Friday, February 25, 2011

Edible Landscaping

Since Rosalind Creasy popularized the concept of landscaping with edibles a quarter-century ago, interest in eating healthy, fresh, locally grown foods has swept across the nation. More and more Americans are looking to grow clean, delicious produce at home, saving money and natural resources at the same time. And food plants have been freed from the backyard, gracing the finest landscapes--even the White House grounds! Creasy's expertise on edibles and how to incorporate them in beautifully designed outdoor environments was first showcased in the original edition of Edible Landscaping (Sierra Club Books, 1982), hailed by gardeners everywhere as a groundbreaking classic. Now this highly anticipated new edition presents the latest design and how-to information in a glorious full-color format, featuring more than 300 inspiring photographs. Drawing on the author's decades of research and experience, the book presents everything you need to know to create an inviting home landscape that will yield mouthwatering vegetables, fruits, nuts, and berries. The comprehensive Encyclopedia of Edibles--a book in itself--provides horticultural information, culinary uses, sources, and recommended varieties; and appendices cover the basics of planting and maintenance and of controlling pests and diseases using organic and environmentally friendly practices.
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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Landscape Gardens on the Hudson, a History

The designed historic landscapes of the Hudson River Valley : Hyde Park, Sunnyside, Olana, Clermont, Lyndhurst, Montgomery Place, Locust Grove, Wilderstein, Springside, Idlewild, Blithewood, Millbrook, Kenwood, The Point, Philipse Manor, Van Cortlandt Manor, The Pastures (Schuyler Mansion) and more.
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Homegrown Harvest: A Season-By-Season Guide to a Sustainable Kitchen Garden

Written by the American Horticultural Society's foremost fruit, vegetable and herb experts, "Homegrown Harvest" provides lifestyle-changing advice that gardeners need for growing a year-round supply of healthy edible crops for their table. Specific local and regional advice enables gardeners to decide how and what to grow wherever they live in North America.
The book starts with planning what to grow, then how to grow it- whether in an allotment, containers, a raised bed or vegetable patch- as well as information on how to get the best from your soil.
Next, over the course of 12 seasonal chapters, from early spring to late winter, the book shows how to go from sowing to harvesting with clear instructions that help you stay on top of the joys and challenges of a productive garden.
From apples and asparagus, raspberries to radishes, this book shows how to apply age-old techniques in a timely fashion, to get the most from your plot.
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The Book of Little Hostas: 200 Small, Very Small, and Mini Varieties

Hostas are irresistible. Their sculptural leaves and appealing textures make it difficult to stop at one, and it is easy to fill a garden with them. Help is at hand with this attractive guide to the popular new small hostas that take up less space and are ideally suited to container cultivation. They can be used on their own or with companion plants to make charming displays on the patio, porch, or even windowsill.
Many small hostas are simply scaled-down versions of classic hostas, while others offer distinctly new attributes in terms of color, leaf shape, and patterning. Like full-size hostas, small hostas can be upright, flat, or cascading; there are varieties that are full of substance, and others that are fine and delicate; there are green ones, gold ones, blue ones, variegated ones, and splashed ones. Some are better garden plants than others, and a valuable function of this book is to showcase the very best of the new introductions. Photographs of the hostas in garden settings show how admirably they respond to imaginative display in a wide range of situations including waterside, woodland, and rock gardens.
Beautifully illustrated and highly informative, this handpicked selection of diminutive hostas will inspire hobbyists and gardeners alike and provide inspiration for new planting schemes.
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Continuous Container Gardens: Swap in the Plants of the Season to Create Fresh Designs Year-Round

The difference between container gardening and gardening in a container is not merely semantic. While the former implies a reliance on a standard mix of spectacular but short-lived annuals, the latter draws on the vast array of plant material one would use in any mixed border. Bending the boundaries of typical planter plantings, Townsend and Robbins begin with a basic design scheme that can be updated throughout the seasons. The key to this flexibility is a strong foundation on which central plants such as trees, shrubs, and perennials are supported by a cast of sequential secondary players. Highlighting 12 containers that illustrate a favorite theme such as foliage, structure, color, or movement, the authors deconstruct each vessels composition and subsequent adaptations and include such vital information as off-season care and proper container selection. With a bright, breezy, conversational style, the authors infectious enthusiasm and extensive experience will empower gardeners to think outside their usual container comfort zones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)
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Tips for Container Gardening: 300 Great Ideas for Growing Flowers, Vegetables & Herbs

Truth be told, you can grow almost anything in a pot — and you can place those pots anywhere … on a deck, patio or rooftop. That’s why so many people love container gardening. It’s versatile enough for suburban homeowners with acres of land as well as apartment-dwellers with no patch of ground to call their own. In fact, growing edibles in containers is a perfect way for homeowners and gardeners with limited space to have fresh food in their kitchens. Like each issue of Fine Gardening, this latest collection is brimming with 300 essential tips, savvy shortcuts, and tried-and-true techniques, celebrating the growing popularity of container gardening. Tips for Container Gardening promises to bring out the bountiful best in all containers, large or small.
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Monday, February 14, 2011

The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener (Revised, Expanded)

Coleman's personable work draws together the experience and wisdom of his 25 years as a vegetable gardener in Maine. It includes nearly all the material in the previous edition (LJ 11/1/89), communicating a respect and feeling for "the land" and its processes. Every page is imbued with the wisdom and careful observations he and his associates have gathered; from soil structure to "mobile greenhouses" that expand the growing season, each method is thought through to its ultimate impact on the earth and on economic survival. Well-presented graphics illustrate methods and techniques. This new edition includes sidebar references and notes, new chapters on creating fertile soil (without importing items such as manure from sources that may not use organic methods), and use of existing information channels to learn of new information. Of interest for even the smallest veggie patch grower. The Dirt Doctor's Guide to Organic Gardening presents many of the same sustainable concepts with the vehemence of its radio talk show host and news columnist author. Garrett gives tips on a broader range of home gardening, including landscaping and wildlife, and spends much effort on the abuses of past and current practice. Basics are presented briefly, with many eco-asides that help break up the dense, information-rich text. Lack of visuals makes the material harder to absorb, yet one is constantly copying out directions as they appear. These tidbits and the coverage of issues concerning Southern gardens make the title of value, though gathering the tips in an appendix or special section would have provided better access. For general collections.-Sue Gardner, Albert Wisner Lib., Warwick, N.Y. (Library Journal)
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Garden Wisdom & Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Plant, Grow, and Harvest

The latest addition to the bestselling Wisdom & Know-How series is a complete home reference for everything you need to know about gardening - from soil and fertilizers to growing flowers and vegetables"
Garden Wisdom & Know-How" is a large-scale practical guide to planting and maintaining a garden, indoors or out. The chapters are organized by topic-garden techniques and tricks, the flower garden, the edible garden, container gardening, garden design and landscaping, attracting wildlife, and so on-and packed with information. Readers will discover tips and techniques for maintaining a garden year-round; harvesting herbs; designing by bloom season; turning garden refuse into garden rewards; building teepees, trellises, and other plant supports; and much more.
Featuring handpicked selections from dozens of publications from Rodale Books, this massive collection is full of indispensable and trusted advice from some of the most respected gardening authors in the world. And with hundreds of black-and-white illustrations and photographs as well as step-by-step projects, key gardening resources, and essential information on countless plant species, "Garden Wisdom & Know-How" is a must-have volume for both the aspiring and the experienced gardener. (Rodale)
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