Home & Garden

The Ever Curious Gardener is an irreverent romp through the natural science of plants. Ideal for gardeners moving beyond back-of-the-seed-pack planting, it digs into the science "behind the scenes" in the garden. Acclaimed gardener, scientist, and author Lee Reich offers insights and practical guidance on growing a much better garden.

The life story of hope, putting down roots and finding solace in the healing power of trees

The focus of this book is on the classic, ageless, and enduring flowers, which we have dubbed Vintage roses. This user-friendly term encompasses both the true Old roses and the best of the Modern roses. All Vintage roses have one thing in common; they are garden-friendly roses that celebrate the style and grace of the old.

The illustrated guide to profitable, vibrant and sustainable permaculture-based market gardening

The long-awaited first book by "the Bonnie and Clyde of garden design"

The essential guide to the simple art of growing stuff.Feeling green-fingered but not sure where to start? This book is for you. Growing stuff - herbs, veg, salad, flowers and plants - is fun and pretty easy. You just need some practical knowledge - all in this book - and a bit of space - a window ledge, pot or plot of soil. Then, have fun growing: basil, mint, parsley, rosemary, chillies, courgettes, rocket, tomatoes, geraniums, pansies, lavender, osteospurmum, daffodils, hyacinths, muscari, tulips, succulents, aloe vera, money plants, maidenhair ferns and oxalis.If you have no outside space at all, you can grow everything here inside too...

Winner of the Garden Media Guild Awards Reference Book of the Year 2016, the Guild of Food Writers Food Book of the year 2016, and the BBC Food & Farming Awards 2016 for Outstanding Achievement.Accompanied by a beautiful and comprehensive website of the same name, this wonderfully unique book is an indispensable and one-of-a-kind guide. It tells the story of the pear from its delightful taste and wonderful appearance to breeding and cultivation, following the fruit s journey through history and around the world.Beautifully illustrated with 40 botanical watercolour paintings by Elisabeth Dowle, The Book of Pears is the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide to the pear. Moving through continents and cultures, Joan Morgan celebrates the pear s long history as both a fresh and cooking fruit. Revealing the secrets of the pear as a status symbol, some of the most celebrated fruit growers in history, and how the pear came to be so important as an international commodity.The pear directory, which makes up the second half of the book, covers the world s ancient and modern varieties, each with full tasting notes and historical, geographical and horticultural detail. A fully illustrated version of this directory is shown on the author's website www.thebookofpears.fruitforum.net

This book is aimed at the majority of us who live in terraced houses, high rise flats, town houses and semi-detached properties with a small garden and often nowhere to grow but the patio. It shows how to make the most of pots and planters; how to plan for a reasonable yield; and how never to run out of at least something to special eat.You might not have all the space in the world, but you can enjoy all the flavour in the world. With the step-by-step instructions in this book you will be able to grow, nurture and harvest your own fruit, vegetables and herbs in a range of pots and containers, including recycled ones such as plastic milk bottles, and kitchen sinks.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERNIGEL - One of Britain's favourite dogs! MONTY DON - One of Britain's favourite presenters. When Monty Don's golden retriever Nigel became the surprise star of BBC Gardeners' World inspiring huge interest, fan mail and his own social media accounts, Monty Don wanted to explore what makes us connect with animals quite so deeply. In many respects Nigel is a very ordinary dog; charming, handsome and obedient, as so many are. He is a much loved family pet. He is also a star. By telling Nigel's story, Monty relates his relationships with the other special dogs in his life in a memoir of his dogs past and very much present. Witty, touching and life-affirming, Nigel: My family and other dogs is wonderfully heart-warming. Monty Don is a great writer coming out of the garden and into the hearts and homes of every dog lover in the UK.'I have always had a dog, or dogs. I cannot imagine life without them. I am just as much a fan of Nigel as any besotted viewer. In the book I explore why we love dogs and what they mean to us emotionally and domestically. I look back on all the dogs in my life - all of which I have loved deeply and which have been an essential part of my life. So, this is the book of Nigel - but also the book of all our dogs in every British family and a celebration of the deep love we feel for them' Monty Don

The safe, clean, and convenient way to compost all your food scraps. Bokashi is Japanese for "e;fermented organic matter."e; Bokashi composting is a safe, quick, and convenient way to compost in your kitchen, garage, or apartment, using a specific group of microorganisms to anaerobically ferment all food waste (including meat and dairy). Since the process takes place in a closed system, insects and smell are controlled, making it ideal for urban or business settings. The process is very fast, with compost usually ready to be integrated into your soil or garden in around two weeks. While bokashi has enjoyed great popularity in many parts of the world, it is still relatively unknown in North America. From scraps to soil, Bokashi Composting is the complete, step-by-step, do-it-yourself guide to this amazing process, with comprehensive information covering: Background-the history, development and scientific basis of the technique Getting started-composting with commercially available products or homemade systems Making your own-system plans and bokashi bran recipes using common materials and locally sourced ingredients Growing-improving your soil with fermented compost and bokashi juice. This essential guide is a must-read for gardeners, homeowners, apartment dwellers, traditional composters, and anyone who wants a safe, simple, and convenient way to keep kitchen waste out of the landfill.

Discover forgotten low-input food gardening methods for surviving uncertain times ahead. The decline of cheap oil is inspiring increasing numbers of North Americans to achieve some measure of backyard food self-sufficiency. In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering. Currently popular intensive vegetable gardening methods are largely inappropriate to this new circumstance. Crowded raised beds require high inputs of water, fertility and organic matter, and demand large amounts of human time and effort. But, except for labor, these inputs depend on the price of oil. Prior to the 1970s, North American home food growing used more land with less labor, with wider plant spacing, with less or no irrigation, and all done with sharp hand tools. But these sustainable systems have been largely forgotten. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food. Designed for readers with no experience and applicable to most areas in the English-speaking world except the tropics and hot deserts, this book shows that any family with access to 3-5,000 sq. ft. of garden land can halve their food costs using a growing system requiring just the odd bucketful of household waste water, perhaps two hundred dollars worth of hand tools, and about the same amount spent on supplies-working an average of two hours a day during the growing season. Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series

This extraordinary book contains in one unique volume, the most wide-ranging history of apples ever written and a detailed survey of over 2,000 of the world's apple varieties. Beautifully illustrated with 32 exquisite colour paintings, the last edition of this book received many accolades and was quickly recognised as a classic. Complete with a fully revised directory covering all the varieties of apple to be found in the world's largest apple collection, The New Book of Apples includes full historical, geographical and botanical details as well as tasting notes on each type of apple. Exploring the role of apples in cooking, cider making, gardening, myth and medicine, this is an indispensable reference guide.

Water will bring a garden miraculously to life, drawing the eye more than any other feature. When still, its shimmering reflections create a peaceful mood, while moving water animates the garden scene and delights with its mesmerizing sounds. In this definitive guide, Alan shows you how to design and make a water feature to suit any size and style of garden, from a large wildlife pond, stream or rill to the tiniest pebble or wall fountain.* Easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step diagrams * A Z directory of Alan s recommended pond and waterside plants * Guide to choosing and caring for fish* Key tips on encouraging wildlife to your pond* Season-by-season guide to pond maintenance

One of the most exciting aspects of gardening is growing your own plants from scratch. In this definitive guide, Alan Titchmarsh shows how simple it is to propagate plants by following a few basic techniques. Learn how to produce a flourishing garden filled with ornamental and edible plants, at very little expense. * Demystified, down-to-earth approach to propagation * Easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step diagrams * A Z directory with recommended propagation techniques for each plant * Key tips on taking cuttings, sowing seed, layering and division * Guidance on promoting growth of young plants

This interesting book is packed full of Anni's favourite tasty edible perennials. With explanations of how to source and propagate different vegetables, which plants work well together and plants suited to different environments. It includes basic principles and getting started, growing in polycultures, site selection and more. "e;This is a valuable addition to the literature on growing perennial vegetables. The author's experiences of creating and maintaining polycultures are a great guide and inspiration to this challenging aspect of edible perennial gardening."e; Martin Crawford, director of the Agroforestry Research Trust and author of Creating a Forest Garden and How To Grow Perennial Vegetables. "e;I love Anni's book. She's taken traditionally 'big space' ideas and approaches and brought them alive on a domestic scale, where most gardeners operate. The bigger picture of redesigning our food system with perennials at its heart underlies, yet it never gets in the way of inspiring and enabling the reader with case studies, examples, advice and experience. A must-have for forward thinking gardeners."e; Mark Diacono, experimental gardener, journalist and author of A Year at Otter Farm.

Margery Fish was the voice of gardening in the 1960s and her advice and enthusiasm for horticulture has stood the test of time. In her imaginative adaption of the traditional cottage garden style that she saw disappearing around her, she brought together old-fashioned plants and contemporary plants in the same vein.Today's mixed borders are a direct descendant of the style Margery Fish created at East Lambrook Manor in Somerset, now once again open to the public. Cottage Garden Flowers covers plants that grow easily and naturally in our soil, including easy, adaptable pubs, perennials and shrubs, such as Astrantia, columbines, daffodils, daisies, Dianthus, foxgloves, hollyhocks, Japonica, old roses, Phlox, Primula, or Virburnum. No longer in danger of being forgotten, these traditional flowering plants have now res-established their place at the heart of garden design. Graham Rice, the widely published gardening author and the former London Evening Standard gardening correspondent, has reviewed the plant names in the original text, providing a plant name section at the back of the book. This allows readers to identify current plants from the old Latin names within the text.

The story and history of the world's favourite flower through 40 of the most popular and interesting species and hybrids.

The key to success for every gardening venture is rich soil. Achieving that basic building block is easy with this accessible soil improvement guide, which offers a broad understanding of the science of soil's microbial life in an engaging, entertaining style.

An urgent and heartfelt call for a new approach to conservation - one that starts in every backyard - from the New York Times bestselling author of Bringing Nature Home.

Roses focuses on the classic, ageless and enduring flower that straddles garden-friendly modernity whilst also celebrating the style and grace of the old. Ranging from overblown, multi-petalled or deliciously simple and delicate, Roses rightly extols these beautiful blooms, and includes hands-on know-how and history of the world's favourite flower.

Terra Preta ist eine holzkohlehaltige schwarze Erde die bereits vor Jahrhunderten von Menschen im Amazonasgebiet angelegt wurde. Wie wir die Vorteile dieser hochfruchtbaren Erde nutzen können und warum es für unsere Gesundheit und unsere Umwelt förderlich ist, davon handelt diese Buch.

Facsimile of 1940 Edition. An Agricultural Testament is Sir Albert Howard's best-known publication and remains one of the seminal works in the history of organic farming movement. The work focuses on the nature and management of soil fertility, and notably explores composting. At a time when modern, chemical-based industrialized agriculture was just beginning to radically alter food production, it advocated natural processes rather than man-made inputs as the superior approach to farming. It was first published in England in 1940. Since this book first appeared in 1940, it has been regarded as one of the most important contributions to the solution of soil rehabilitation problems ever published. More importantly, it is regarded as the keystone of the organic movement.Louis Bromfield called it "the best book I know on soil and the processes which take part in it." Soil Science called it "the most interesting and suggestive book on soil fertility which has appeared since King's Farmers of Forty Centuries." And Mother Earth News recently called it "the most basic of all introductions to organic farming by the founder of the modern movement."The object of the book was to draw attention to the loss of soil fertility, brought about by the vast increase in crop and animal production, that has led to such disastrous consequences as a general unbalancing of farming practices, an increase in plant and animal diseases and the loss of soil by erosion. Howard contended that such losses can be repaired only by maintaining soil fertility by manufacturing humus from vegetable and animal wastes through the composting process. He stressed, too, a little-known nutritional factor, the mycorrhizal association, which is the living fungous bridge between humus in the soil and the sap of plants.

This is the story of two men from a remote Wiltshire village, father and son Joseph and Josiah Lane, stonemasons, whose lives stretched across the Georgian period, from 1717 to 1833. They became grotto builders, men of artistic genius, acknowledged experts in their speciality, but the sort of ordinary craftsmen whose achievements are not normally recorded in the official pages of history. They were responsible for many of the mysterious, decorative, thrilling grottoes which appeared during the 18th century in English gardens, built to enhance the romantic, poetic and artistic landscapes created by rich landowners. From Stourhead to Fonthill, Wycombe Abbey, Wimborne St Giles, Bowood, Bowden Park, Painshill and Oatlands Park, Claremont, Castle Hill, Ascot Place, Belcombe and Norbiton House, Joseph and Josiah constructed brick, timber and limestone caverns, tunnels, bath houses, gambling dens and cascades. Some were profusely decorated with shells, coral spars, slivers of crystal, amethysts, feldspar and calcite fragments, some appeared savage and rough hewn. Christina Richard has pieced together the story of the lives and work of Joseph and Josiah for the first time from a wide range of local and national sources, and has enhanced her account with imaginative descriptions of village and family life at the time for people of their station. The result is an affectionate and revealing portrait of these two extraordinary men, who contributed so much to the elegance of England's wonderful 18th century gardens.

This is the fourth instalment of the "Ditchfield's Little Wonder Book" series, "Stocking the Garden Pond". It deals chiefly with adding, fostering, and maintaining aquatic life in a garden pond, with helpful advice and diagrams throughout. This handy volume will be of utility to existing and prospective pond owners alike, and it would make for a great addition to collections of gardening literature. Contents include: "Introduction", "Plant Pockets", "Preparing the Compost", "True Aquatic Plants", "Surfacing Plants", "Marginal Bog Plants", "Floating Plants", "Indigenous Fish", "Cultivated Varieties", "Feeding Pond Fish", "Breeding Gold Fish", etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction.