It's still not too late to turn that brown thumb to a green thumb. Get started with these books!
In the first aquaponic book to provide information on lawns, gardens, and vertical gardens, self-sufficiency expert Caleb Warnock shows us how fish, plants, a flower bed, water, and a drain combine to create a masterful ecosystem that can sustain your family. The advantages are endless. Aquaponic gardens: use far less water because water returns from the garden to the pond in a cycle; need no purchased fertilizer; create naturally rich, sustainable, chemical-free soil; grow larger, healthier plants, which produce more food; can produce harvestable fish; dramatically reduce the need to weed with no-till methods (see the"No-Till Gardening"book in this series); provide a peaceful, meditative water feature for the backyard; and bring the joy of having fish to the backyard garden. (Goodreads.com)
An A-Z guide covering everything from acid soil to zucchini, the hints and tips you will find have been culled from leading horticulturists and accomplished home gardeners from all over the country. The Reader’s Digest Quintessential Guides do what the Reader’s Digest does better than anyone: the best advice, straight to the point. (Goodreads.com)
In The Bee-Friendly Garden, award-winning garden designer Kate Frey and bee expert Gretchen LeBuhn provide everything you need to know to create a dazzling garden that helps both the threatened honeybee and our own native bees. No matter how small or large your space, and regardless of whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, just a few simple changes to your garden can fight the effects of colony collapse disorder and the worldwide decline in bee population that threatens our global food chain.
Illustrated with spectacular full-color photos, The Bee-Friendly Garden debunks myths about bees, explains seasonal flower progression, and provides detailed instructions for nest boxes and water features. From “super blooming” flowers to regional plant lists and plants to avoid, The Bee-Friendly Garden is an essential tool for every gardener who cares about the planet and wants to make their yard a welcoming habitat for nature’s most productive pollinator. (Goodreads.com)
Welcome the world’s most exquisite visitors to your garden! Gardening for Butterflies, by the experts at the Xerces Society, introduces you to a variety of colorful garden guests who need our help, and shows you how to design a habitat where they will thrive. This optimistic call to arms is packed with everything you need to create a beautiful, beneficial, butterfly-filled garden. Gardeners will learn why butterflies matter, why they are in danger, and what simple steps we can take to make a difference. You'll learn how to choose the right plants, how to design a butterfly-friendly garden, and how to create a garden that flutters and flourishes with life. (Goodreads.com)
Small is beautiful, and integrating a small, easy-to-manage garden into hectic everyday life is easy. In The Downsized Veggie Garden, low maintenance is the mantra. And so is making smart, creative use of the space we have whether it s outdoors, indoors, in-ground, in containers, on a balcony railing or even going vertical. Garden expert Kate Copsey takes the reader season-by-season, plant-by-plant, with essential tips about soil, seed-starting, plant choices, non-chemical fertilizing, watering, choosing the right containers, veggie garden planning and planting, and much more. This fully illustrated book is a one-stop guide for the beginner gardener or the downsizing gardener. (Goodreads.com)
Gardeners can be disappointed by the insipid flavor of the vegetables and fruit that they have so carefully nurtured. The problem, according to botanist James Wong, is that many conventional gardening practices are based on pure myth or faulty science. They create bumper crops at the expense of flavor and nutrition. It doesn't have to be that way.
After trial and error of cutting-edge horticultural techniques and extensive review of more than 2,000 journal papers from around the globe, Wong turns the tables on old-school advice with a radical new system that transforms the flavor and nutrition of homegrown produce. Grow for Flavor is more than tips from a gardening expert. It overflows with practical information and inspirational advice -- an essential for all gardeners. (Goodreads.com)
Beginning gardeners and experts alike will appreciate this practical advice on virtually every aspect of gardening—from choosing a plot to selecting flowers and water features. The instructions and advice encompass plans and proven techniques for planting traditional English, Japanese, herb, and rock gardens, and building structures such as fences and walls, arches, pergolas and trellises, as well as decking and pathways. More than 300 color photographs, illustrations and diagrams ensure that anyone can create a glorious garden. (Goodreads.com)
It’s nearly impossible for gardeners to resist the allure of heirloom plants. Their names alone sound inviting—Flanders Purple kale, Golden Marconi sweet peppers, Moon & Stars watermelons, Turk’s Turban squash, Scarlet Emperor running beans, and Jefferson plums—and many growers claim that their taste is unsurpassed. Beyond the classic appeal, however, lies the far more important issue of biodiversity. Unless these unique seeds are grown and saved, they will not only be forgotten, but lost forever. Based on the extensive seed catalogs of Thomas Etty, the popular heirloom seedsman, Heirloom Plantsincludes information on almost 500 exciting cultivars to be grown and harvested, along with detailed profiles and cultivation tips for each plant. In addition to edibles, the book also has chapters on antique herbs and flowers, from Cup and Saucer vines to Sweet William carnations to Empress of India nasturtiums. Trowel and book in hand, let your motto be, “Growing the past, saving the future.” (Goodreads.com)
Calculate the return on investment for your vegetable garden and get the most bang for your gardening bucks! Get the most return on investment from your garden by calculating which vegetables, fruits, and herbs give the highest payback. To make the selection process of what to grow easy, Mel Bartholomew--author of the best-selling Square Foot Gardening--has a new book to maximize your garden's ROI. High-Value Veggies is an easy-to-use reference book helping gardeners choose edibles that make the most financial and spatial sense. Explore the thought processes and math behind growing vegetables and herbs in order to craft the best plan for your produce. Maximizing your garden's yield is no simple task. Consider the tomato; most people think it's a safe bet for a high-yield return - but which variety? Heirloom tomatoes typically cost $5 or more a pound at farmers' markets. You can beat that price by growing Cherokee Purples from seed at a net cost of only 80 cents per pound. If you plant purchased seedlings, the cost will go up to about $1 a pound--and that's including the cost of water and fertilizer. High-Value Veggies makes this cost evaluation for each vegetable easy. Whether you're interested in growing tomatoes, pumpkins, cabbage, corn, or anything else, it's wise to consider the invisible dollar signs sown along the way. The relative ROI for each veggie in High-Value Veggies is calculated based on dollar value generated for each square foot planted. You don't need to be a math whiz to plan your next vegetable garden. Bartholomew has done the math for you, and he has cost-effective answers. (Goodreads.com)
While issues such as climate change, pollution, and water shortages become increasingly difficult to ignore, the movement toward sustainability continues to grow. Even though most gardeners are attuned to nature, some common processes of garden maintenance can take a toll on the environment.
Sustainable Gardening for the Southeast is a vividly illustrated guide that offers simple techniques to help conserve water, reduce pollutants, and mitigate climate change while increasing biodiversity and attracting pollinators and wildlife. Gardeners will be inspired and empowered to protect and enhance the local ecology as they cultivate a resilient landscape featuring native plants, colorful flowers and trees, and even organically grown fruits and vegetables. And for those who cherish their emerald lawns, Susan Varlamoff provides tips for keeping it green andenvironmentally sound. Gardeners in the Southeast—whether amateurs or professional landscapers—who want to implement sustainable strategies will find this book the ultimate resource for cultivating a garden that gives back to the earth. (Goodreads.com)
Originally Posted by JasmineT on September 6, 2016