|
Books > Gardening > Specialized gardening methods
It's a rare midwesterner who doesn't grow something, whether potted
plants on a porch, caged tomato vines, a blooming border, or a
solitary rose. And it's an even rarer midwestern gardener who isn't
sometimes flummoxed by extremes of weather, pesky insects and
persistent diseases, or simple questions about what to plant where.
For nearly four decades, Jan Riggenbach has given these gardeners
answers, as well as a weekly dose of gentle humor and wise counsel,
in her widely syndicated newspaper column, Midwest Gardening. Your
Midwest Garden draws on these columns to offer readers in America's
heartland all the gardening information they want and need, along
with plenty they might not even suspect they're missing. Annuals
and perennials, shrubs and vines, fruits and vegetables,
wildflowers, bulbs, and herbs: As readable as it is useful, this
book reviews the familiar, reconsiders old favorites, and
introduces dozens of surprising and seldom-grown plants ideal for
Midwest gardens and landscapes. Illustrated with color photos from
the author's garden, it provides tips on plant placement and care,
starting seeds and making compost, matching specimens and sites,
combating insects and diseases, simplifying garden chores,
designing for winter beauty, and myriad other ways of enriching and
enjoying your Midwest garden.
Open Miniscapes: Create your own terrarium and discover the
creativity and fun of making your very own indoor garden encased in
glass. Do you love the greener things in life but don't have the
time or space for endless gardening? This is the book for you.
Miniscapes has 16 projects covering four biomes (Desert, Forest,
Carnivorous and Air plants), suitable for all skill levels. The
book equips you with the knowledge you need about soil and rocks,
moss, tools, propagation, choosing your plants and containers, and
designing your tiny landscape. Between these covers is everything
you need to create and maintain healthy, happy terrariums that are
cheap to make and easy to maintain (you can even upcycle things you
already have at home).
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.
Many of us want to increase our self-sufficiency, but few have
access to the ideal five sunny, gently sloping acres of rich,
loamy, well-drained soil. Jenni Blackmore presents a highly
entertaining, personal account of how permaculture can be practiced
in adverse conditions, allowing anyone to learn to live more
sustainably in a less-than-perfect world. With a rallying cry of
"If we can do it, you can too," she distills the wisdom of twenty
years of trial and error into a valuable teaching tool. The perfect
antidote to dense, high-level technical manuals, Permaculture for
the Rest of Us presents the fundamental principles of this
sometimes confusing concept in a humorous, reader-friendly way.
Each chapter focuses on a specific method or technique,
interspersing straightforward explanations with the author's own
experiences. Learn how to successfully retrofit even the smallest
homestead using skills such as: No-till vs. till gardening,
composting, and soil-building Natural pest control and integrating
small livestock Basic greenhouse construction Harvesting,
preservation, and more Ideal for urban dreamers, suburbanites and
country-dwellers alike, this inspirational and instructional
"encouragement manual" is packed with vibrant photographs
documenting the author's journey from adversity to abundance. Jenni
Blackmore is a farmer, artist, writer and certified Permaculture
Design Consultant who built her house on a rocky, windswept island
off the coast of Nova Scotia almost twenty-five years ago and has
been stumbling along the road to self-sufficient living ever since.
A successful micro-farmer, she produces most of her family's meat,
eggs, fruit, and vegetables, in spite of often-challenging
conditions.
Herbert Koepf was a pioneer of biodynamics in Germany, the USA and
in the UK. He was an expert teacher, and drew on his own practical
background in farming. This book is a collection of some of Koepf's
writings on key aspects of biodynamics. It includes practical
guidance on building soil structure, preparing and applying
biodynamic sprays, crop rotation, compost and composting methods.
He also considers ways of researching the effectiveness of
biodynamic methods, and measuring results. This is an invaluable
guide for anyone working with biodynamic methods, offering Koepf's
unique insights and wisdom on practical issues. This overview of
Koepf's work is a newly-edited combination of four pamphlets:
Compost, Biodynamic Sprays, Three Lectures on Biodynamics, and
Research in Biodynamic Agriculture. Published in association with
the Biodynamic Association.
In Setting the Scene leading garden designer George Carter
describes his own work over the past thirty years and puts it in
the context of the teachings of the great eighteenth-century
landscaper Humphry Repton. The result is a series of pithy lesson
that will be invaluable to any garden designer, or garden owner.
Rich in both inspiring ideas and practical advice, Setting the
Scene shows how successful gardens are designed and made. Following
the pattern set by Repton in his revered Red Books, Carter takes us
through the process in meticulous detail, leading us from the
initial site plan to the glory of the finished garden, and
illustrating each chapter with photographs and plans of gardens
from his own portfolio, ranging from small urban gardens to large
country estates, the world over.
This title shows you how to attract bees, butterflies, insects,
birds, frogs and animals into your backyard. It features practical
instructions for designing and planting beautiful gardens that
welcome wildlife. It includes wild flower meadows, ponds, hedges,
trees, shrubs, woodland edges, climbing plants, flower borders,
herb and vegetable gardens, roof gardens and patios. It offers
ideas for feeding and sheltering wildlife, such as bird feeders,
log piles, toad houses, bee nesting boxes, butterfly roosting
houses, bird boxes and hibernation sites. In this book,
award-winning garden writers Christine and Michael Lavelle give
expert advice on how to help native insects, birds and animals,
with the aim of creating a wildlife habitat in your backyard. All
the major habitats are covered, from grasslands and hedges to ponds
and kitchen gardens, with ideas for the best types of plants to
encourage wildlife. There are instructions for how to make bird
feeders, bee boxes, log piles, nesting boxes, hibernation sites and
more. With its wealth of hands-on practical advice, 40 step-by-step
projects and over 570 inspirational photographs, this is the ideal
book for gardeners and wildlife enthusiasts everywhere.
What if, one step at a time, we could make our gardens and
landscapes more eco-friendly? Barbara W. Ellis's colorful,
comprehensive guide shows homeowners, gardeners, garden designers,
and landscapers how to do just that for the large and beautiful
Chesapeake Bay watershed region. This area includes Maryland,
Virginia, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and part of West Virginia
(translating to portions of USDA Zones 6, 7, and 8). Here,
mid-Atlantic gardeners, from beginners to advanced, will find the
essential tools for taking steps to make their gardens part of the
solution through long-term planning and planting. The guide is
built from the ground up around six simple but powerful principles
that anyone can use: Reduce lawn Build plant diversity Grow native
plants Manage water runoff Welcome wildlife Garden wisely Included
are detailed instructions for assessing and designing your
particular garden or landscape site; choosing and caring for trees,
shrubs, vines, ground covers, and flowers; and succeeding with such
conditions as shade or poor soil. From rain gardens to woodland
gardens, meadow gardens to wildlife gardens, and much more, this
indispensable guide features more than 300 color photographs.
Published in association with the Adkins Arboretum.
The 18th-century phenomenon of the English Landscape Garden was so
widespread that even today, when so much has been built over or
otherwise changed, one is never far from an example throughout
England. Although seemingly natural, the English Landscape Garden
was generally the result of considerable contrivance, effort and
design skill, the result of `the art that conceals art'. It might
involve digging lakes, raising or levelling hills, and planting
trees, sometimes in vast numbers. Nature was arranged and shown to
best advantage. The English landscape garden took many forms, and
the variety of manifestations was and remains remarkable. A great
number survive, if sometimes in modified form, and can be visited
and appreciated. The book is structured so as to give the
background to, and motivation for, creating the landscape garden;
to summarise the chronology of its development; to chart the most
significant writers and theorists; and to consider the range of the
many forms it took. The story of the landscape garden is complex,
multi-layered and constantly changing in emphasis for such an
apparently simple and straightforward construct. This book will
help to uncover some of the richness that lies behind a meaningful
part of the environment. The book can be regarded as a companion to
the volume already published by Historic England, The English
Landscape Garden in Europe.
This title is an illustrated guide to varieties, cultivation and
care, with step-by-step instructions and over 110 beautiful
photographs. Everything you need to know at a glance in one handy
and beautifully illustrated practical guide. It includes full
photographic directory of more than 40 common and exotic water
plants, from bog plants and marginals to oxygenating plants and
water lilies. For each plant, full botanical information is
provided on history, growth, hue, height, spread and suitability.
It offers step-by-step photographic guidance on buying plants,
propagation, routine maintenance, and pests and diseases. Includes
instructions on how make a pond with a liner, stocking your
finished pool, and adding ornamental fish. A highly accessible
guide to bringing water plants into your garden, whether you have a
large or small space. Water gardens are increasingly popular, not
only for the exciting variety of plant life that can be cultivated,
but also for the diversity of animal species attracted by the
aquatic environment. This clear and accessible book explains how to
use water plants to their best advantage, as well as providing an
illustrated directory of over 40 recommended varieties. It explains
the difference between bog plants and oxygenators, surface floating
plants and deep-water plants, with practical advice on growing and
maintenance. From selecting and caring for water plants to making
your own pond, the book will help you to create a water feature to
enjoy for years to come.
Hydroponics: Indoor Horticulture is the most modern, advanced, and
accessible information available to date on indoor gardening. It
reveals the esoteric secrets that are practiced and used by the
most experienced, seasoned and successful hydroponic cultivators.
Includes chapters on plant biology, propagation, hydroponic
systems, nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide enrichment, pH,
biological pest control, fungi/disease, cuttings/clones,
pruning/training, breeding, harvesting, equipment, grow rooms, a
full history of hydroponics and more. In straightforward,
easy-to-understand, plain language, this book explains step-by-step
and chapter-by-chapter, every currently known method and technique
for producing super-sized yields and outrageous harvests. Do you
want to grow like a Pro? This book will show you how!
|
|