Burpee Complete Gardener: A Comprehensive, Up-To-Date, Fully Illustrated Reference For Gardeners At all Levels - Hardcover

Armitage, Allan; Heffernan, Maureen; Kleiber, Chela; Shimizu, Holly H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0028603788 ISBN 13: 9780028603780

Publisher: Wiley, 1995

Synopsis

The Burpee Complete Gardener is a comprehensive gardening bible, packed with solid information and sound advice from a team of gardening experts. It is an up-to-date, fully illustrated reference for gardeners at all levels.

About this title

Review:

W. Atlee Burpee & Co., supplier of flower and vegetable seeds for more than 120 years, now provides a comprehensive guide to gardening with Burpee Complete Gardener. The book gives a wide range of information, covering such topics as starting and designing a garden; dealing with climate, soil, lighting, mulching, fertilizing, and watering; making compost; and controlling weeds. The best part, though, is the more than 420 descriptions (most with color photographs) of annuals, perennials, bulbs, roses, vegetables, herbs, ground covers, and vines. There are also excellent sections on the proper tools and equipment, controlling pest and disease problems, and the questions most asked by gardeners (divided into categories for easy reference), as well as a season-by-season guide to garden maintenance. Along with the photographs, the book includes many instructional drawings along with neat pictures of Burpee catalogs and seed packets dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The latter provide a touch of personality and charm that, unfortunately, the book otherwise lacks. That minor complaint aside, Burpee Complete Gardener is a solid work that offers handy information for all, but especially beginning, gardeners. --Andy Boynton

From the Inside Flap:

Burpee® Complete Gardener Whether starting your garden from scratch, redesigning a lackluster border, or planting a kitchen garden, Burpee Complete Gardener can answer your every question. Packed with solid information from start to finish, Burpee Complete Gardener leaves no stone unturned, covering garden basics such as pruning, propagation, staking, division, and harvesting in comprehensive fashion. Garden planning advice—including suggestions for a low-maintenance garden, a potted garden, an herb garden, and a garden grown from seed—is tailored to fit the specific needs and constraints of your lifestyle. Fulfilling every gardener's need for a reliable, in-depth resource, the book features fully illustrated plant portrait chapters covering the most popular plant choices from past and present. With more than 420 descriptions of annuals, biennials, perennials, bulbs, roses, vegetables, herbs, ground covers, vines, and wildflowers, even the seasoned gardener can find new and interesting options. Each plant entry describes cultivated varieties that have special appeal for American gardeners. It also includes how-to-grow information, germination instructions for plants that can be grown from seed, and tips on season-by-season care, as well as suggestions of how best to use each plant in the garden. In addition to the wealth of plant selections, Burpee Complete Gardener is loaded with helpful pointers such as a guide to must-have gardening tools, a list of disease-resistant roses, and an in-depth Q & A, answering the questions gardeners ask most. Hundreds of color photographs, how-to and descriptive line drawings, and some of the finest illustrations from Burpee catalogs dating back to the turn of the century make this volume an indispensable visual resource, as well as a timeless source of inspiration for making beautiful and productive gardens.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0028603788
• ISBN 13: 9780028603780
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432