The Twilight Garden: A Guide to Enjoying Your Garden in the Evening Hours

To show how easily we can have inviting nighttime gardens, Leendertz (gardening columnist, "Guardian, UK; Family Garden" highlights night-flowering plants, foliage that sparkles in soft lighting, and exotic scents and sounds that lure mysterious creatures. She explains the heightened importance of creating coziness and using intriguing silhouettes, whether in a front garden or a more private, contemplative one. Several party ideas are included, some with kid-friendly themes. The majority of the book is a plant directory, including color photos and USDA zone information for over 60 plants.
(Library Journal)
Request The Twilight Garden from the catalog.

Landscaping for Your Home

Homeowners looking for an encyclopedic beginner's guide to landscape design, installation, and maintenance will find it in this new how-to book by garden writer and photographer Erler (Design Ideas for Home Landscaping). Erler describes how even the most inexperienced homeowner can design and create a garden that complements a house's style. She offers practical tips on laying out and installing the bones of the space (walkways, decks, fences, and beds) and the finishing touches that turn a yard into a satisfying garden (fountains, lighting, furniture, and art). She takes no horticultural experience for granted and even offers a visual guide to distinguishing a shovel from a spade. The lists of horticultural tips, recommended plants, maintenance checklists, step by-step guidance, and more than 400 color photographs and drawings make this a comprehensive guide filled with valuable inspiration and instruction.
Request Landscaping for Your Home from the catalog.

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

Intensive growing methods can allow gardeners with small lots to offset seriously the yearly grocery bill. Markham has adapted, through years of experimentation, the techniques developed by such gardener-authors as Mel Bartholomew ("Square Foot Gardening") and John Jeavons ("How To Grow More Vegetables and Fruits"). In this revised and expanded version of his 2006 self-published book, now with almost double the text and with 250 color photographs, Markham suggests that a small family (with one outside income) can come out economically ahead by following his strategies, provided that their overhead is low and that they produce more calorie-dense foods in addition to vegetables and fruits. His instructions for projects show how to spend as little capital as possible in order to keep the operation economical, with plenty of references for more in-depth study. Although he does not cover wine and cheese making, there is plenty on soil minerals. VERDICT While not as hip as other recent books on urban homesteading, such as Carleen Madigan's "The Backyard Homestead" and Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen's "The Urban Homestead", this differs by focusing on practicality and the bottom line. A helpful addition, alongside Bartholomew and Jeavons, for the serious DIY gardener.Margaret Heller, Dominican Univ. Lib., River Forest, IL (Library Journal)
Request Mini Farming from the catalog

Mid-Atlantic Home Landscaping

This larger-format edition provides inspiring ideas for making the Mid-Atlantic home landscape more attractive and functional. Starting with the 200 best plants that thrive in the region, area landscape professionals created 46 outdoor design concepts that readers can work with. More than 430 color photographs and drawings complement the easy-to-follow instructions for caring for and installing plants, paths, patios, ponds, and arbors.
Request Mid-Atlantic Home Landscaping from the catalog.