Gardening All-in-One for Dummies

Book Description

God almighty first planted a garden: and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.
-- Sir Francis Bacon

National surveys show that gardening has become the most popular, least exclusive hobby nationwide. From the balconies of Manhattan to the patios of Malibu to the backyards of Chicago, anybody with a few square feet of earth is doing their best to make their little corner of the world more gracious and beautiful. And the best thing is, you really dont have to be born with a green thumb to give life to a glorious garden. Anybody can do it with a little coaching. Which is where Gardening For Dummies comes in.

Puzzled by pruning? Baffled by bulbs? Cant tell a hosta from a hyacinth? Dont worry! This all-in-one reference delivers the know-how you need to transform your little patch of the outdoors into a blooming paradise. Drawing upon the expertise of the National Gardening Association, it gets you up to speed on:

Basic gardening skillsfrom understanding your microclimate to using gardening tools to managing pests and common plant diseases
How to design, plan and build a garden landscape that reflects your unique sense of style
Selecting, planting and maintaining stunning roses
Building a raised bed for your perennials and making them bloom in any climate
Choose, grow and maintain annuals
From amaryllis to spider dahlias to wood tulipscoaxing beauty from homely bulbs
Enjoying natures bounty by growing you own vegetables and herbs

A veritable encyclopedia of gardening, this Gardening For Dummies is an indispensable resource for novices and experienced gardeners alike. It brings together between the covers of a single volume seven great books covering:

Gardening Basics
Garden Design
Roses
Perennials
Annuals
Bulbs
Vegetables and Herbs

Your one-step guide to a beautiful garden, Gardening For Dummies shows you how to experience the purest of human pleasures in your own backyard.

Customer Reviews:

love it.......2007-04-28

checked this out from the library, but had to purchase it! first of all, i knew NOTHING about gardening, so this gave me a starting point and help with the basics. i am slowly learning ... and have started my first vegetable garden! while there are very FEW pictures, the info itself was valuable to me. i have a book that is chock-full of pics, but the text is designed for a novice or advanced gardener. i love to look at that (other) book, but i needed something very basic to begin with- and this is it! good price for all the info you get. a must for those just starting out from scratch! good luck & have fun with your hands in the dirt!

Gardening All-in-One for Dummies.......2007-01-10

Great book. Wonderful service and fast delivery. Thank you.

Average customer rating:

An excellent reference book for the aspiring gardener.
This Book Helped Turn My Black Thumb Green
Just right...
I was one of those Dummies
Garden Book for Idiots

Gardening for Dummies
Mike MacCaskey , and Bill Marken
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Reference | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764551302

Amazon.com

Starting off with ultrabasics, like "how do I get my plants to live rather than die?" Gardening for Dummies is a terrific textbook for the novice gardener. Explanations are laid out simply, and all terms are defined as soon as they are first used--if you've never grown so much as a houseplant, this is the book to get you started. Emphasis is on choosing proper plants for your zone (it's OK--the color map will show you which zone you're in) that are fairly low-maintenance and high-success. Large sections on both seeds and bedding plants will give you lots of options and specific instructions for getting good results--seeds, especially, are treated as persnickety little critters that require some extra effort in exchange for low cost and large variety. The big downside to this book is its lack of pictures. There are lots of line drawings, but they tend to show particular stages of a process, rather than each step. Color photos are limited to two sections, and most of them are close-ups of various plants. While it's nice to see what the bark of a paperbark maple looks like, it doesn't particularly add to the value of the book. For folks who learn best with straightforward reading, the sections on mulching, pruning, soil preparation, and tool choices are all extremely helpful. With bullet-point lists, icons for highlighting categories like ecofriendly or time-saving, and simple tables and charts, how-to photos aren't essential, but if pictorial aids are what you need for learning, look elsewhere. --Jill Lightner

Book Description

Gardening is one of the most popular, least exclusive hobbies of all. Everybody can garden. Gardening is good for the body; an hour or two of daily yardwork provides just the right kind of light exercise we all need. Responsible gardening also does good things for the environment: materials get recycled, and empty lots become community gardens. Gardening also can boost your mental health; it delights the eye and fuels the soul with a connection to the earth.

Even if you've never repotted a plant, you have the heart of a gardener if you love the taste of garden tomatoes or close your eyes when you sniff a blossom. Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition, will help novices get off to a solid start and help seasoned gardeners broaden their breadth of knowledge.

This book is for you if you want to

Create a garden for the first time
Know how to mow your lawn the right way
Find out which bugs are eating up your plants
Determine when and how much to water your garden
Attract birds, bees, and butterflies to your yard
Grow your own herbs and vegetables

Find your way around the garden center by knowing which soil amendments to buy, which tools to use, which plants to choose, and how to use pest controls. You can turn that brown thumb into a green one by exploring these other topics:

Creating a landscape design: Know what you have; define areas and flow
Exploring annuals, perennials, bulbs, and vines: Choose healthy plants; water and feed for longevity
Buying and planting roses: Understand classifications, pruning methods, and winterizing
Putting in a new lawn: Buy seed; remove sod; explore mowers and trimmers
Planting seedlings, trees, and shrubs: Transplant from cell packs and larger containers; get bare-root or balled-and-burlapped plants into the ground
Pruning and propagating: Understand the purpose; look at tools, techniques
Dealing with weeds and disease: Identify damage; control spread

Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition, offers a slew of lists, illustrations, and color photographs to guide you as you garden. No matter what size your planting area, from sunny windowsill to patio to yard, you can nurture and grow a glorious garden.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent reference book for the aspiring gardener........2006-03-26

I am sometimes asked which gardening books I would recommend. I would have to say one of the top books in my arsenal is "Gardening for Dummies".

What makes this easy to understand book a worthwhile read are the many how-to's and tips it offers. It gets down to the basics of gardening.

You learn how to become a green thumb gardener by selecting plants that grow well in the area you live, the healthy advantages of growing different plants yourself, or just for the aesthetic value gardening offers.

An excellent guide for the aspiring gardener.

This Book Helped Turn My Black Thumb Green.......2006-03-20

Let's say for a second that you DON'T live in one of those regions where most everything grows with little effort. If that's the case, and you'd really LIKE to have a great garden or flower bed, I highly recommend this book. I used to have the black thumb of death when it came to plants and flowers, but that has turned quite green since buying MacCaskey's book. So WHY does it help?

First, it has easy-to-access tip after tip about what plants and flowers need in general as well as what SPECIFIC plants need in order to thrive and look good. It helped me turn a garden that was at first forced upon me into one that looks as if I know what I am doing.

Second, it's also great because it helped me IDENTIFY a lot of the plants in my inherited garden, before telling me how to help them grow happily. After all, you can't really help plants grow if you don't know what they are. It even has extensive sections on growing vegetables and, to a lesser extent, fruit.

The language is great, too, in that it's well-organized in a way that makes it accessible while it teaches readers how to speak "gardenese" so you can ask for everything you need at your local nursery. In fact, when you have this book, even other people in your family start to turn to you for answers about gardening. I found this to be very cool, especially since I quickly found that, surprisingly enough, I now really do know a few things about gardening. Whoda thunk it?

But the most important thing that I know now, in regard to my garden, is that with this book in my back pocket, this coming Spring is going to be one of the best ever for my little corner of suburbia. So, if you're a plant expert (or just a Californian), you may not need this book. If, on the other hand, you are human and sometimes feel as though you live in the land of misfit plants, get this book. You'll be SO glad you did.

Just right..........2004-07-19

I am a novice gardener who is trying to figure out how to maintain a well-landscaped property that I inherited. After the first couple of years of letting the place "rest on its laurels" (i.e., get by on its past grandeur and do nothing to maintain it except to water it every now and then, but otherwise neglecting it and letting it get weedy and rangy), I have finally tackled the project of educating myself about gardening and trying to restore some freshness and style to my garden. This book offers a very skillful overview of everything I need to know in order to take on this project. It gives an overview of pretty much every fundamental of gardening, giving enough explanation to help you understand the logic behind the "rules" of garden creation and maintenance, but without the kind of technical detail that would make it tedious or would glaze the eye of the beginner. I have found this an excellent "starter" book--gives the lay of the land, as it were, so that you can establish basic competence and understanding before you go onto more specialized knowledge. THANKS!

I was one of those Dummies.......2002-08-24

I don't know how it happened but I thought I had not inherited the green thumb that my parents and Grandparents all had. That is until I found this wonderful guide to beginners gardening and it answered all the questions or told me simply how to find out the answers. I believe my local nursery was also happy that I took time out from trying to do it on my own and read the book.My mother said that she even learned a few new things while glancing through. It is also a good brush up guide before the spring thaw.

Garden Book for Idiots.......2001-12-24

Actually this is a pretty decent book and there are many good gardening tips in it. I guess the main reason I'm not very fond of it ( got it as a gift and promptly gave it away myself ) is that I find the whole idea of it rather tasteless.
Perhaps for folks whose idea of good reading is comic books, this would be the perfect garden book. It is indeed set up for those who are easily distracted, lots of bullet points and little boxes and so on.
I question whether or not this book was even needed. There are many fine how-to garden books already out there. The old Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening, for example, can usually be found used for about the same price or less. Taylors, although old, is a real gardening book.
Somehow I equate gardening with intelligence, with class, with good taste. I enjoy having shelves of books on all the different aspects of horticulture and hardly want one titled Gardening for Dummies. I have a book, Auto Repair for Dummies (also a present) and somehow I don't mind being an automotive dummy. But a garden variety dummy is a bit much.
Nonetheless, if you simply don't have the patience for most books, and you don't know beans about gardening, go for it. Despite the title, the author, Michael MacCaskey, knows plenty about gardening.

Average customer rating:

Informative book
Orchids for Dummies
An Orchid Education
Orchids for Dummies
Great Book!

Orchids for Dummies
Steven Frowine , and National Gardening Association
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764567594

Book Description

Packed with photos, including 8 pages in full color

Color your world with orchids

Orchids are beautiful, fragrant, wonderfully varied, and surprisingly affordable. But aren't they hard to grow at home? No! says orchid grower extraordinaire Steve Frowine. In this handy guide, he shows you step by step how to select the right orchids, keep them healthy, encourage blooms, and even propagate your own plants.

Discover how to:

Select orchids that will thrive in your home
Water, fertilize, repot, and propagate orchids
Decipher complicated orchid names
Get familiar with favorite orchid varieties
Create spectacular orchid displays

Download Description

The fun and easy way to grow orchids As anyone who has read Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or has seen the movie Adaptation knows, orchids inspire a passionate following. And their popularity is rising: according to the USDA, more than 12.7 million orchids were sold in the U.S. last year. Brimming with black-and-white illustrations and eight pages of color photos, this friendly guide introduces would-be orchid fanciers to today's most popular and intriguing orchid varieties; and shows step by step how to select healthy plants at a nursery or commercial grower, cultivate them successfully at home, promote blooms, create beautiful orchid displays, and even produce hybrids. Steven Frowine (New Hartford, CT) worked with orchids professionally as a horticulturist at Hawaii's National Tropical Botanical Garden and at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where he was chairman of indoor horticulture and oversaw over 10,000 plants.

Customer Reviews:

Informative book.......2007-05-15

This book doesn't have many pictures of orchids but it does have a lot of good, basic information. I have and use several books including Ortho's All About Orchids and Complete Guide to Orchids and Rittershausen's Growing Orchids. I've learned from all of them. Orchids for Dummies has suggestions that none of the others have. It also has a good index.

Orchids for Dummies.......2006-12-13

I only own 7 orchids but plan to buy more. I am the ultimate orchid dummy but found the book easy to follow and answered my questions. Even had my first flower!!

An Orchid Education.......2006-08-13

This book is the best book I have read about Orchids. You will receive an education about types, care, repotting and growing all types of Orchids. I highly recommend this book for the beginner to the advanced grower and hobbiest.

Orchids for Dummies.......2006-07-05

Great Book for folks that are beginners with Orchids. Well Organized and easy to undestand!

Highly recommend it for beginners and a good reference book for your orchid book library.

Great Book!.......2006-02-23

This is a great book for beginners growing Orchids. The only drawback I saw was whether or not to prune after the blooms fall. I still don't have the answer to that question. But this book does cover a lot of other areas and was easy to follow and understand.

Average customer rating:

Feng Shui for Dummies
Lesson learned...
Also Disappointed - THIS IS NOT THE FULL SIZE BOOK!
Disappointing
Feng Shui for Dummies

Feng Shui for Dummies
David Daniel Kennedy
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Decorating | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Parapsychology | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Health, Mind & Body | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Religion & Spirituality | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Religion & Spirituality | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764552953

Book Description

Take a look around you. What do you see? Whether or not you’re aware of it, your environment profoundly affects your health, wealth, family life, relationships, and yes, even your destiny. Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway), which means wind water, is the ancient Chinese study of harmony and energy flow between you and your physical surroundings. You can enrich every aspect of your life by applying Feng Shui principles to your home (inside and out) and workplace (from window office to cubicle).

Feng Shui For Dummies is for anyone who seeks a better life. This clearly written, concise, and easy-to-understand guide can help anyone to

Create harmony and happiness in your relationships
Increase your prosperity
Eliminate chronic patterns of failure, difficulty, and stress
Energize your home or workplace
Enjoy better health

This book shows you how to feel and access the energy of your environment (it’s easier than you may think!). Find out how your environment influences your life right now. Use the solutions in this book to overcome obstacles and enhance the positive. You'll be sure to feel the before-and-after differences.

Feng Shui For Dummies also covers the following topics and more:

The meaning and history of Feng Shui
Making the most of the space in your home, both inside and outside
Tapping into the power of the five elements
Boosting your career
Jazzing up your bedroom for increased health, energy, and romance
Performing blessing ceremonies
Cleansing and curing with meditation

Within the past 10 years, Feng Shui has gained widespread popularity in the West. Today, more and more people from all walks of life are practicing Feng Shui and experiencing the positive benefits of auspicious placement. This book shows you everything you need to know to help improve the flow of harmony, creativity, and abundance in your life.

Customer Reviews:

Feng Shui for Dummies.......2007-05-15

I laughed out loud when I got this book in the mail. Lesson learned...from now on I will read ALL descriptions MUCH more carefully! I was FULLY expecting a FULL sized book but got this tiny thing. Felt like I was dooped but checked and it does clearly say Miniatue Edition. Live and lern.

Lesson learned..........2007-03-19

To say I was disappointed when I recieved this 3 inch by 3 inch book would be an understatement. I have purchased numerous other books in the Dummy line so was not expecting this miniature book. Had I read the reviews like I usually do, I would have known and not wasted my money.

Also Disappointed - THIS IS NOT THE FULL SIZE BOOK!.......2007-03-02

I wish I would have read the reviews closer before buying this book.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE FULL SIZE BOOK!!!

If take an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper and fold it into sixths, this book is still smaller than that. I think the description is very misleading. You have to search really hard through the description to discover that this is a miniature edition. I feel this should have been listed in the title. I'm very disappointed!!!

Disappointing.......2007-02-23

I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one "tricked" into thinking this was a full sized book. This book is ok for the principles and history, but I was looking for applying feng shui to my home, and out of 124 minature pages, there are very few pages on applying specific principles to your home.

Feng Shui for Dummies.......2007-01-19

I was completely blown away when I opened my "book." At 3" by 3" it is a mini book at best. No where was that stated in the discription. It has some interesting info in, but come on, when I was expecting a full sized book, I was greatly disappointed.

Average customer rating:

If I can do it , so can you...
The name says it all
Too Basic!
Very good book for starting a lawn
Ok but not great

Lawn Care for Dummies
Lance Walheim , and The National Gardening Association
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Lawns | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764550772

Amazon.com

If your neighbors' lawn always resembles a beautiful green carpet while yours looks like something that would cost Tiger Woods several shots, you could use some practical help. Trust the Dummies folks--you really can have a great lawn without breaking your back every weekend, spending a fortune on sod, or poisoning your pets. Lawn Care for Dummies takes you through all the steps: choosing the right grass, planting the seed or laying the sod, installing an irrigation system, fertilizing, aerating, watering, and mowing. It also helps you avoid (or conquer) the Big Three: weeds, pests, and disease. Finally, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow--you get to enjoy your lawn! In the spirit of all Dummies books, there's a list of 10 lawn games at the end. Bocce, anyone?

Book Description

Only one thing is standing between you and a fabulous lawn: It's called Lawn Care For Dummies. If you want a spiffy and well-coifed lawn (and not the overgrown, unruly one that people comment on when they pass by your house), you'll find everything you need to know to help you make your lawn the most dazzling spectacle on the block.

Let authors Lance Walheim and the gardening experts at the National Gardening Association treat you and your yard to a megadose of lawn care information. In Lawn Care For Dummies, Walheim and the NGA give you the dirt on all the essentials, including how to

Design a low-maintenance or a high-maintenance lawn
Evaluate the pros and cons of planting a lawn from seed or starting one from sod
Discover how often you need to water your lawn without under-watering it or waterlogging it
Choose a mower that's right for your grass type
Deal effectively with wicked weeds and pesky insects
Create alternative lawns, such as ground cover plants, decks, and patios

Lawn Care For Dummies also features a beautiful color insert with photos illustrating the various types of lawns found in yards across the world.

Customer Reviews:

If I can do it , so can you..........2007-10-01

I didn't have a clue about landscape but had to learn really fast when I bought my house. This book has been my bible. It's great!

The name says it all.......2006-08-09

A good book that covers all the different info on grass. However, none of the informative paragraphs dig too deep.

Too Basic!.......2006-05-31

This book is really basic. I found that "How to Make Big Money Mowing Small Lawns" as a better resource. It had easy to understand charts. Simplistic pricing method. Simple to understand and extremely helpful/useful in earning extra income. This book offers unique and insightful ideas to help get you off the ground. It gives real life experience of the author will enable them to have insight into business that is fundamental to becoming entrepreneurial. An updated version is available at librarydepot.com

Very good book for starting a lawn.......2004-05-22

I planted my first lawn from scratch this Spring, and spent a lot of time reading and re-reading this book. The advice the book gave was great, particularly when it came to selecting the type of grass to plant for my particular needs and in my area.

The other reviewers are correct about the photos being not very useful, but they certainly are pretty! However, I found the author's descriptions of grass types to be very clear and putting pictures of grass types would have been redundant.

There were a few things that could have used more coverage, though. In particular, the description of the various options in boundaries and edgings was difficult to follow with very few pictures. Plus, the section on sprinklers touched on only about half of the types of sprinklers offered by my local garden center.

My neighbor across the street planted his lawn at the same time I did mine, but without the book. He's a nice guy, but his lawn is a joke! Maybe I'll loan him my book this Fall when he starts over....

Ok but not great.......2001-08-28

The few color pictures are pointless. There is some good information, but the section on revitalizing your lawn is too small. I was looking for a general reference, but they say to aerate but never mention when you should do this (I have read this in other books) and they don't mention other techniques that I have read other places. This book would be pretty good for someone starting from scratch. If you just want to improve your lawn, buy another book.

Average customer rating:

I'm a Dummie for buying this book
Very nice starting point for a broad subject. Great bibliography
Okay for the basic landscaper
Landscaping For Dummies
OKAY

Landscaping for Dummies
Phillip Giroux , Bob Beckstrom , Lance Walheim , and The Editors of the National Gardening Association
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Swimming Pools | How-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Decks & Patios | How-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764551280

Book Description

A beautiful landscape reflects well on your house, making it a welcome part of a neighborhood or native terrain. And it dramatically increases your home’s value. Landscaping also makes your house and yard more useful and better able to complement your family’s lifestyle. Trees shade your home to reduce energy use. Thorny shrubs deter prowlers. Lawns reduce dust from bare ground and give children the perfect play area. Patios and decks are great for entertaining. And a vegetable garden can yield fresh, delicious salads to eat on that patio or deck.

Landscaping for Dummies has everything you need to turn the little patch of earth you call your own into a personal paradise. Whether you’ve waited for the day to have property to landscape, you’d never given it a second thought until you had to, or you want to improve on an existing landscape, this book offers a clearly written wealth of knowledge on:

Designs
Fences, walls, gates, and paths
Decks, patios, and outdoor rooms
Trees
Shrubs and vines
Ground cover

From the basic principles of landscape design, to all the ins and outs of hillsides, balcony gardens, and water gardens, this book will show you how to:

Think like a designer
Dream up the right landscape for your family’s needs
Increase your home’s resale value
Conserve energy
Deal with contractors, nurseries, and hardware suppliers
Create an edible landscape

Full of helpful problem-solvers for all kinds of landscapes, Landscaping for Dummies also features sample plans, “theme” landscape ideas, and a brilliant color photo section to inspire the imagination. Accessible and informative to both beginner and expert landscapers, this is the complete guide to creating the yard you’ve always wanted.

Customer Reviews:

I'm a Dummie for buying this book.......2007-06-29

Did not tell me what I needed to know to pick plants for my yard. I found most of what I needed in Sunset's Western Garden Book (I'm in the western US).

Very nice starting point for a broad subject. Great bibliography.......2006-08-20

`Landscaping for Dummies' by Philip Giroux, Bob Beckstrom, Lance Walheim and a cast of thousands is a typically ironic example of what you will find in this huge `Dummies' series of books, which started out as a series of texts for PC subjects, where the PC had a knack of making us all feel like dummies. Since then, it has expanded to touch virtually every `practical' subject in the known universe. That is, I haven't seen any `Wittgenstein for Dummies' or `Quantum Thermodynamics for Dummies', as neither of these subjects are things the average intelligent, but uninformed person is likely to pick up to brief themselves for a weekend project of as a start to a new hobby.

The irony of this particular volume is that you really can't make full use of it if you don't have a good head on your shoulders and a fair amount of book learning under your belt, including such arcane High School subjects such as geometry and some building skills such as working with mortar, power saws, a level, and a full-sized shovel.

The first thing you discover is that landscaping is a really big subject. You probably didn't know this, or you would not be considering buying this book. In four `parts', the book breaks the subject down into Designing, Hardscaping, Planting, Planning, and Tips for putting Landscaping to good use. Since this book (and all books in this series) advertises itself as `A Reference for the Rest of Us', I can't complain too much about the odd order of these five subjects, but it does seem that `Objectives' and `Planning' should be Parts I and II respectively, rather than Parts V and IV. I confess that I even bought the book exclusively for its Hardscaping chapter, so I didn't care if that came before or after planning.

Regarding the Hardscaping material, I found it remarkably advanced for a `dummy'. The projects start with simple walkways, but quickly advance to retaining walls, brick walls, and fences. My biggest surprise was the depth to which one must build deep planning into so simple a job as a retaining wall that is installed to square off an annoying slope in your yard. Not only do you have to lay a deep foundation, you also need to worry about drainage and install a special drainage pipe to carry off rainwater. Who Knew!!!

In other Parts of the book, it devotes relatively short chapters to subjects to which one could easily dedicate a whole book. One example is in the selection of a tree or trees to plant in your landscaping project. I looked at the description for Japanese maple (since I happen to have one of these) and found the entry reasonable, but possibly not as detailed as one may want, since it glossed over the fact that the difference in growing speed and average height of the different varieties of Acer Palmatum are sizable, and one will be disappointed if they get the tall lanky variety, when they wanted the low, burly `weeping' variety.

But, if what you want is a first book on the subject, you could really do a lot worse. It has the one essential ingredient for an introductory book, a comprehensive bibliography, which includes not only books, but lots of magazines, professional organizations, and international web sites for getting more information.

I rarely resort to books in this series, but for those of you who want to venture into do it yourself landscaping, this is probably better, and possibly far better than, for example, the `Home Depot' manual on the subject.

Okay for the basic landscaper.......2006-02-13

I've been working in commercial landscaping off and on for nearly four years now. I borrowed this book from a friend just to check it out. I think if you are a new homeowner and don't have much experience in landscaping then this book will probably work. If you are familiar with planting tree's and shrubs, bricklaying, fencing, and bordering, then maybe you should try and find something a little more advance. I suppose it depends on how big the project is you are working on.

Landscaping For Dummies.......2005-08-04

A very informative tome, but I think its tries to achieve too much in what is a rather large and varied subject. Should focus on the basics.............but to be fair still an excellent guide

OKAY.......2004-05-19

This book is okay for homeowners wanting easy landscaping to-do them selfs. If you are looking at starting a landscaping business, this is not the book for you. Over all it is Okay.

Average customer rating:

Great Book
Excellent Book
It's OK...
Rapid shippment
Wonderful Book You Must Own

Roses for Dummies
Lance Walheim , and The Editors of the National Gardening Association
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764552023

Amazon.com

Is there any flower more sensuous and romantic than the rose? Roses aren't just fragrant and beautiful; they're also easy to grow and come in hundreds of varieties and colors. Roses for Dummies covers the various types of roses--hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, miniatures, climbers, shrub roses, and antique roses--helping would-be rose gardeners select the best variety for their conditions and pocketbooks. Planting, watering, mulching, and pruning are covered in enough detail to suit any arboretum and, speaking of arboretums, the book's appendix gives the locations of the best public rose gardens in the U.S. Roses for Dummies is a friendly guide to what may become a blooming passion.

Book Description

“American Beauty,” “Dublin Bay,” “Rocketeer,” “Betty Boop,” “High Noon,” “Pearly Gates”…with a distinctive name for each of hundreds of varieties, the array of roses that could adorn your garden is both dazzling and daunting. So which ones survive hardily on their own for weeks on end, and which ones wither and die without constant attention? How do you tell a climber from a shrub, and how does each thrive? And don’t even start with pruning!

Despite all the (ahem) thorny particulars, gardeners still love to grow these beautiful flowers that would by any other name still smell as sweet. Roses for Dummies does away with the myth that roses have to be high maintenance, instead showing how to choose a type that will blossom in your care. Inside, rosarians of all levels will find useful information on:

Shopping for roses
Planting
Watering and mulching
Fertilizing
Pruning
Protecting roses from weather and pests
And more

Roses for Dummies contains everything you need to know to get started, or, if you’re more advanced, refine your knowledge of roses. Now in a new Second Edition with more than 100 new varieties described, as well as new information on insect and disease control, this helpful guide also covers:

Landscaping with roses
What makes a rose fragrant
Roses and their partners in the garden
Growing in containers
Drying roses and making potpourri
Rose societies and other places to see roses
Ten roses to avoid if you’re not an expert

Whether looking for nothing more than a sweet-smelling decoration to brighten your doorstep, or looking to enter a major rose competition, discoveries about this much-loved flower await you. Full of pointers, resources, pitfalls, vocabulary, and an eye-popping full color insert, this book will help you grow the roses of your dreams.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-03-02

If you want to know alot about Roses and taking care of them, this is the book too get! This book has alot of information! Highley recomended !!

Excellent Book.......2007-02-05

It doesn't cover all the roses that are available out there but there is a brief description of the roses that are easily available at most garden centers. I always check the book for any disease prone ones before I buy a rose.

It's OK..........2006-09-05

Very informative on a broad range of all things roses, but mainly on the surface-level; a good book for dummies, but not beyond.
The color picture section was over-saturated, obviously not life-like colors.
A good beginning and a quick read, but now I need to find a new book to continue learning about roses.

Rapid shippment.......2005-09-24

Book was actually better condition than described. Shippemnt and devilery were very prompt.

Wonderful Book You Must Own.......2004-04-15

I am new to rose gardens and devoured this book in no time. Very interesting and helpful insights into the world of roses and how to care for them. My book has may bent over pages that I refer to over and over again. This book is a must for any beginner to roses.

Gardening Basics For Dummies (Gardening Basics for Dummies)

Average customer rating:

Very helpful
Gardening Basics for Dummies

Gardening Basics For Dummies (Gardening Basics for Dummies)
Steven A. Frowine , and The National Gardening Association
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0470037490

Book Description

You’re now officially out of excuses for not planting the garden of your dreams. Even if you’ve never sowed a seed or pulled a weed, Gardening Basics For Dummies contains everything you need to know about flowers, beds, borders, trees, shrubs, and lawns to create your own private paradise. This friendly and informative guide also covers all of the tools and additives available to make gardening easier. You’ll discover:

Clear definitions and descriptions of the different types of plants
Tips on choosing the type of garden you want
How to create a garden plan
Easy-to-follow instructions for soil preparation
Advice on planting, growing and caring for annuals and perennials
Step-by-step plans for organic and edible gardens
Plans for butterfly and children's gardens

Packed with helpful tips on controlling pests safely, managing weeds, and correcting common gardening problems, Gardening for Dummies turns your brown thumb green in a hurry.

Customer Reviews:

Very helpful.......2007-07-30

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait till next spring to start my first garden. This book is full of helpful information and tips for the first time gardener.

Gardening Basics for Dummies.......2007-02-22

If you're looking to start gardening or to update your current knowledge about gardening, this book is the place to start. Steve Frowine makes the gardening information accessible, practical and fun. Like all the ...for Dummies books, I particularly like the no-nonsense way he describes some fundamental gardening tasks like planting a tree or creating a flower bed. This book covers all the basics such as vegetable and fruit gardening, herb gardening, flower gardening, landscaping with trees and shrubs, growing bulbs, container gardening and even gardening projects with kids.

But it's also good for a more experienced gardener. There's a detailed chapter on building and water gardens and raising fish and some quick, handy gardening projects to do.

Average customer rating:

Great book - easy read
Easy and Informative

Organic Gardening for Dummies
Ann Whitman , and The Editors of the National Gardening Association
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764553208

Book Description

Organic gardening means different things to different people. Everybody agrees that it means avoiding synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. For many it’s about having safe food to eat. For others is about non-toxic lawns. But organic gardening is about much more than good eating and nice landscapes. It’s also about making conscious decisions and taking responsibility for actions that affect the world outside your backdoor, beyond the end of your driveway, and outside the boundaries of your hometown. Growing organic food, flowers and landscapes represents a commitment to a sustainable system of living that is in harmony with nature. For many people, organic gardening is a way of life.

Whether you’re cultivating a fruit and vegetable garden, maintaining your lawn, or growing roses, this book shows you how to work with nature, not against it, to create an organic garden your whole family will enjoy. Well known gardening author and journalist, Anne Whitman, with the full support of The National Gardening Association, gets you up and running with what you need to know to:

Design a resilient garden
Wipe out weeds without chemical pesticides
Combat pests with natural insect predators
Buy or make compost and build healthy soil
Prevent and control plant diseases naturally
Find good organic suppliers and information sources

This enjoyable, easy-to-understand guide fills you in on the what, when, where, why, how and who of growing plants but protecting the environment. From composting and mulching to harvesting fresh fruits and vegetables, Organic Gardening For Dummies covers all the bases with clear, step-by-step coverage of:

The basic concepts, practices and tools of organic gardening
Building healthy soil and using organic fertilizers
Keeping plants healthy, including tips on controlling pests safely
Growing organically in your yard and garden—covers vegetables, herbs, small fruits, large fruits and nuts, flowers, trees and shrubs, and more
Organic lawn care
Organic solutions for challenging soils and climates

Organic gardening methods help the planet and yield healthier plants and people. Now Organic Gardening For Dummies makes it easy for you to grow organically.

Customer Reviews:

Great book - easy read.......2007-07-31

This is an easy to read, easy to understand book on organic gardening. It is very straight forward and doesn't assume more than basic gardening knowledge - just as it should.

Easy and Informative.......2005-10-03

Good primer for a beginning organic gardener. You can read it cover to cover or skip around to find information on your specific organic gardening needs. The book takes a pragmatic look at the challenges of organic gardening while keeping the "first, do no harm" philosophy in tact. The technical information and references are comprehensive without being overwhelming.

Average customer rating:

Container Gardening for Dummies
A Great Basic Starter Book
Very informative
Very Helpful!
A waste

Container Gardening for Dummies
Bill Marken , and The Editors of the National Gardening Association
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

For Dummies | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0764550578

Book Description

“Packed with planting and design ideas that will transform even the humblest of pots into a flower festival.”
—Doug Jimerson, Editor in Chief, Garden Escape, www.garden.com

“Who better to turn to for everything you need to know about container culture than a guy who has ‘been there, done that’ for a careerful of years?”
—Joseph F. Williamson, Former Garden Editor and Managing Editor, Sunset Magazine

While historical reports of container gardening go back thousands of years, over the last half-century, this unique form of husbandry has blossomed into a pastime enjoyed by hobbyists worldwide. Millions have discovered the immense satisfaction to be found in growing something beautiful, in creating interesting combinations of plants, experimenting with new plants, and getting to know plants more intimately than they ever could with plants in the ground.

Written by leading gardening journalist Bill Marken and the experts of the National Gardening Association, Container Gardening For Dummies is the ultimate guide to cultivating charming gardens in everything from a redwood window box to a hanging basket to an old pair of cowboy boots. It fills you in on how to:

Grow almost anything in a container
Make greens flourish on roofs, balconies, and windowsills
Create a one-of-a-kind garden using classic and offbeat containers
Use the best fertilizing and watering techniques for your climate
Grow exotic and low-maintenance cacti and succulents
Prevent insects, pests, and diseases from invading your containers

Featuring clear, concise, step-by-step instructions and sixteen pages of stunning color photos, Container Gardening For Dummies covers all the bases, including:

Opportunities and limitations of different climates
Ready-made versus homemade soil mixes, starting plants from seeds, and other fundamentals
Choosing, planting and caring for flowers, ferns, succulents, fruits, and vegetables
Expressing your sense of style with color, form, texture, proportion, and other design elements
Adding special effects to your container garden

Container Gardening For Dummies is a fun, informative guide for inexperienced city slickers and savvy country cousins alike.

Customer Reviews:

Container Gardening for Dummies.......2006-02-19

As someone with a "black thumb" (I can generally kill a plant within 24 hours!) I found this book to be very helpful. Even though there are huge amounts of real and applicable information here, the author manages to keep it fun and very readable. The best part is that since reading this book and putting it to use I haven't lost one plant! In fact, they seem to be thriving.

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is the layout. I feel more thought could have been put into the way the chapters are put together. Specifically, the fact that I had to skip past all the design ideas to get to the care information in the back. Even with this one minor flaw, I still highly recommend this book to anyone interested in starting their own container garden.

A Great Basic Starter Book.......2005-04-12

I found lots of very useful information from pot sizes and soil (and soil-less) mixes as well as useful info on lots of plants, needs, watering etc. As container gardening is quite different than planting in the ground, I found this book VERY useful and different from all the other normal gardening books. I am a beginner, but love to research stuff to death and I find this book does give you a very good foundation to get started and do well.

Very informative.......2003-07-19

I'm a beginner to gardening and found this to be a wonderful book. It even has a section on which conifers (Christmas-tree-type trees) can be grown in containers. This is great - I'm going to grow my own little forest on my balcony.

Very Helpful!.......2001-08-31

I originally checked this book out from the library, and after renewing three times and being told I couldn't renew it any more, I broke down and bought my own copy. It is VERY helpful in explaining the types of plants that do well in containers, and how to take care of them, how to deal with pests, how to "winter over," and so on. There is an entire section on what you can put plants in (be creative!), what the different types of soils are and what that means to you, and what plants do well in whichever type of light you have. I keep my copy of this book handy, and refer to it often. It's the single best reference book I've found on the subject of Container Gardening. Herb Gardening for Dummies is also good, but not QUITE as good as this one.

A waste.......2001-05-10

When they say "For Dummies", they mean it! Don't waste your time. You can get more information from the back of a seed packet.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books