The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden & Yard Healthy Without Chemicals

A complete guide to growing plants without the use of toxic chemical pesticides features photographs and drawings of plants, pests, and diseases; detailed instructions on controlling pests on more than two hundred plants; and more.

Don't start spraying chemicals around just because a few bugs dot the garden, advise Ellis and Bradley in the new edition of this thoroughgoing guide. Instead, first identify the insects--they may in fact be beneficial predators. If they do turn out to be pests, determine whether the damage they are doing merits annihilation or acceptance. Ever in the forefront of the latest developments in organic gardening, Rodale's editors here stress plant health care. As they repeatedly demonstrate, preventive cultural techniques--planting appropriate cultivars, mulching, seasonal cleanup--will keep harmful insects and diseases from getting the upper hand. But for the gardener who wants to know what those red blisters are on the currant leaves, or why the lilac bushes are covered with white powder every July, this is an invaluable trouble-shooting guide. The book's first section contains alphabetical entries for commonly grown edible and ornamental plants, with lists of symptoms and their remedies, all cross-referenced to illustrated entries for insects and diseases and cultural, biological and "organically acceptable" chemical control methods. Photos not seen by PW . (July) *CHILDREN'S *BOOKS*
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This well-organized, clearly written book is arranged in four parts: Your Healthy Garden, Insects, Diseases, and Controls. The core of the book is the first section, a plant-by-plant guide to pests and diseases. Entries are alphabetical by scientific name, from Abies through Zinnia , and include culture data. Entries in the sections on insects and diseases are illustrated by color photographs. Although the insect advice given is helpful, it is limited compared with Bernice Lifton's Bug Busters: Poison-Free Controls for Your House & Garden ( LJ 3/15/91 ). However, Bug Busters gives limited information on plants. Thus, the two books complement each other nicely, and many gardeners will want both. Also included in this handbook are a U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone map and a list of sources. Recommended for gardening collections.
- Annette Aiello, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Panama
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.