Robert Hart's book beautifully describes his decades of experience gardening in the Shropshire countryside. The principles of backyard permaculture he has developed can be applied successfully in every temperate zone of North America, helping to transform even a small cottage garden into a diverse and hospitable habitat for songbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. Blending history, philosophy, anthropology, and seasoned gardening wisdom in a lucid sequence of essays, Forest Gardening examines the pleasure of hands off as well as hands-on gardening. This book offers fresh ways of understanding the relationships between people and growing plants. For gardeners who aspire to create ecological as well as beautiful gardens, Forest Gardening will be an inspiration and a pleasure.

    The text provides a thorough, how-to explanation of each of the steps of the design process--from initial contact with the client to a completed master plan. The text's numerous illustrations and useful case study examples offer a rich learning experience for students. Whether you are just starting your design career or are a current practitioner, this valuable resource is sure to enhance your skills and knowledge.

    A gardening system that works-- so you don't have to!Turn in your tiller for a stack of old newspapers! Replace your shovel with a layer of grass clippings! Let Pat Lanza show you how you can create lush, successful, easy-care gardens in practically any location without hours of backbreaking digging or noisy tilling.* Practical, first-person advice from an experienced gardener* Great ideas to let you spend more time enjoying your gardens and less time working in them* Specific "lasagna" techniques for the most popular vegetables, flowers, herbs, fruits, and more

    Chalker-Scott offers invaluable advice to gardeners gardeners who have wondered:Are native plants the best choice for sustainable landscaping?Should you avoid disturbing the root ball when planting?Are organic products better or safer than synthetic ones?What is the best way to control weeds-fabric or mulch?Does giving vitamins to plants stimulate growth?Are compost teas effective in controlling diseases?When is the best time to water in hot weather?If you pay more, do you get a higher-quality plant?How can you differentiate good advice from bad advice?The answers may surprise you. In her more than twenty years as a university researcher and educator in the field of plant physiology, Linda Chalker-Scott has discovered a number of so-called truths that originated in traditional agriculture and that have been applied to urban horticulture, in many cases damaging both plant and environmental health. The Informed Gardener is based on basic and applied research from university faculty and landscape professionals, originally published in peer-reviewed journals.After reading this book, you will:Understand your landscape or garden plants as components of a living systemSave time (by not overdoing soil preparation, weeding, pruning, staking, or replacing plants that have died before their time)Save money (by avoiding worthless or harmful garden products, and producing healthier, longer-lived plants)Reduce use of fertilizers and pesticidesAssess marketing claims objectivelyThis book will be of interest to landscape architects, nursery and landscape professionals, urban foresters, arborists, certified professional horticulturists, and home gardeners.For more information go to: http: //www.theinformedgardener.com

    But it was not reels of wool or bales of cotton that awaited him, but plants and seeds…Over the next forty years, Bartram would send hundreds of American species to England, where Collinson was one of a handful of men who would foster a national obsession and change the gardens of Britain forever, introducing lustrous evergreens, fiery autumn foliage and colourful shrubs. They were men of wealth and taste but also of knowledge and experience like Philip Miller, author of the bestselling Gardeners Dictionary, and the Swede Carl Linnaeus, whose standardised botanical nomenclature popularised botany as a genteel pastime for the middle-classes; and the botanist-adventurer Joseph Banks and his colleague Daniel Solander who both explored the strange flora of Tahiti and Australia on the greatest voyage of discovery of modern times, Captain Cook’s Endeavour.This is the story of these men – friends, rivals, enemies, united by a passion for plants – whose correspondence, collaborations and squabbles make for a riveting human tale which is set against the backdrop of the emerging empire, the uncharted world beyond and London as the capital of science. From the scent of the exotic blooms in Tahiti and Botany Bay to the gardens at Chelsea and Kew, and from the sounds and colours of the streets of the City to the staggering vistas of the Appalachian mountains, The Brother Gardeners tells the story of how Britain became a nation of gardeners.

    A witty and informative guide for amateur gardeners shares economical, time-saving advice on how to create a beautiful backyard garden, covering everything from garden design to planting bulbs and pruning trees.

    This handsome volume traces the development of the cottage garden through Christopher Lloyd's elegant prose and specially commissioned photography, evoking the charm of the garden in all its beautiful variety.

    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.

    And with only one exception-watering-container gardening is a whole lot easier. Beginning with the down-to-earth basics of soil, sun and water, fertilizer, seeds and propagation, The Bountiful Container is an extraordinarily complete, plant-by-plant guide.Written by two seasoned container gardeners and writers, The Bountiful Container covers Vegetables-not just tomatoes (17 varieties) and peppers (19 varieties), butharicots verts, fava beans, Thumbelina carrots, Chioggia beets, and sugarsnap peas. Herbs, from basil to thyme, and including bay leaves, fennel, and saffron crocus. Edible Flowers, such as begonias, calendula, pansies, violets, and roses. And perhaps most surprising, Fruits, including apples, peaches, Meyer lemons, blueberries, currants, and figs-yes, even in the colder parts of the country. (Another benefit of container gardening: You can bring the less hardy perennials in over the winter.) There are theme gardens (an Italian cook's garden, a Four Seasons garden), lists of sources, and dozens of sidebars on everything from how to be a human honeybee to seeds that are All America Selections.

    Unsurpassed as a field guide for its authoritative information on collection and medicinal preparation. Focuses on the plant life of rocky and arid lands of the West, and includes detailed information on the preparation and use of these vital herbs.

    Progressing from the basics into more sophisticated techniques, this guide offers clear instruction on graphic language and the design process, the basics of drafting, lettering, freehand drawing and conceptual diagramming, perspective drawing, section elevations, and more. It also features carefully sequenced exercises, a complete file of graphic symbols for sections and perspectives, and a handy appendix of conversions and equivalents.

    Designer Susan Morrison offers savvy tips to match your landscape to your lifestyle, draws on years of experience to recommend smart plants with seasonal interest, and suggests hardscape materials to personalize your space. Inspiring photographs highlight a variety of inspiring small-space designs from around the country. With The Less Is More Garden, you’ll see how limited space can mean unlimited opportunities for gorgeous garden design.

    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.

    From a front-yard farm to a chile lover's plot, growers of every stripe will find inventive designs for growing food in any space.

    It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order. Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms. The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions.