Product Description

A cornucopia of garden information, technique, advice and opinion complete with totally up-to-date source lists on gardening gear and supplies, seed and plant catalogs, gardening societies and other resources. From the author of Theme Gardens. Illustrated.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #586749 in Books
• Published on: 1988-01-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 688 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"Keep gardening simple" is the reassuring maxim invoked by Damrosch ( Theme Gardens ) time and again in this outstanding compendium of garden lore, information and advice for novices and old-timers. The author, an "old-fashioned dirt gardener," advocates common sense, respect for the delicate balance of nature and a hands-on approach. Her book brims with sound advice for garden planning, planting and maintenance, and her relaxed attitude about equipment ("buy a few good implements and treat them well") and disease and pest control ("when in doubt, don't spray") is refreshing. Ornamental plants, from vines ("willful children") to herbs ("anarchists of the garden"), are evaluated thoughtfully, and gardeners will profit from Damrosch's manageable lists of annuals, perennials, ground covers, shrubs and trees. They will be entertained, as well, by the author's engaging, witty voice. Vegetables and fruits are discussed in mini-chapters; illustrations and an appendix of mail-order sources, etc., round out the book. BOMC and QPBC main selections; Better Homes & Gardens Book Club selection ; a uthor tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Beginning gardeners can be overwhelmed by the vast amount of printed information available. Damrosch offers a comprehensive book for the new gardener that clearly explains the basics of garden planning, plant care, and equipment. Detailed chapters on the different categories of plants--annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruits, lawns, shrubs, roses, vines, trees, wildflowers, and even house plants--give general advice on how to use and care for these varieties. A valuable book for public libraries.
- Peter C. Leonard, Mt. Lebanon P.L., Pa.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover
Gardening is very simple, really. You just have to learn to think like a plant.

- Barbara Damrosch

Garden simply, beautifully, and well with The Garden Primer, a comprehensive gardening reference jam-packing with useful information, advice, tips, and quirky wisdom. Barbara Damrosch, an "old-fashioned dirt gardener," spent years refining her natural, common-sense approach to gardening and now guides you through all aspects of planning, planting, and upkeep.

Remarkably Complete

Each chapter is a book in itself.

Planning Your Property: landscape your yard into a series of "outdoor rooms"

What Plants Need: understand the basics and avoid complex rules and toxic chemicals

Garden Gear: what's essential and what's not

How to Buy Plants: a guide through the nursery jungle

Annuals: choose and combine for dependable summer color

Perennials: coordinate a flower garden to bloom each year

Vegetables: harvesting a bounty you'll really use

Herbs: making your herb garden as pretty as it is useful

Fruits: pick the best for your climate

Bulbs: plant them properly, display them imaginatively

Roses: raising roses without fear - they're really not "fussy"

Lawns and Ground Covers: how to have a better lawn, and what to use in places where you don't want grass

Vines: keeping them within bounds

Shrubs: find interesting shrubs and avoid common pruning mistakes

Trees: select new trees to enhance your property and make the most of the old

Wildflowers: what really works at home and what doesn't

Houseplants: keep your indoor garden in good health

With complete instructions for growing and tending approximately 300 plants, plus 365 illustrations, easy-to-read diagrams, and design plans for all types of gardens.

Customer Reviews

The one source-book for down-to-earth gardening advice.
My copy of "The Garden Primer" is worn, tattered, and never on the shelf with the rest of my gardening books. I refer to Barbara's sage advice for everything. It's has allowed me to try new plants, techniques, and garden designs - all without feeling I don't know what I'm doing. It's like having a master gardener watching over you.

Be forewarned though - she writes most (if not all) of her gardening experience from a Connecticut/zone 5 background. Those in the desert regions of Arizona may find most her advice useless.

Buy it - you'll never need another gardening book again.

The "Joy of Cooking" for the garden! Great all-around book.
My copy of Barbara Damrosch's "Garden Primer" is splattered with mud and rain and has seeds stuck in the binding. This is not a coffee table book. This is a read it, use it book. There are no pretty photographs; there are no photographs. Just great road-tested advice on soil, tools, flowers, vegetables, shrubs, etc. No one subject is covered in depth, however, it covers every subject well and gets right to most important information. Like the "Joy of Cooking" in the kitchen, this is your all-purpose, when-do-I-plant- the-broccoli, how-do-I-spray-the-roses, where-do-I-put-the-fig-tree, kind of book. Would make an excellent housewarming gift for first time homeowners.

A Gifted Teacher
Barbara Damrosch and her husband, Eliot Coleman, are the type of teachers that I find the most helpful. They stand in your shoes and ask what would I want to know on this subject, then proceed to tell you precisely and in plain language, not only what you want to know but what you didn't even know to ask.

I've taped all their television shows on gardening and have a number of the books both of them have written, but when I walk out in the garden and see a problem, whether it be disease or bug, it is this book that is my guide. I also grab it whenever I'm planting, fertilizing or harvesting most anything.

I just put in grapes, blueberries, blackberries, honeysuckle, clematis and the only book I referred to was this one. Never intimidating, always helpful, if I could only have one gardening book, this would be it.