Great Garden Shortcuts: Hundreds of All-New Tips and Techniques That Guarantee You'll Save Time, Save Money, Save Work

Great Garden Shortcuts is a collection of the most unique and useful gardening tips and techniques ever published - straight from the country's most successful experts and backyard gardeners. With Great Garden Shortcuts you'll save time and trouble no matter what you want from your garden and yard: earlier tomatoes, gorgeous weed-free flowers, a quick low-maintenance hedge, or the simplest ways to keep pests away.
You'll find tips like these and hundreds more: keep your roses looking gorgeous and healthy with a simple baking soda spray, harvest strawberries earlier by protecting fruiting buds in fall, make beautiful flower-covered trellises with morning glories or other annual vines and found objects; and give early tomatoes a heat and nitrogen boost with grass clippings.

This handy volume offers a smorgasbord of garden wisdom gleaned from nursery professionals, garden writers, extension agents and other veteran green thumbs nationwide. Reader-friendly alphabetical organization-"geraniums" segues into "grapes" and on into "green manure"-allows for both speedy reference and the surprising delights of browsing. Experienced gardeners will enjoy comparing notes and trading secrets with fellow experts, while novices can draw on practical advice from their horticultural betters. Abundant time- and money-saving tips on a host of topics range from the amusing (patrol for slugs armed with an ammonia-loaded squirt gun) to the why-didn't-I-think-of-that? variety (hose off freshly picked produce in a laundry basket outside instead of dirtying the kitchen sink). The recurring "Just Say No" feature challenges time-honored gardening traditions (Double digging? Who has time? Add compost and mulch once or twice a year instead). A veritable education between covers, this one won't gather dust on the bookshelf.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Arranged alphabetically, from animal pests to wildflowers, here are hundreds of tips on how to cut down on garden chores. There is a list of 10 annuals that never need replanting, a list of fast-spreading ground cover, and a list of perennials that don't need deadheading. There is also advice on fertilizing, harvesting, landscaping, mulching, propagation, pruning, soil preparation, and container gardening, all of which will save time and money. Shortcuts also includes the three features "Quick Fix Mixes," "Just Say No," and "Proven Plants." There is advice on attracting birds, deterring deer, and repelling insects, handling prickly plants, and selecting the right tools. And maybe the best advice is: have someone help you. George Cohen