Product Description

The City Gardener's Handbook is the definitive guide to gardening in small spaces - whether on a balcony, in a container, or in a small yard - covering planting, design, and maintenance.

The problems and challenges facing gardeners in cities, suburban condos, or apartment complexes are unique, and Linda Yang has personally experienced every small-space gardening situation she writes about. Yang offers a wealth of practical advice on planning a garden that will be attractive all year long; selecting wind-, heat-, moisture-, or drought-tolerant species; and coping with pollutants, insects, and more. Charts and lists supply information on the best city plants for flowers, foliage, and fragrance, as well as ground covers, small weeping trees and dwarf shrubs, soil mixes for containers, and practical mulches. The updated mail-order source list is an essential tool for gardeners who find it difficult to locate plants and supplies. The City Gardener's Handbook is an invaluable resource for any gardener facing the challenge of growing plants where space is limited, whether in the dooryard of a suburban townhouse or on a mid-city rooftop.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92134 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
"Compactly combines the virtues of extensive knowledge, organization, clear-eyed design, and—last but not least—a sympathetic, briskly dedicated authorial tone...conveys maximal information with minimal fuss."
—Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )

"[A] crisp, comprehensive handbook...the unmistakable voice of experience."
—Anne Lovejoy, The New York Times Book Review (New York Times Book Review )

Compactly combines the virtues of extensive knowledge, organization, clear-eyed design, andlast but not leasta sympathetic, briskly dedicated authorial tone...conveys maximal information with minimal fuss. Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )

[A] crisp, comprehensive handbook...the unmistakable voice of experience. Anne Lovejoy, The New York Times Book Review (New York Times Book Review )

From the Back Cover
Written with passion, enthusiasm, warmth & wit by former New York Times garden columnist Linda Yang, The City Gardener's Handbook offers solutions for every kind of small-space gardening challenge from an author who has experienced them all first-hand.

About the Author
Linda Yang is known for her garden columns in the New York Times, which were widely syndicated from 1979-1995. Both her articles and her photographs have been published in numerous home and garden magazines, and she is the author of three books other than The City Gardener's Handbook. Her friendly, wise, and authoritative writing comes from a genuine love of gardening and from firsthand experiences that include "quite a bit of trial and more than one error." At present she tills one-fortieth of an acre of Manhattan, the area around the townhouse she shares with her husband.

Customer Reviews

This City Gardener gives it a green thumbs up...
I live in the city and I love to get my hands dirty. Too many books focus on abstract design concepts and forget about the most practical aspect of gardening - the plants. Linda Yang does an excellent job of discussing basic design and also recommending plants that do well in urban conditions (as well as explaining details such as how large certain plants will grow, whether they need constant watering, amount of sun desired).

I've owned the book for more than a year now and have dog-eared several pages for reference. I find the seasonal tips invaluable.

My only real complaint is that there was a bit too much emphasis on rooftop gardening.

How to find or buy the best plants for a city environment
The City Gardener's Handbook: The Definitive Guide To Small-Space Gardening by gardening columnist and expert Linda Yang is a true garden-lover's guide to raising one's choice of plants in an urban or other limited-size environment. Intended for gardeners of all experience and skill levels from neophyte to expert, The City Gardener's Handbook addresses how to find or buy the best plants for a city environment, managing one's garden through the four seasons, dealing with plant parasites and pests, and much more. Gorgeous insert sections with color plates of flourishing city gardens highlight the straightforward text and useful black-and-white diagrams. The City Gardener's Handbook will prove an invaluable addition to any personal, professional, or community library gardening reference collection.

Nice book.
Good overview, exactly what I was looking for, since I just moved into an apartment in the city with a deck, and have looked for a book that would help me pick and care for outdoor plants.