Planning a new landscape and then taking care of the shrubs and trees you’ve planted can be a baffling business. Where do you start? And what do you do to maintain a healthy, thriving garden? Even the most experienced landscapers and gardeners cannot know everything there is to know, so if you’re somewhat less than a horticultural expert, there’s no shame in seeking out advice from someone who has been there and done that. At our Web site www.landsteward.org Cheryl and I have collected hundreds of articles that we’ve found useful, along with an archive of every previous Plant Man column. We’ve just added a photo slide show with descriptions of various landscaping ideas and projects. We often refer to those articles and links and we invite you to do so too, if you’re looking for some free advice and ideas. Here is a quick look at a few garden books that have caught our eyes recently. You might find them useful too. “How to Cheat at Gardening and Yard Work” If you don’t relish all that raking, tilling, trimming, mowing digging (and cursing), Bredenberg encourages you to cheat. Cheat smart, that is. He points out that by cutting corners in a smart way, selecting maintenance-free plants, and using technology and innovative products, busy readers can shave hours off time they spend laboring over lawn and garden. Don’t expect to find a lot of pretty color photos in Bredenberg’s book. There aren’t any. There are a number of how-to renderings and line drawings, but mainly this is a handy reference guide, complete with “cheat sheets” and “myth busters,” written in Bredenberg’s easy-to-follow style that should help any gardener achieve results in less time and with less effort. Not a bad goal! “Backyards: A Sunset Design Guide” “Patio & Stone: A Sunset Design Guide” “Backyards” covers the gamut of outdoor living projects from patios, decks and courtyards to outdoor kitchens, play spaces for kids and pets, to water features, pools and spas. “Patio & Stone” delivers inspiration and planning advice to create beautiful, eye-catching hardscape. Here you’ll find ideas for designing inviting patios and flagstone paths, elegant stone walls, waterfalls and fountains. Both large-format Sunset books are filled with hundreds of excellent photos and include an interactive CD that allows you to create a backyard design then view it in 3D. “Backyard Medicine: Harvest and Make Your Own Herbal Remedies” Beautifully illustrated with color photos, “Backyard Medicine” includes a detailed and exhaustive alphabetical listing of plants from Agrimony to Yarrow with everything you ever need to know about their medicinal properties and how to use them safely and effectively. If you’re a dedicated herbalist or just interested in seeing what it’s all about, take a look at “Backyard Medicine.” Whether you go online or to the book shop or library, time invested in reading up and checking out inspiration pictures makes any landscape job that much easier. And anyway, it’s a lot of fun! The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org
Jeff Bredenberg (Rodale Books)
Subtitled, “Shameless tricks for growing radically simple flowers, veggies, lawns, landscaping and more,” this latest of twenty-plus volumes from Bredenberg is aimed at people who want a beautiful and fun yard and garden with minimal effort.
Bridget Biscotti (Sunset Books)
Tom Wilhite (Sunset Books)
Here are two really useful volumes from Sunset aimed at the home handyman and woman who like to work on their own projects. But even for the less-than-handy, these books are great idea generators you could show to a contractor or landscape architect.
Julie Bruton-Seal & Matthew Seal (Skyhorse Publishing)
The use of herbal medicine has probably been around since the dawn of Mankind. There has been a resurgence of interest in recent years, particularly among those who are becoming wary of what they think of as overpriced, laboratory-produced medicines. If you’ve been searching for a way to create your own cost-efficient, all-natural remedies, this book deserves your attention.
