Growing beautiful Christmas trees is a great way to generate off-season farm income and make better use of your land. From selecting a site and planting the right species to marketing and selling trees, this Storey BASICS(R) guide shows you how to build and maintain your own small tree nursery. Including handy tips for making handcrafted kissing balls and holiday wreaths, Growing Christmas Trees covers everything you need to know to successfully cultivate stunning evergreens that will provide income and bring holiday cheer.

Plant Propagation?

That's starting your own flowers and vegetables, inside and out. It's raising shrubs and trees for your property, creating your own orchard -- even growing many houseplants from one.

Here are just a few of the results you can expect:

* Raise the best tomato plants.

* Grow your own Christmas trees.

* Offer the finest of gifts -- houseplants.

* Avoid buying expensive shrubs; start your own.

* Plant those hard-to-find flowers, perennials and annuals, at little or no cost.

But is it expensive? Definitely not. You don't need a greenhouse or costly equipment. You can do a lot with a couple of fluorescent bulbs. Seeds are cheap, some are free. As for shrubs, trees, and houseplants, Lewis Hill explains how to collect, rather than buy, the materials you'll need.

It's fun, can be profitable, and, with the help of Lewis Hill plus the many illustrations in this book, is easy. Beginners will learn from step one; those more advanced will discover new techniques and find tips to improve their results.

Try plant propagation. You'll be amazed at your results.

Are You Petrified of Pruning?

Pruning is one of the best things you can do for your plants, if it's done the right way. Now renowned nurseryman and author Lewis Hill shows you how to shear without fear in Pruning Made Easy. More than 300 step-by-step illustrations demonstrate the proper techniques for pruning many varieties of plants including trees, shrubs, bushes, hedges, vines, and flowers.

With Pruning Made Easy you will learn:

*Exactly when, how, and why various plants should be pruned

* Artistic pruning techniques used to make topiary, espalier, and cordons

* Methods of using and caring for pruning tools and equipment

* How to prune safely

Everyone loves flowers. We grow them with a passion and crave helpful advice on nurturing them in our gardens. A great, friendly, indispensable book, THE FLOWER GARDENER'S BIBLE is written with wit and authority by Lewis and Nancy Hill, who share both their joy in growing flowers and more than 75 years of combined experience. In the same format as the very successful The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, this new primer is both painstakingly thorough and stunningly photographed. It covers every facet of growing perennials, annuals, bulbs, wildflowers, small trees, vines, and shrubs for season-long colour and beauty. It is organized in three sections, and the first focuses on the basics - choosing the right varieties for your zone and type of garden, and planning and planting for maximum impact. The second section presents plans for 25 distinctively themed gardens. And finally, a photographic encyclopaedia of more than 400 species includes detailed descriptions of each plant - garden uses, susceptibility to pests and diseases, propagation methods, and more.

Early and late grosts, arctic winds, an dinhospitable terrain are just a few of the obstacles facing those who garden in the icebox region of the United States and Canada. Lewis Hill has spent a lifetime in northern Vermont, and is undaunted by the challenges of weather and climate. His system for how to garden more and better in the time that you do have is covered in this extensive 308-page guide.

Cold-Climate Gardening has much information that will prove invaluable to northern gardeners: how to grow food, how to landscape, techniques to employ that will protect vulnerable plantings, how to warm up the soil earlier, and which species are appropriate to your area. Not just for those who live in the snow belt, this book will also be useful to those who garden in microclimates (such as deep valleys or hillsides) or for those who want to extend their gardening season in any climate. Horticulture has deemed it "an immensely useful book, ...written with style, wit, and clarity...." You will garner advice, tips, guidance, and encouragement necessary to have a successful gardening season in spite of Mother Nature's ravages.

Pruning is essential to keeping trees, shrubs, and other plants healthy and beautiful. Not only does pruning keep plants from getting unwieldy and large, it also allows light and air to reach more branches, encourages fruit and blossom growth, removes diseased branches, and adds structural strength to plants. But many homeowners and gardeners feel overwhelmed by pruning. When is the right time to prune? How much should be removed? What's the difference between pinching and heading back? What tools should be used? How can a homeowner ensure that pruning ultimately enhances -- and doesn't harm -- the plant?
For all these questions and more, "The Pruning Answer Book" has the answer. Written by two highly respected garden writers with years of experience in providing pruning advice, this book is sure to become a tool as essential as the pruning shears themselves. With clear, concise advice, a browsable format, a friendly tone, and how-to illustrations, the book provides everything a homeowner needs to safely achieve attractive, long-lasting, and healthy plants.
The latest in Storey's enormously popular Answer Book series, "The Pruning Answer Book" demystifies the subject, helping even novices successfully prune a variety of woody plants -- flowering trees, fruit and nut trees, shrubs, brambles, evergreens, vines, and groundcovers. Homeowners will feel as if they have a master arborist by their side, helping them bring out the best in their greenery.

Fruits, berries, and nuts are an exciting way for food gardeners to expand their homegrown harvest with new produce. "The Fruit Gardener's Bible" is the complete reference on every aspect of planting, growing, caring for, and harvesting these nutritious, delicious plants.Organic fruits and berries are expensive to buy, making it especially worthwhile to grow them in the home garden. From small fruits like strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries to orchard fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and nuts, backyard gardeners will learn how to choose the best varieties and methods for a healthy harvest. "The Fruit Gardener's Bible" focuses on what's practical and achievable for small-scale growing and introduces readers to the best organic, no-spray methods. From pruning to harvesting and protecting from wildlife, food gardeners will find all the information they need to incorporate fruits and berries into their existing beds and yards. A perfect companion to the best-selling "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible," "The Fruit Gardener's Bible" is the definitive reference for growing fruits and nuts at home.

Third in a series of poetry books that have been warmly appreciated, alongside the short stories and editing an autobiography of his father. Previous titles: Milestones: A development In Exilio Clasped in Prayer Speedbird (autobiography of Don Hill-father)-forty years in the airline business

'Short stories should be compact.They should create, conflict and conclude but in pages not chapters.' Here the author experiments with the dark chocolate side of fiction, nibbling away at bite sized short stories ideal for office lunch times.To be taken with a cup of soup these stories will whet your appetite for more. WARNING: some late night solitary readers may have to imbibe of something stronger by way of refreshment.

After the critical acclaim of his first book the author was persuaded to produce 'more of the same shamanic verses' before publishing his forthcoming collected short stories.Replete with newly written meditations and reflections' it deals with the human condition in all its heartache and hope and cycles of living.Obviously, going from 'bard' to verse this second book captures the mood of another of life's little twists,as it tries to witness the dawning of a new perspective. It has been said: 'better to light a candle than to curse the darkness '. This is the author attempting to light a candle in the darkness. Hopefully it will both enlighten and entertain as well as provide food for thought.

About the book 'MILESTONES: a development' is a collection of sensitive observations written in poetic form about family life in all its aspects, from the nature of combining an Italian heritage with an equally rich Englishness to the joy of parenthood and the sorrow of losing a parent. The poet draws upon experiences in his medical training that have sought a voice of catharsis.Interspersed with fine drawings and photographs the book creates a spirited if at times thought provoking reaction to a whole host of issues that sometimes impinge upon the human condition.