Book picks similar to
Creating Small Gardens by Roy Strong


gardening
non-fiction
horticulture
oct-5-donations

New Garden Book


Better Homes and Gardens - 1966
    Beautiful and brimming with information, this indispensable guide contains all the advice you'll ever need--even if your thumb is brown--to create a gorgeous yard, a bountiful vegetable garden, or a lush green indoors.More than 400 full-color photos let you see exactly what plants look like--from flowers to trees to vegetables--both close up and in garden settings.More than 115 drawings show you how to step by step all the tricks to caring for a variety of plants.One hundred pages of illustrated plant portfolios and 65 pages of handy charts give you thorough descriptions of more than 800 plants, diseases and pests.

Urban Botanics: An Indoor Plant Guide for Modern Gardeners


Emma Sibley - 2017
    Whether you are looking to cultivate an entire indoor garden, or simply wish to know more about your single cactus, you can be sure to find the right information for you amongst the seventy-five plants in this stylish guide. And the best bit? All the plants are easy to maintain so even the most timid of gardeners can enjoy turning their hand to this green-fingered pastime. Learn how to care for succulents, cacti, flowering and foliage plants even with a full-time job, with this unique gardening guide that is made to fit alongside our modern-day schedules. With endless inspiration to brighten up your home,desk or office, this beautiful book of plants from across the world is a must for lovers of art and design, as well as plants.

Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web


Jeff Lowenfels - 2006
    Healthy soil is teeming with life — not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and thus become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of artificial substances, many of them toxic to humans as well as other forms of life. But there is an alternative to this vicious circle: to garden in a way that strengthens, rather than destroys, the soil food web — the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms whose interactions create a nurturing environment for plants. By eschewing jargon and overly technical language, the authors make the benefits of cultivating the soil food web available to a wide audience, from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants without resorting to chemicals.

Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener


Fern Marshall Bradley - 2009
    This thoroughly revised and updated version highlights new organic pest controls, new fertilizer products, improved gardening techniques, the latest organic soil practices, and new trends in garden design. In this indispensable work readers will find: - comprehensive coverage for the entire garden and landscape along with related entries such as Community Gardening, Edible Landscaping, Horticultural Therapy, Stonescaping, and more - the most in-depth information from the trusted Rodale Organic Gardening brand - a completely new section on earth-friendly techniques for gardening in a changing climate, covering wise water management, creating backyard habitats, managing invasive plants and insects, reducing energy use and recycling, and understanding biotechnology - entries all written by American gardeners for American gardeners, with answers for all the challenges presented by various conditions, from the humid Deep South and the mild maritime coasts to the cold far North and the dry Southwest Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Fern Bradley has everything anyone needs to create gorgeous, non-toxic gardens in any part of the country.

Martha's Flowers: A Practical Guide to Growing, Gathering, and Enjoying


Martha Stewart - 2018
    Having grown up working in the yard with her father, a master gardener, she relished the moment when she would be able to have her very own garden--and has since owned, loved, and developed six additional gardens, one of which is also a farm. In Martha's Flowers, she brings you into her personal gardens, walking you through rows and rows of tulips, daffodils, peonies, poppies, hydrangeas, dahlias, and more, while sharing stories of what these flowers mean to her. She also invites Kevin Sharkey, a longtime Martha Stewart Living editor and dear friend, to teach how to beautifully arrange these flowers yourself. In the back of the book, she includes a helpful, hardworking list of tools and vessels that are good to have, information on how to plan a cutting garden, and a tutorial on forcing branches. Martha's Flowers is one of Martha's most intimate books ever, and the authoritative advice included will make this a must-have for every gardener and flower enthusiast.

The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live & Why They Matter


Colin Tudge - 2005
    There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers, and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field.From the tallest to the smallest, trees inspire wonder in all of us, and in The Tree, Colin Tudge travels around the world—throughout the United States, the Costa Rican rain forest, Panama and Brazil, India, New Zealand, China, and most of Europe—bringing to life stories and facts about the trees around us: how they grow old, how they eat and reproduce, how they talk to one another (and they do), and why they came to exist in the first place. He considers the pitfalls of being tall; the things that trees produce, from nuts and rubber to wood; and even the complicated debt that we as humans owe them.Tudge takes us to the Amazon in flood, when the water is deep enough to submerge the forest entirely and fish feed on fruit while river dolphins race through the canopy. He explains the “memory” of a tree: how those that have been shaken by wind grow thicker and sturdier, while those attacked by pests grow smaller leaves the following year; and reveals how it is that the same trees found in the United States are also native to China (but not Europe).From tiny saplings to centuries-old redwoods and desert palms, from the backyards of the American heartland to the rain forests of the Amazon and the bamboo forests, Colin Tudge takes the reader on a journey through history and illuminates our ever-present but often ignored companions. A blend of history, science, philosophy, and environmentalism, The Tree is an engaging and elegant look at the life of the tree and what modern research tells us about their future.

Small Space Garden Ideas


Philippa Pearson - 2014
    "Small Space Garden Ideas" is full of creative ideas for making use of every growing space available.From windowsills and hanging baskets to rooftop containers and vertical gardens, "Small Space Garden Ideas" shows you how to create a dream garden, through step-by-step projects from start to finish.

The Pruning Book: Completely Revised and Updated


Lee Reich - 1997
    With expert advice on the latest techniques and valuable insights on new plants, this updated version of The Pruning Book deserves a prominent place in your gardening library. From humble houseplants to the most amazing exotics, author Lee Reich explains all the dos and don'ts of cutting back. So you'll always make the right cut the first time -- every time. Reich demystifies even the most complex pruning strategies by providing the precise timing and exact techniques you'll need to guarantee healthy growth and beautiful form. In great detail, he walks you through the process of pruning everything from ornamental trees and bushes to topiaries and bonsai. And all his insights are delivered with clear, straightforward prose and supported by 250 colorful photos and 135 drawings. Whether you're a professional gardener, a landscape veteran --or pruning for the very first time --this essential reference gives you everything you need to master the subtle art of pruning.

Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden


Eleanor Perenyi - 1981
    There are entries in praise of earthworms and in protest of rock gardens, a treatise on the sexual politics of tending plants, and a paean to the salubrious effect of gardening (see “Longevity”). Twenty years after its initial publication, Green Thoughts remains as much a joy to read as ever. This Modern Library edition is published with a new Introduction by Allen Lacy, former gardening columnist for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times and the author of numerous gardening books.

Grow in the Dark: How to Choose and Care for Low-Light Houseplants


Lisa Eldred Steinkopf - 2019
    Author Lisa Eldred-Steinkopf, known as the Houseplant Guru, shares the knowledge she’s gained tending to her own personal jungle of over 1,000 houseplants. Having a south-facing window doesn’t always guarantee you the best light to grow plants—especially if your window faces an alley or a tree-lined street. What’s the point of growing an urban jungle if tall buildings are blocking all your sunshine? This compact guide, designed to look as good on your shelf as it is useful, will help you learn how to make the most of your light so you can reap the physical and emotional benefits of living with plants. Detailed profiles include tips on watering your plants just right, properly potting them, and troubleshooting pests and diseases. You’ll also learn which plants are safe to keep around your pets. Whether you live in a shady top-floor apartment or a dungeon-y garden level, this book will help you grow your plant collection to its healthiest for its Instagram debut.

The Almanac 2020: A Seasonal Guide to 2020


Lia Leendertz - 2019
    It gives you the tools and inspiration you need to celebrate, mark and appreciate each month of the year in your own particular way. Divided into the 12 months, a set of tables each month gives it the feel and weight of a traditional almanac, providing practical information that gives access to the outdoors and the seasons, perfect for expeditions, meteor-spotting nights and beach holidays. There are also features on each month's unique nature, such as the meteor shower of the month, beehive behaviour, folklore and stories, seasonal recipes and charts tracking moon phases and tides. You will find yourself referring to the almanac all year long, revisiting it again and again, and looking forward to the next edition as the year draws to a close.

Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener's Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History


William Woys Weaver - 1997
    This updated edition has been improved throughout with growing zones, advice, and new plant entries. Line art has been replaced with lush, full-color photography. Yet at the core, this book delivers on the same promise it made two decades ago: It’s a comprehensive guide based on meticulous first-person research to these 300+ plants, making it a book to come back to season after season.

The Monocle Book of Japan


Tyler Brule - 2020
    From day one, the magazine has maintained a Tokyo bureau, which today also encompasses a Monocle shop and radio studio.Over the past decade, the magazine and its team have continued to build upon their appreciation for and understanding of the nation of Japan. Monocle’s stories have covered everything from a live journey on the emperor’s jet and the tastiest places to eat in Kagoshima to the fashion designers challenging conventions and the businesses with remarkable stories untold outside Japan.The Monocle Book of Japan reveals the best of the country in the run-up to the 2021 Olympics. Complete with striking photography and captivating essays, this volume showcases some of Japan’s most intriguing splendors.

The Backyard Parables: Lessons on Gardening, and Life


Margaret Roach - 2013
    Margaret Roach has been harvesting thirty years of backyard parables-deceptively simple, instructive stories from a life spent digging ever deeper-and has distilled them in this memoir along with her best tips for garden making, discouraging all manner of animal and insect opponents, at-home pickling, and more.After ruminating on the bigger picture in her memoir And I Shall Have Some Peace There, Margaret Roach has returned to the garden, insisting as ever that we must garden with both our head and heart, or as she expresses it, with "horticultural how-to and woo-woo." In THE BACKYARD PARABLES, Roach uses her fundamental understanding of the natural world, philosophy, and life to explore the ways that gardening saved and instructed her, and meditates on the science and spirituality of nature, reminding her readers and herself to keep on digging.

Tasha Tudor's Garden


Tovah Martin - 1994
    Her nineteenth-century New England lifestyle is legendary. Gardeners are especially intrigued by the profusion of antique flowers -- spectacular poppies, six-foot foxgloves, and intoxicating peonies -- in the cottage gardens surrounding her hand-hewn house. Until now we've only caught glimpses of Tasha Tudor's landscape. In this gorgeous book, two of her friends, the garden writer Tovah Martin and the photographer Richard Brown, take us into the magical garden and then behind the scenes. As we revel in the bedlam of Johnny-jump-ups and cinnamon pinks, the intricacy of the formal peony garden, and the voluptuousness of her heirloom roses, we also learn Tasha's gardening secrets. How does she coax forth her finicky camellia blossoms in the dead of a Vermont winter? How does she train that fantastic topiary to model for her artwork? How can she keep her crown imperials from tumbling in the winds? Tasha's garden reflects a wealth of family lore, perfected through the years and years of working the soil. We may be dazzled by the beauty of the garden, but we come away from this book with practical ideas about improving our own plots of land. "Paradise on earth" is how Tasha describes her garden, and along with the flowers and the vegetables that provide her food, her paradise is filled with an enchanting menagerie -- corgies, Nubian goats, cats, chickens, fantail doves, and forty or more exotic finches, cockatiels, canaries, nightingales, and parrots, which inhabit her collection of antique cages. Tasha's beautiful watercolors and her enchanting anecdotes color this sublimely beautiful book.