Product Description

Roots Demystified, explains simple solutions about growing healthy roots and, thereby, healthier plants. The book explores the subterranean part of every gardener’s world, revealing how roots really grow while dispelling myths such as where most gardeners apply water, mulch, and fertilizer or compost. This is the first and only book in print for gardeners with such an extensive number of illustrations of garden and orchard roots. The roots covered are: lawns, prairies, shrubs, vegetables, fruit trees, and native and ornamental trees. Practical tips for how a gardener might use this new information to create more abundant vegetables, better lawns and sturdier trees and shrubs are offered with each of the 70 illustrations. Roots Demystified also describes several ways to garden without turning the soil--no-till and surface cultivation--a plus for aging baby-boomers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112289 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780961584832
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

From Publishers Weekly
Kourik's color photos and Massion's art effectively illustrate a text that fulfills the title's promise. The author's advice is sound and practical although the reader may bridle at his tone at times. (Attempting a chatty informality, for example, he orders one to "find a comfortable chair and leaf through the book.") Otherwise, this is a valuable guide to the holistic approach to gardening, which relies on natural fertilizers and avoids chemicals. The author begins with suggestions for designing plots according to environment, space available, personal preferences. (The pictures prove that areas featuring vegetables, herbs, fruit- and nut-bearing trees and other edibles can be beautiful.) Kourik, who frequently appears on TV and lectures nationally, includes recipes that use the wide variety of foods featured here.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Kourik espouses organic gardening methods to create beautiful edible landscapes that are compatible with other plantings as well as with the climate, terrain, and the owner's budget. Expanding upon Rosalind Creasy's The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping ( LJ 5/1/82) he makes this gardening fashion seem not only reasonable but easy. From design basics to how to grow specific vegetables, fruits, herbs, he describes his methods and theories and adds lists of books for further reference. Appendixes are voluminous and cover some unusual aids (e.g., estimating amounts of materials needed for landscaping projects). A useful addition. Louise B. Hodges, Amherst County P.L., Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Gardening expert Robert Kourik is the author of ten books addressing topics that have ranged from drip irrigation, environmentally-sound homes, edible landscaping, and lavender. Now he turns his attention to the necessity of health roots (and thereby healthy plants) for successful gardening and agriculture. Superbly written and thoroughly 'user friendly', Roots Demystified is profusely enhanced with twenty-five illustrative graphics showcasing extraordinary illustrations of excavated root systems in their entirety. A compendium of practical, comprehensive, and exceptionally well organized information, advice, tips, and observations that will benefit novice gardeners and seasoned professionals alike, Roots Demystified is an excellent and strongly recommended addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library Gardening/Agriculture/Horticulture reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
--Midwest Book Review, Volume 18, Number 3, March 2008

Customer Reviews

Best book I have ever read related to gardening!
I am an experienced gardener but I never fail to learn something new when I pick up this book. I have had my copy for over fifteen years but still find the information current. This book is a must for anyone who has every wanted to grow an edible garden. From cover crops to choosing apple tree varieties it's packed full of information. I only wish the author would write another similar book so I could buy it. I own most of the books written about edible landscaping and can say this is by far the best.

A great book!
This insightful and instructive book is full of surprising information--it's incredibly useful. Understanding how roots grow is key to successful gardening, and a lot of what I thought I knew about them (such as that most of a tree's roots lie below its canopy) was wrong. Kourik debunks a lot of myths, and his clear, easy to read text is loaded with interesting bits of information on growing all sorts of plants. This book is a valuable addition to my library, and I'll consult it often. I'm a lifelong gardener, and I learned a lot!

Amazon has this page really screwed up!
This book is supposed to be Roots Demystified: Changing Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive, but much of the info on this page is about another of Kourik's books: on Edible Landscaping. I hope they get this corrected very soon. Kourik's new book on Roots is amazing and very valuable - let's hope Amazon can get it right! Meanwhile, google the authors name and the book title and find it on his web site.