Best Landscape

After years of living in awe of the mysterious fungi known as mushrooms-chefs, health enthusiasts, and home cooks alike can't get enough of these rich, delicate morsels. He is the author of two seminal textbooks, The Mushroom Cultivator and GROWING GOURMET AND MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS, has been published in numerous journals, and is presenting more lectures on mycology than he can keep track of.

This simple revelation about the food web—and it is an intricate web, not a chain—is the driving force in Bringing Nature Home .” — The New York Times As development and subsequent habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. “Reading this book will give you a new appreciation of the natural world—and how much wild creatures need gardens that mimic the disappearing wild.” — The Minneapolis Star Tribune “A compelling argument for the use of native plants in gardens and landscapes.” — Landscape Architecture “An essential guide for anyone interested in increasing biodiversity in the garden.” — American Gardener. “An informative and engaging account of the ecological interactions between plants and wildlife, this fascinating handbook explains why exotic plants can hinder and confuse native creatures, from birds and bees to larger fauna.” — Seattle Post-Intelligencer “Tallamy explains eloquently how native plant species depend on native wildlife.” — San Luis Obispo Tribune “Will persuade all of us to take a look at what is in our own yards with an eye to how we, too, can make a difference.

Succulents are hot. "In her new book, Succulents Simplified:Growing, Designing, and Crafting with 100 Easy-Care Varieties , Baldwin even tells of a Jade plant that has lasted for more than two decades in her garden with various stages of neglect! "Anyone who knows Debra Lee Baldwin is aware of her extraordinary prowess as an author, writer, photographer, and artist...her book, Succulents Simplified , is a work of art." From quick and easy succulent rosettes for bouquets, to teeny tiny mint-tin gardens, to succulent-topped pumpkins there's a project in this book for even the most craft-challenged."

A colorful guide covering the basics of replacing a traditional lawn with a wide variety of easy-care, no-mow, drought-tolerant, money-saving options that will appeal to today's busy, eco-conscious homeowner. will inspire you to turn your front yard from lawn into luscious.”. -Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants and Flower Confidential “This thoughtful, inviting, and thoroughly useful book should be required for every new homeowner at closing. Thanks to this book, lawn mowers may become early-21st-century artifacts our grandkids puzzle over.”. -Debra Lee Baldwin, author of Designing with Succulents “With Lawn Gone! A great resource for anyone considering giving up the lawn in favor of something more interesting and dynamic.”. -Scott Calhoun, author of Yard Full of Sun , The Hot Garden , and The Gardener’s Guide to Cactus “An excellent go-to book for anyone wanting to downsize and/or eliminate their lawn (a topic in which interest will continue to grow).

CLASSIC STYLES EXPLAINED. The origins and development of bonsai are traced, and the underlying principles of this fascinating art clearly explained. DETAILS OF MORE THAN 100 SPECIES. A photographic catalogue of bonsai trees and shrubs lies at the heart of the book, providing the cultivation and styling details of over 100 different species. For the past thirteen years the author has been a professional bonsai artist with his own studio, and is a leading bonsai nurseryman.

Fully revised and updated with the best new cultivars The lush, sculptural hosta is loved by gardeners for its ability to both combine well with other plants and project a strong presence when planted alone. “This well-illustrated encyclopedia contains color photographs of over 750 of the finest hosta varieties.

After years of living in awe of the mysterious fungi known as mushrooms-chefs, health enthusiasts, and home cooks alike can't get enough of these rich, delicate morsels. He is the author of two seminal textbooks, The Mushroom Cultivator and GROWING GOURMET AND MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS, has been published in numerous journals, and is presenting more lectures on mycology than he can keep track of.

Now, with his long-awaited new book, The Winter Harvest Handbook , anyone can have access to his hard-won experience. Readers have access to all the techniques that have proven to produce higher-quality crops on Coleman’s own farm. For those who are ready to graduate beyond coffee-can retail, the incomparable Eliot Coleman is back with THE WINTER HARVEST HANDBOOK: Year-Round Vegetable Production Using Deep-Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses (Chelsea Green, paper, $29.95). Coleman's opus is as much a call to action for town planners to embrace local farms as it is a bible for small farmers. I have been a devotee of Eliot's for years, fully agreeing with his methods for growing in winter, spring, summer, and fall, tasty, nutritious produce with a minimum consumption of fossil fuels. I suspect that's because he writes about not just gardening but about everything that connects to good food and pleasure; a Renaissance man for a new generation, he'll quote Goethe in the same breath as Ghandi, and as a result, you'll dig, weed, eat, think, and live more fully." In chapters covering everything from The Yearly Schedule and Greenhouse Design to Weed Control and Marketing, Coleman tracks his own constant search for perfection, a quality that has led more than one young farmer to exclaim 'I'd follow him anywhere.'. Based on decades of on-farm research, this book is packed with useful ideas, tips and practices that anyone can use in pursuing the increasingly vital dream of local, organic food production using a minimum of precious resources. This is the big question facing the local food movement, and Eliot Coleman, one of America's most innovative farmers, has come up with excellent answers.

By eschewing jargon and overly technical language, the authors make the benefits of cultivating the soil food web available to a wide audience, from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants without resorting to chemicals. “Digs into soil in a most enlightening and entertaining way.” — Dallas Morning News. “The authors have given gardeners an inside scoop on the scientific research supporting organic gardening.” — Pacific Horticulture. A brief, clear overview of scientific information with which every gardener should be familiar.” — Monterey Herald. “Sure, it’s a gardening book, but it has all the drama and suspense of an extraterrestrial thriller. In Teaming with Microbes Lowenfels and Lewis reveal the new research in the most practical and accessible way.” — The Oregonian. “It takes readers underground to meet the critters that live if you let them under the garden.” — Rockland Courier-Gazette.

With 500 pages of full color photos and illustrations, the book delivers all the basics that a novice grower needs, as well as scientific research for the experienced gardener. All aspects of cultivation are covered, from the selection of varieties, setting up of the garden, and through each stage of plant growth all the way to harvesting. Ed Rosenthal has been teaching for more than 30 years.

Detailed insights on grafting, planting, pruning, and choosing the right varieties for your climate are also included, along with a step-by-step instructional calendar to guide growers through the entire orchard year. Phillips completely changed the conversation about healthy orcharding with his first bestselling book, The Apple Grower , and now he takes that dialogue even further, drawing connections between home orcharding and permaculture; the importance of native pollinators; the world of understory plantings with shade-tolerant berry bushes and other insectary plants; detailed information on cover crops and biodiversity; and the newest research on safe, homegrown solutions to pest and disease challenges. For fruit lovers wanting to tend an orchard on a small scale, Phillips, author of the gardening best-seller The Apple Grower (2005), offers a wealth of tips and tricks here on growing berries and tree fruits without resorting to toxic sprays. Phillips also provides an exhaustive directory of fruit varieties, from pome fruits, such as apples and pears, to stone fruits, such as cherries and nectarines. The author presents a challenge to backyard fruit growers and community orchardists to produce healthy, quality fruits organically. The author addresses the challenges of dealing with disease and insect and animal pests along with the need to accommodate trees' annual needs for nutrients; he uses approaches that seek to promote within orchards a diversity of beneficial organisms as well as methods that promote the plant's immunological response via phytoalexins. As a farmer in northern New Hampshire, and author of The Apple Grower, he provides gentle-but-sure advice on holistic orchards in a way that’s encouraging and valuable. For those moving to the next level of orchard management, Phillips delves into the specifics of three major categories of fruits: pome, which includes apples and pears; stone, which encompasses cherry, peach, plum, and apricot; and woody berries, including blackberry, currant, gooseberry, and raspberry. The author of the classic guide for small-scale fruit cultivation, The Apple Grower , returns to the orchard. He then examines the latest scientific knowledge of apple pests and their life cycles to produce a thorough guide to growing wonderful, delicious varieties of apples in an orchard that is safe for animals, birds, and children playing under its tree branches. "Rooted in the author's many years of organic orcharding experience, this book blends ideas from soil science, holistic health, permaculture, and traditional fruit growing into a powerful new approach to orchard design and care. The author has woven multiple strands of orchard knowledge -- based on his expansive vision and a lifetime of experience, together with the wisdom of researchers and fellow fruit growers -- into a brilliant web that captures the wonderful complexity of the orchard ecosystem. Phillips' orchard philosophy- learned from keen observation and reflection- will fall and clobber you like a giant Newtonian apple; then, your walk through the orchard will never be the same. Michael Phillips has led the effort to show that the truly sustainable, organic orchard is something we all can have.

Aquaponics is a revolutionary system for growing plants by fertilizing them with the waste water from fish in a sustainable closed system. Starting with an overview of the theory, benefits, and potential of aquaponics, the book goes on to explain: System location considerations and hardware components The living elements--fish, plants, bacteria, and worms Putting it all together--starting and maintaining a healthy system. This isn't just another book for dummies; this is a comprehensive handbook on how to grow real food...so meticulously documented, that failure is not an option. I have always wanted to put my money where my mouth is and figure out how to do sustainable aquaculture in the context of my home garden. Now the thousands of people who are discovering aquaponics every day have a resource for moving from the dream to the step-by-step reality of raising fish and food in their homes, yards, and even businesses. --John Thompson Sr. VP Sales and Marketing (and Basement and Backyard Aquaponist) AeroGrow International, Inc.

Detailed insights on grafting, planting, pruning, and choosing the right varieties for your climate are also included, along with a step-by-step instructional calendar to guide growers through the entire orchard year. Phillips completely changed the conversation about healthy orcharding with his first bestselling book, The Apple Grower , and now he takes that dialogue even further, drawing connections between home orcharding and permaculture; the importance of native pollinators; the world of understory plantings with shade-tolerant berry bushes and other insectary plants; detailed information on cover crops and biodiversity; and the newest research on safe, homegrown solutions to pest and disease challenges. For fruit lovers wanting to tend an orchard on a small scale, Phillips, author of the gardening best-seller The Apple Grower (2005), offers a wealth of tips and tricks here on growing berries and tree fruits without resorting to toxic sprays. Phillips also provides an exhaustive directory of fruit varieties, from pome fruits, such as apples and pears, to stone fruits, such as cherries and nectarines. The author presents a challenge to backyard fruit growers and community orchardists to produce healthy, quality fruits organically. The author addresses the challenges of dealing with disease and insect and animal pests along with the need to accommodate trees' annual needs for nutrients; he uses approaches that seek to promote within orchards a diversity of beneficial organisms as well as methods that promote the plant's immunological response via phytoalexins. As a farmer in northern New Hampshire, and author of The Apple Grower, he provides gentle-but-sure advice on holistic orchards in a way that’s encouraging and valuable. For those moving to the next level of orchard management, Phillips delves into the specifics of three major categories of fruits: pome, which includes apples and pears; stone, which encompasses cherry, peach, plum, and apricot; and woody berries, including blackberry, currant, gooseberry, and raspberry. The author of the classic guide for small-scale fruit cultivation, The Apple Grower , returns to the orchard. He then examines the latest scientific knowledge of apple pests and their life cycles to produce a thorough guide to growing wonderful, delicious varieties of apples in an orchard that is safe for animals, birds, and children playing under its tree branches. "Rooted in the author's many years of organic orcharding experience, this book blends ideas from soil science, holistic health, permaculture, and traditional fruit growing into a powerful new approach to orchard design and care. The author has woven multiple strands of orchard knowledge -- based on his expansive vision and a lifetime of experience, together with the wisdom of researchers and fellow fruit growers -- into a brilliant web that captures the wonderful complexity of the orchard ecosystem. Phillips' orchard philosophy- learned from keen observation and reflection- will fall and clobber you like a giant Newtonian apple; then, your walk through the orchard will never be the same. Michael Phillips has led the effort to show that the truly sustainable, organic orchard is something we all can have.

Jack Herer has updated his authoritative history of hemp's myriad uses and of the war on this plant, just as it has become high-profile news, with supporters such as Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson.

From Erin Benzakein, a leader in the locaflor farm-to-centerpiece movement and owner of internationally renowned Floret Flower Farm, Cut Flower Garden is equal parts instruction and inspiration—a book overflowing with lush photography of magnificent flowers and breathtaking arrangements organized by season. "I met Erin Benzakein more than ten years ago when she was a young mom growing sweet peas and dreaming of making her living from flowers. And now she's sharing that dream with the world - everyone from fellow flower enthusiasts to emerging farmer-florists to veteran designers yearning for a new, seasonal and sustainable model of floristry. In her debut book she not only introduces us to the basics of growing our own flowers, she shares her deep love and understanding of gardening in a way that will leave even the most doubtful grower feeling inspired to get their hands in the dirt." Her first book is deliciously gorgeous and incredibly comprehensive- combining practical advice alongside a huge overdose of seasonal inspiration. Erin Benzakein's gorgeous new book, Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden, is equal parts inspiration and education. "The creation of this beautiful book is testament to Erin Benzakein's commitment to and passion for the local flower movement. The layout is simultaneously appealing and practical; Floret's signature lush photographs beautifully illustrate all stages of cut flower production and design through the seasons. Filled with clear growing techniques, detailed harvesting instructions and other tips of the trade, this book is a true gift to anyone wanting to generate good income from the craft of flower farming on a small-scale.

Gardeners, small farmers, and outdoor living enthusiasts will love this compilation of 76 rustic DIY projects. Tool sheds, chests, and storage racks provide tidy homes for everything you use in your backyard.

Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life is the first book to explore the origins of Beatrix Potter’s love of gardening and plants and show how this passion came to be reflected in her work. a biography written through plants.” — The New York Times Book Review “With wit and expertise, McDowell highlights the stamp of Potter’s horticultural know-how on her indelible books and chronicles a year in her exuberant gardens to create a visually exciting, pleasurably informative appreciation of Potter’s devotion to art and nature.” — Booklist. “A richly illustrated exploration of Beatrix Potter’s evolution as an author-illustrator, gardener, sheep farmer and land preservationist.” — Shelf Awareness. “In her new book, Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life , Marta McDowell expands our knowledge of Miss Potter horticultural expertise and background, explaining what she grew and where. The book recounts Potter’s life through a gardening lens and is copiously illustrated with her sketches and watercolors of plants.” — American Gardener. From a watercolor of Jemima Puddle-duck hiding from a fox among the foxgloves, to sepia photos of Potter strolling the garden paths on a frosty morning, the book is a visual delight.” — The Seattle Times.

With 512 full color pages and 1120 full color photographs and illustrations, Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible is the most complete cultivation book available. --Phil Kilv, Editor in Chief, Weed World Magazine, January 2006.