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Shady corners? Gravelly dry areas? Boggy patches? Wee-ee-eeds?
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Gardeners ignore the vertical at their peril, and Joan Clifton's book helps us make the most of it. She looks into the hard structures, with ideas, inspiration, styles and detailed plans to aid construction. The book is topped off with a directory of climbing plants, beautifully and interestingly photographed by Steven Wooster.
Inspiring and useful.
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The latest book from the wonderful Dr Hessayon. This one deals with sorting out problem bits of your garden and generally improving what you have - which is the case for most of us.
He dives straight in with the commonest problems - worn out roses, second rate lawns, flower-shy perennials, neglected trees, leaking ponds.
He then moves on to more general problems - such as 'The garden is just too much work', 'The borders are now so shady'. He offers positive solutions; for instance (1) enjoy the beauty of shade (2) grow shade-tolerant plants, and he provides a good selection (3) reduce the cause of the shade (4) remove the plants and put something else there. Plenty of solutions.
Then comes basic design advice to work out solutions for your existing garden and advice on larger improvements. In general, tips on bringing new life and restoring lost beauty to tired gardens.
Plenty of solutions. Plenty of inspiration. And all presented in the time-honoured Expert way - clear instructions, no pandering to fads and fancies.
The 47.1 million readers of his earlier books were right!
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As Beth Chatto's reputation for choosing plants for problem areas grew, she started to run out of space to experiment with plants for dry shade, so when the 1987 winds ripped through a small wooded area next to her garden, she jumped at the opportunity to expand. This book tells the story of her woodland garden. In her inimitable style, she takes the reader on a guided tour of the maze of paths that weave in and out of the trees. Illustrated with photographs taken by Steve Wooster, the book conjures up the cool dark mystery of the forest and makes gardeners think again about that dark, dry spot at the bottom of their garden.
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In this earth-friendly guide, John Walker encourages you to see garden weeds as more than unwelcome invaders. Weeds will help you identify, make use of and deal effectively with the weeds you find growing there, without resorting to chemicals. * Practical techniques for preventing, clearing and
controlling weeds without using chemical weedkillers * Clear weedy ground without back-breaking digging * How different weeds grow, spread and survive and what they can tell you about your garden * Use weeds to improve the fertility of your garden, feed your plants and encourage wildlife * Colour photographs help you identify common weeds. Written for new and experienced gardeners alike, Weeds will become an essential reference for every gardener’s bookshelf.
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Stephen Anderton, the gardening correspondent for the Times, has written an excellent book. I really regretted not having an overgrown garden to miraculously rejuvenate, like Mary in the Secret Garden, uncovering hidden mysteries and bringing old trees back to life.
Firstly Anderton encourages the reader, pointing out the priorities and taking us step-by-step through the process. It all seems far less daunting in his hands. He starts off with a section on assessing your new old garden, which is fairly standard with gardening books, but he looks at it from the point of view of an over-mature plot.
Then comes the 'Doing the Job' section, full of wise words even about whether to wait or get cracking straight away. The last third of the book contains a directory on rejuvenatory pruning, which is invaluable. Garden centres provide - if you're lucky - a planting guide. They don't tell you what to do now that the rhododendron is 8 foot high and threadbare for the lower 7 foot of that. Stephen Anderton does.
The main shrubs and trees are well covered, with wit and humour as well as accurate information - no mean task, since a directory can be a real yawn to read. For instance, his entry on Russian vine, mile-a-minute, reads: 'Chop it down henever is most convenient. Winter is kinder to the plant (if that is your intention) and the resulting mass of Brobdingnagian spaghetti is easier to dispose of in its leafless winter state. In summer after rain it is a nightmare to burn.'
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From the tried and tested stable of 'Expert' books, a clear analysis of how to deal with P&D in your garden. Up-to-date solutions, which are necessary given the recent changes in availability of various pesticides. Not very organic, mind you.
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Topics include the living windbreak, use of colour in the garden, laying patios and paths, positioning plants according to their needs, month-by-month calendar, and advice on plants which thrive in seaside gardens.
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Shady corners can be seen as a problem or a insurmountable difficulty. W.George Schmid revels in the challenge, comparing such spots to 'the shady natural gardens of the Appalachian Mountains.'
After a brief introduction to planting conditions, cultivation and propagation, there is a well-illustrated A-Z of grasses of all shapes and colours.
The language is occasionally a little stilted, but the breadth of information and the clear photography make this pocket book a useful addition to the reference shelf.
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Diagnose what is attacking your plants, and learn how to deal with it
effectively and quickly. After an explanation of how chemical and organic
pesticides work and biological control of pests and diseases, the author
goes through the ten most common pests, diseases and disorders. This does
mean you have to work out first whether your plant has a disease or a
disorder.
Then problems are re-divided into leaves, flowers and fruits, stems, roots,
the whole plant, seeds and seedlings.
This is a handy - if slightly depressing - book.
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That's it for this category. Click here to suggest a title and we'll do our best to review it.
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