THE AMERICAN GARDEN GUIDES: SHRUBS AND VINES

Tells how to incorporate shrubs into a garden design, recommends a variety of popular shrubs and climbing plants, and discusses planting, propagation, pruning, routine care, and special conditions

Compiled by three of North America's finest shrub and vine gardens -- The Holden Arboretum, the Royal Botanical Gardens, and the Chicago Botanic Garden -- in consultation with nine other great botanic gardens and arboreta, here is the most complete and user-friendly guide to shrub and vine gardening ever devised, a unique compendium of the best advice available, usable in all parts of the United States and Canada for all types of gardens.

The information assembled by this unprecedented collaboration is presented in five chapters:

I. Introduction: definitions, history, and botany; the basic gardening philosophies of the experts who have contributed to the book.

II. Plant Selector: more than two hundred glorious, full-color photographs of shrubs and vines of every variety, with detailed captions describing size, coloration, and growing cycle ... full descriptions of their cultivation and maintenance, including climate-specific (and sometimes dissenting) information and opinions from the consultant gardeners ... additional color illustrations of landscape uses, techniques specific to the shrub or vine, and its history in human affairs.

III. Garden Design: the principles of designing a shrub and vine garden that is not only healthy and attractive, but creative as well, with photographs and diagrams of successful examples.

IV. Techniques: how-to information illustrated in black-and-white, step-by-step photos in minute detail; the experts' explanations of how they make their own shrub and vine gardens both beautiful and bountiful.

V. Special Conditions: new methods for growing particular types of shrubs and vines under previously daunting conditions, such as desert climates, tiny spaces, and cold or windy areas; specific advice for gardeners with physical limitations.

Every volume also includes a complete glossary, carefully verified source lists, and full indexes.

The professional horticulturists at the great gardens and arboreta of the United States and Canada are passionate about their endeavors -- studying every trend, refining every technique for making things grow and thrive. Now, for the first time, they have joined forces to share their love and expertise in a guide that no single individual or institution could have created. The American Garden Guides: Shrubs and Vines is the indispensable handbook that will help your garden prosper and grow.