The All-New Illustrated Guide To Gardening is the ideal primer for the countless number of Americans who find themselves intimidated and exhausted by the often-contradictory advice offered by many gardening "experts." Lavishly illustrated, the book is ideal for inspiring new ideas and identifying flowers, trees and shrubs that may have been spotted elsewhere. A revised and expanded version of the book’s acclaimed (and invaluable) section about pest and disease control further dispels the notion that organic gardens are prone to failure and can be more easily destroyed.
The inclusion of all-organic methods is just one of the countless reasons why this new edition is a must-have for beginners and experienced gardeners alike. Under the direction of its widely-admired editors, Fern Marshall Bradley and Trevor Cole, the book includes 2,500 all-new, full-color photographs and 800 practical step-by-step diagrams and illustrations that cover the latest information on indoor and outdoor topics, ranging from fertilizing and composting to rotating a vegetable garden.
New sections of the book give people the ability to find economical, earth-friendly solutions. A greatly expanded section on groundcovers makes it ideal for people who have spent far too much time and money growing grass in certain sections of their yard. Unlike lawns, groundcovers don’t need mowing and rarely need water once established. Many types of grounds are a great habitat for wildlife as well. New entries on groundcovers include:
- Wintergreen: a great groundcover with fragrant foliage and small bell-like flowers that turn into red berries that last for months. Birds like the berries too!
- Stephanandra: a shrubby groundcover with pretty, toothed leaves that turn reddish in fall. The plant spreads in the sun or shade and is good for covering slopes—or as an edging.
- New examples of perennials that 21st century gardeners can enjoy, including the Sun Chimes series of twinspurs (great for containers); foxtail lilies (ideal for sunny perennial borders); and bananas (musa basjoo), that don’t produce edible fruit, but have dramatic foliage and creamy colored flowers that can reach fifteen feet tall.
- Great new choices for bulbs beyond tulips and daffodils.
- An expanded section on annuals and biennials, including creeping zinnias, which are great for planting along the edge of a plant or using as a plant to spill over the rim of a container.
- New examples of trees and shrubs, including leatherwood: one of the few shrubs that doesn’t seem to attract deer to your home.
- Why heathers and heaths are gaining in popularity—and strategies for incorporating them into a yard.
- Brand new sections on daylilies, hosts, peonies and ornamental grasses.
About The Editors
Fern Marshall Bradley is a writer and editor whose favorite topics are gardening and sustainable living. A co-author of Readers Digest’s Vegetable Gardening, she also conceived and edited The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Insect and Disease Control, The Expert’s Book of Garden Hints, among others. Bradley is a former gardening editor for Rodale.
Trevor Cole was curator of the Dominion Arboretum in Ottawa, Canada, for over 20 years. He was educated in horticultural science at the Royal Botanical Gardens in the U.K. Cole’s previous offerings include numerous magazine articles and the books Care-Free Plants and The New Ottawa Gardener.