Customer Reviews

Bamboo for Gardens

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Straight forward practical advice on how to choose the right bamboo for your garden. Sections on choosing either running or clumping bamboo and the differences, site selection, soil requirements, winter protection, maintenance, controlling the spread of bamboo and a gardeners special needs list (cold hardy bamboo, tall hedge, ground covers etc.) are perfect for the beginner grower and a great cross reference for the expert. The book has many beautiful images of bamboo included throughout as well. Ted also does an excellent job explaining the historical and cultural aspects of bamboo. All of your fears about planting bamboo should be relieved after reading this book. Happy gardening!

Attracted to the look of bamboo but nervous about planting it in your yard? Then buy this book! It tells you everything you need to know and will convert you to the beauty and mystery of bamboo forever.

I am a bamboo grower and member of the Northern California Chapter of the American Bamboo Society. I have praised Meredith's book in two articles for the ABS magazine BAMBOO so I might as well do so here. It is really the bible of bamboo cultivation, answering every question-- well just about! As every bamboo grower knows, problems often arise for which one is unprepared-- for instance this season I found slugs living inside my bamboos and eating them from within! But Ted is available to respond to such questions, although he may not thank me for saying so here-- try contacting him first through his publisher. One thing I really like about him is that he is not, in contrast to some bamboo growers who think they know one's own environment better than one knows it oneself, dogmatic. He is very open-minded and thoughtful, listening carefully to what one says and responding in a balanced fashion. However, I must say that his book is not exactly a good guide to the first-time bamboo grower. There are so many facts that one tends to read it and then forget them until one runs into problems later. It is best kept as a reference book, although I highly recommend looking through his discussion of the various species before one decides to buy a bamboo. This is a book for serious bamboo growers, not people who think of bamboo as a mere hedge around their yard, but those who seek a gorgeous centerpiece to their garden which may eventually grow to be seventy feet tall with stalks which are several inches in diameter.

This is an excellent book on bamboo. It is detailed and thorough. It is ten times better than "The Temperate Guide to Growing Bamboos" by Bell, which is just an awful book on the subject. This book is the opposite. Worth every penny and will be a valuable resource for me throughout the years ahead. The author covers just about every aspect of growing bamboo, botony of bamboo and harvesting bamboo. It didn't get 5 stars because it lacks more study on container plants, but where it did lack it more than made up for it in other areas. A great book that is a must have. You should definitely buy this book. If you buy any book on bamboo, you should make this a definite buy. You won't regret it.

I was not expecting this book to be what it turned out to be. I had hoped it might be another Hardy Bamboos ala Whittaker. But it is certainly not that. But now after having read it I am glad it is what it is, that being a very useful, fact-filled compendium and quasi-encyclopoedia on the bamboos.

Ted has done his homework. He has read thoroughly the recent literature, esp. Lynn Clark's work at Iowa. His botanical erudition was surprising and welcome. I know more now about bamboo's physiology than I ever thought I'd wanted to know! There are not alot of photos. Certainly nothing like Whittaker's photo selection which includes shots of just about every bamboo covered. Nor are his species descriptions anything like the comprehensive and often highly personal accounts of Whittaker. So don't buy this book for a guide to the specific bamboos. It is more useful for the bambusaphile and botanist and ardent plantsman who wants to really get down and know bamboos inside and out. If that is the order of the day, then this is a great book.

But I am still in love with Hardy Bamboos: Taming the Dragon!

This starts as a practical solution to a problem. A developer cut down the forest. The author lost his visual privacy. He set out to learn how to grow bamboo. His detailed understanding of what he learned in the process is invaluable to all who consider appreciation of this amazing grass.
If you only want one book on bamboo this is It!

This book has great, crisp, clear, modern looking pictures that are excellent. It is a good book for taxonomy and identification, but has almost nothing about construction techniques, projects to make, etc. Definitely worth the price, but if you are looking to make things from bamboo, this is not the book for you.

Since I became interested in growing bamboo several years ago, I have reviewed every book I could find on the subject. None compare with Mr. Meredith's book. It is very conprehensive, easy and interesting to read, and the only book one needs on the subject whether he/she is a novice who wants to grow a few plants in the backyard, or a person who has a historical or scientific interest in bamboo. It also has many full color photos and illustrations.

In summary, it is a complete, easy to understand and interesting book on the subject of bamboo. One could not ask for more on the subject.

My husband is a registered LA and has used this book as a resource book for his designs. Highly recommends and we have purchased another book that was cited in this one as well

Quite comprehensive and authoritative, and the photos are luscious. It cleared up some things that other bamboo books left me wondering about.