Customer Reviews

American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a practical, easy to follow format, the Encyclopedia of Gardening packs enough information to answer almost every question a weekend gardener could ever ask. It is not a technical, difficult book; instead, it is aimed at the average layperson, and it treats its readers with respect by presenting useful information in a no nonsense manner.

I am amazed by DK photography. How do they do it? The photographs are stunning and live up to the DK name! There are over 3,000 specially commissioned color photographs.

If you want a book to inspire you to get out into the garden, this one will tempt you to the couch first. You will want to pour over the pages and read all about designing an herb or rock garden. Did you know there is a "tomato tree?" How amusing. They are actually called tamarilllos. The floating garden picture with beautiful pink water lilies was about as much as a gardener could handle for inspiration. The pictures of the nine waterlies were amazingly beautiful. If you want to construct a pond, there are step-by-step pictures. A chart for shrubs gave the names for shrubs with aromatic foliage or fragrant flowers.

If you are looking for a book to define gardening, this is it. This is the most comprehensive guide to practical gardening techniques for every level of gardener. I am quite new at gardening and felt a bit confused as to which book I should buy. This book has it all. It was compiled under the expert editorship of Christopher Brickell from the Royal Horticultural Society, Elvin Mc Donald, Trevor Cole and a expert team of over 50 professional gardening specialists.

Here is a book that shows you how to plan and implement every gardening technique. You will feel as confident planting a tree as you will hybridizing a rose. The 400 step-by-step photographic sequences, easy-to-follow text and up-to-date information makes this a gardener's dream.

The first section of the book gives detailed information on garden planning and design. The second section explains how to maintain a garden. In the first section you will enjoy reading about garden planning, ornamental trees and shrubs, climbing plants, rose gardens, perennials, annuals and biennials, rock gardens, bulbous plants, water gardens, cacti and other succulents, lawn care, herb gardens, vegetable gardens, fruit gardens and indoor gardens.

The second section gives detailed information on tools and equipment, greenhouses and frames, structures and surfaces, climates, soils and fertilizers, principles of propagation, plant problems and basic botany.

A nice section of Seasonal Reminders is only two pages, but really covers everything. The glossary helps to define gardening terms and the index saves you time when you are looking up information on everything from planting bulbs to improving soil fertility or looking up a name like "Hydrocleys nymphoides" or Water poppy.

The ultimate reference for anyone who loves pictures and wants the best gardening information on the planet. Forget the rest...DK has the best! The pages are smooth and almost glossy. The binding is wonderful and you will be purchasing a book which will last a long, long time!

~The Rebecca Review

It's is worth the money. It is the single most comprehensive book on Gardening. I know it does not give super detailed descriptions of every plant out there. Their supplemental book can help you with that. Buy this one first. When I built a greenhouse, this book have several pages on construction, types of materials, venting, watering systems, cooling, hydrating, you name it, it was covered. When my neighbors pine tree was getting a white pithy coating on the lower leaves, this book described the problem to a T, and had several methods of curing it. No matter where I go, in irrigation, propogation, seed starting, grading, setting up a bed, identifying which plants work, where, when, and in what kind of soil, climate, etc., this book is there. They must of had a zillion contributing editors-authors create this work, because nobody knows everything this book has to offer. It is big, it is well illustrated, and a definite must have for any gardener. It is even a great read during the winter, for planning your spring garden. Even at this price, it is about twice what other books cost, but it is 5 times the book. It's a bargain. In the long run it will save you money by avoiding costly mistakes. I highly reccomend it.

I have found this book to be the most comprehensive book ongardening; this would include searches at the local public library.illustrations, drawn or photographed, direct steps in just about any horticultural facet, from soil to propagation to storage of harvests. if you are serious about planting, grafting or sustaining plants, this is an invaluable resource. it is a garden/plant library in one book!

This book as a reference is great. It provides me, the novice and working my way up gardener, with a great source for understanding the fundamentals of gardening. However, I think I'm going to purchase one of its sister books, American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. The A-Z provides more details about specifc varieties which can be helpful when you're selecting plants for your garden or simply trying to learn more about a specific plant. I believe the A-Z also contains much of the information contained in this one altough it is not as encompassing from a general perspective.

This book is head and shoulders above the rest of its type. It is a superb "how-to" gardening book, which provides detailed information on general techniques as well as specific instructions for various types of plants. It also presents extensive information on landscape/garden design

This book is a great reference book on plants. One of the things that makes it so good is that it has so many excellent pictures of the plants listed. If it grows here in America, you can probably find it in this book. Beware, though, it is very heavy!!

This book covers almost everything including how to grow Blackberries and grapes which caught my attention and how to take care of cuttings, which I had never done before and had all sorts of doubts about. Thanks to this wonderful jewel, my back yard is now filled with all sorts of exotic flowers and plants that I have grown from cuttings off of other plants and flowers in only a few short weeks.

My husband bought me a greenhouse in February 05 so I thought this book would be perfect for us. We have tripled our flowers and plants by using this book. Now the back yard is half filled and the greenhouse is totally filled thanks to this book! Total cost was only for the soil and pots that we needed, everything else was all cuttings placed in water or placed directly in the soil until rooted.

This book is very expensive but worth it's weight in gold!
I love it!

Being a California Certified Nurseryman, I can say that I've dealt with people all different type of gardening experience. This book is one of the best out there in terms of reference and guide for making gardens do really well. It covers everything from landscaping, management, soil preparation, and plant selection.

If you're wanting a great reference book that you'll look at time and time again, this is the tome to look for.

I've had my book for quite some time, picked it up sometimes to read. Now I've started a Master Gardeners course. It's amazing how helpful this book is. Everything being taught in class is in this book, but in much simpler terms than used in class. Our class in propagation was only 3 hours. This book goes into detail about it which will help with my class assignment - to go forth and propagate!