Books in the Specialist Guide series

Home Gardener's Garden Pests & Diseases is the essential guide to identifying, targeting, and banishing common pests and diseases from the garden. All gardeners know the disappointment of finding their flowers nibbled, or their prized produce riddled with rust. Armed with this essential guide, you can stop the destruction. Get acquainted with all the common pests and diseases that afflict ornamentals, vegetables, fruits, and houseplants, and learn the best ways to deal with them. The effective options include both biological controls-increasingly popular in the gardening world-as well as the better-known organic and chemical methods. At-a-glance checklists explain which ailments generally afflict various plant types, from roses and rock-garden plants to soft fruits and vegetables.

In order to be a successful gardener you have to know how to prune-whether to improve growth, increase fruiting qualities or to enable the plant to grow in space-restricted areas or cold environments. This practical book provides advice on pruning garden plants, from infancy to maturity. Included is detailed advice on renovating neglected plants, from shrubs and climbers to fruit trees and bushes. There is also a fun element, with instructions for creating topiary in the garden.

No matter what the type of garden or outdoor space, trees and shrubs are usually featured. This is because they are so versatile. Depending on the species chosen, shrubs and trees can form the background to a garden, be a focal point or add height to an overlooked garden. Whatever your garden needs, a tree or shrub can provide it. This book details the basics of choosing, buying, planting establishing and transplanting. A comprehensive plant directory has A-Z lists of species within different categories - seasons, colour, size etc. The final section of the book looks at how to care for shrubs and trees, giving practical advice on how to prune and clip, and the pests, diseases and other problems to watch out for.