Product Description

The Essential Garden Maintenance Workbook takes over where expert gardener Rosemary Alexander's first book, The Essential Garden Design Workbook, leaves off. With a wealth of step-by-step guidance, this book enables gardeners of all levels to confidently tackle wide-ranging maintenance tasks and develop new skills to sustain the success of their gardens.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #591657 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Alexander continues where her previous volumes, on designing and creating gardens, left off. The topic here, her most ambitious yet, is matched by the broad scope of her approach, which covers the "many different skills" and "various fields of knowledge"—from architecture to horticulture, with a smattering of linguistics, carpentry, sociology and more along the way—a good gardener needs. Amply illustrated chapters address each step, from initial assessment and planning through rejuvenating and renovating an existing garden. Each concludes with worksheets for hands-on projects designed to help readers use what they've learned in their own gardens, plus captioned color plates that reinforce key concepts. The encyclopedic information flows naturally, providing a wealth of knowledge, insights, tips and techniques for beginners and seasoned experts alike. These pages are destined to become muddy. Long after they've read the lively, conversational text from beginning to end, gardeners will delve back into specific sections for reference. London-based Alexander sometimes addresses concerns more relevant to Great Britain than North America, but she has clearly taken pains to appeal to both audiences and includes plant hardiness zone maps for the U.S. and Canada. Helpful appendices also include "What to Do When in the Garden," a season-by-season guide, and a list of recommended reading organized according to topic. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The joy of creating a garden--whether with professional help or by one's own efforts--is followed by the realization that keeping those lovely plants healthy requires skills that are generally developed over time. But sound guidance from an expert cohort will shorten the learning curve, and Alexander's knowledge and forthright approach make her an excellent instructor. She teaches budding gardeners how to assess existing elements and decide if restoration or removal is required. Alexander discusses the why and how of cultivating good soil. Her suggestions for making a garden plan and keeping a log of one's observations are hallmarks of good gardening practice. Line drawings illustrate basic pruning methods and pleaching techniques, and in-depth coverage of plant care is provided, along with a season-by-season listing of necessary chores. Highly informative overall, Alexander's fortes are the direction she offers for creating new plantings and her recommendations for selecting woody and herbaceous specimens. Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Amply illustrated chapters address each step, from initial assessment and planning through rejuvenating and renovating an existing garden. Each concludes with worksheets for hands-on projects designed to help readers use what they've learned in their own gardens." -- Publisher's Weekly, July 19, 2006

"Contains all the practical advice and techniques, replete with checklists and garden logs, that gardeners--of any level, including those strapped for time--will need to keep the garden looking tiptop year after year." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Most books prefer to focus on gardening's 'pretty' side...This one gets down to the really important, necessary nitty-gritty, such as dealing with weeds, pruning things the right way at the right time, improving the soil, and so on..." -- Harrisburg Patriot-News, September 28, 2006

"Straight to the point and easily understood by even the sometime gardener." -- Garden Compass, September/October 2006

"Will satisfy serious, detail-oriented home gardeners who seek to understand the gritty details of landscaping, from preparations to ongoing plant and hardscape care." -- Library Journal, August 2006

"Amply illustrated chapters address each step, from initial assessment and planning through rejuvenating and renovating an existing garden. Each concludes with work-sheets for hands-on projects designed to help readers use what they've learned in their own gardens, plus captioned color plates that reinforce key concepts."—Publishers Weekly, June 19, 2006 (Publishers Weekly )

"Straight to the point and easily understood by even the sometime gardener."—John Bagnasco, Garden Compass, September/October 2006 (John Bagnasco Garden Compass )

"Will satisfy serious, detail-oriented home gardeners who seek to understand the gritty details of landscaping, from preparations to ongoing plant and hardscape care."—Sue O'Brien, Library Journal, August 2006 (Sue O'Brien Library Journal )

Amply illustrated chapters address each step, from initial assessment and planning through rejuvenating and renovating an existing garden. Each concludes with work-sheets for hands-on projects designed to help readers use what they've learned in their own gardens, plus captioned color plates that reinforce key concepts.Publishers Weekly, June 19, 2006 (Publishers Weekly )

Straight to the point and easily understood by even the sometime gardener.John Bagnasco, Garden Compass, September/October 2006 (Garden Compass )

Will satisfy serious, detail-oriented home gardeners who seek to understand the gritty details of landscaping, from preparations to ongoing plant and hardscape care.Sue O'Brien, Library Journal, August 2006 (Library Journal )