Reflecting our growing interest in producing and eating healthy organic food, this boxed book set is perfect for those who love cooking and gardening. There is advice on all aspects of organic gardening, from growing, watering and feeding to pruning and propagation. The cookbook provides tips on storing and using organic ingredients, as well as 140 recipes for all types of meals, from light lunches to dinner parties. Try seasonal dishes such as Asparagus with Lemon Sauce or Summer Berries in a Sabayon Glaze. A directory of vegetables, herbs and fruit provides clear information on growing and cooking healthy produce, with handy hints for gardeners and cooks.

If the desire to start a garden has been planted in your heart, then this essential guide is a wonderful companion to accompany you on your new adventure! If you're not sure of the first steps to take, this handbook takes the anxiety out of plotting and planting and equips you with all the know-how and confidence you need to get digging into your garden. Creating a garden that you can enjoy and keep looking beautiful all year round is easier than you think!With the expertise of the Royal Horticultural Society, you'll find simple step-by-step instructions, with clear images to help you create your dream garden, no matter the size and scale. Get to know your garden and choose plants that will grow well in particular soil types and conditions year after year. From growing root crop to cutting back ivy, this book gives you lots of simple garden ideas and projects that you can do yourself. Even if you've never sowed a seed or pulled a weed, RHS How to Garden When You're New To Gardening contains everything you need to kickstart your new outdoor hobby! This refreshingly accessible book is perfect for the novice gardener who wants to make the most of whatever garden they have. Your Guide to Creating the Garden of Your Dreams Do you want to create a garden you can show off with pride? Would you like to grow your own food? This book will get you started quickly! By following the simple steps and projects outlined in this book, you will reap instant rewards and long-term successes so that you can enjoy your garden in all seasons. Inside the pages of this comprehensive gardening book, you'll discover: - Clear definitions and descriptions of the different types of plants. - Tips on choosing the type of garden you want. - Easy-to-follow instructions for choosing the right plants for your soil. - Simple step-by-step instructions to producing your first crop. - Practical gardening advice on planting, growing, and caring for different plants.

Practically Pagan - An Alternative Guide to Gardening takes the spooky out of alternative and keeps the magic. Elen Sentier brings together, and expands on, recent scientific discoveries, and shows how close they are to the old ways that were labelled as superstition in the 20th century. Sentier's writing is accessible and opens up the down-to-earth practicalism of pagans as people of the land to all, for that's what the word pagan means, 'of the land'. Sentier doesn't preach or proselytise folk to become pagan, but brings to light how you've been thinking this way for years. Elen Sentier is a best-selling author of British native shamanism. She also writes paranormal mystery-suspense novels. She's a wilderness woman, born on Dartmoor and grew up on Exmoor in a family who had practiced the old British magic for hundreds of years. Her books include Pagan Portals - Merlin: Once and Future Wizard (Moon Books, 2016), and Gardening with the Moon & Stars (Moon Books, 2015).

In this practical and personal book, Gardeners' World presenter Adam Frost takes you through his process for getting the most out of a garden space whatever its size, whether it's a window box, a terrace with a few pots or a bigger space with dedicated veg plots and borders. Enjoying your garden is about more than just what you grow; it's also about why you grow it. As well as spending time outdoors, the meaning of a garden lies in what you bring inside, from vegetables and herbs to make a family meal to flowers and seedheads to decorate the house. Adam explores how his own garden has allowed him to enjoy the simple pleasures in life and create precious memories - whether it's coming down in the morning and seeing that single flower in a vase or teaching your kids how to make the runner bean chutney that reminds you of your nan. Adam's inspiring book will guide you through all you need to make your garden thrive, and to use it to develop your own traditions and meaningful moments.

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.

Charles Dowding draws on his years of experience, to show how easy it is to start a new vegetable garden. Any plot - whether a building site, overgrown with weeds or unwanted lawn - can be turned into a beautiful and productive vegetable area. Charles's no-nonsense and straightforward advice is the perfect starting point for the beginner or experienced gardener. The book takes you step-by-step through: * Planning and early stages * Clearing the ground * Mulch - what, why, how? * Minimizing digging * Sowing and planting across the seasons * Growing in polytunnels and greenhouses It is filled with labour-saving ideas and the techniques that Charles uses to garden so successfully and is illustrated throughout with photos and tales from Charles's first year in his new vegetable garden.

Discover the wonderful diversity of herbs in this comprehensive guide for the organic grower. The amazing range of colours, size, textures and perfumes make growing herbs an infinitely rewarding experience. Perfect for the organic gardener, herbs attract beneficial insects and wildlife and are often tough and resilient to pests and disease. Practical advice on planning an herb garden, propagating, planting, harvesting, drying and storing is included along with a handy calendar of jobs. The A-Z directory of herbs will inspire planting ideas and give background information of known culinary, medicinal and cosmetic uses for each herb.

Creating and maintaining a beautiful garden that is safe and natural is becoming increasingly popular as we begin to understand the benefits of adopting an organic way of life. The Organic Garden is an indispensable guide to using organic methods to create flourishing ornamental and wildlife gardens. There is also a vital section on kitchen gardening that reflects our growing interest in eating and producing fresh, healthy and chemical-free vegetables, herbs and fruit. Christine and Michael Lavelle give clear advice on creating and caring for a natural garden, showing how to adopt an organic approach to each garden task, whether this is soil preparation, weeding and weed control, watering and feeding, or pruning and propagation. There is also helpful practical information on dealing organically with pests and diseases in both the garden and the greenhouse. The book looks in turn at different aspects of organic gardening, from creating spectacular lawns and decorative beds and borders in the ornamental garden, through attracting a host of beneficial creatures to the wildlife garden, to growing a wealth of crops in the kitchen garden. An easy-to-use directory of vegetables, herbs and fruit provides clear, at-a-glance information on growing a wide range of healthy produce, with advice on sowing, planting, harvesting and storing. With its wealth of inspirational and practical photographs, useful step-by-step information and well-informed text, The Organic Garden Book is a comprehensive guide for both first time and experienced gardeners, whether you wish to start an organic garden from scratch or use organic methods in an existing garden.