Gardening For Dummies - Softcover

Michael MacCaskey; Bill Marken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470044659 ISBN 13: 9780470044650

Publisher: For Dummies, 2006

Synopsis

Includes 8 pages of full-color garden photos

Your green-thumb guide to planning, planting, and cultivating a garden

With some basic knowledge, a few trips to the local garden center, and a little work, anyone can transform a boring old yard into a beautiful garden. This friendly guide tells you how. From improving your soil to selecting plants and caring for them, you get just the information you need to start playing in the dirt.

Discover how to

• Know what you can and can't grow
• Work with basic garden tools
• Select flowers, trees, shrubs, and vegetables
• Make the best of your soil
• Water, fertilize, and control pests and diseases

About this title

Review

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

From the Back Cover

"Packed with down-to-earth gardening advice." Doug Jimerson, Vice President, Editor-in-Chief, garden.com Praise for Gardening For DummiesŪ "The perfect map for a new generation of gardeners." — William Rapp, President, Gardener's Supply Co. "All the basics are covered here....A great introduction." — Ann Arbor News "Straightforward, yet light-hearted....A thorough, readable beginner's guide." —Des Moines Register

The bestselling classic, now revised and updated

Your green-thumb guide to growing flowers, vegetables, trees, and shrubs Brimming with illustrations, advice, resources, and suggested plantings, this friendly guide shows you step-by-step how to create the garden of your dreams. From cultivation basics to garden design 101, it's just what you need to start playing in the dirt!

Discover how to: Pick the best plants for your climate and lifestyle Design the perfect garden for you Keep your plants healthy Use compost, fertilizer, and safe pesticides Locate garden supplies

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About this edition

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0470044659
• ISBN 13: 9780470044650
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 182