Customer Reviews

Caring for Perennials: What to Do and When to Do it

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The methodology for tending the garden outlined by the author is superb. We have been tending a large garden for five years now. By using the author's weeding and mulching techniques and schedule, we are able to balance the garden work with our full-time jobs and never be at risk of being overtaken by weeds. The work is more heavily loaded in the spring and fall, but that is a nice time for doing this type of work. Also, I love cruising through the summer with only the lightest maintenance required. Regarding the book itself, the writing style is personable and witty. Also, the explanations are thorough, without being boring or condescending. This is my first resource to consult when I have a question.

WHAT A RELIEF to see pictures of less-than-perfect situations. Now you know what a beautiful garden looks like *before* it becomes beautiful. This gives you the patience to wait. The author also has the courage to show mistakes. And to point out that garden catalogues show a plant during the two weeks when it looks the best -- but what about the rest of the year? Personally, I'd rather know in advance what is going to take over my space or need staking or look bad after the first bloom, so I won't feel like a failure. Beautiful picture books are one thing, and are their own joy, but we also need to balance things with know-how and truth. This book does it.

I bought this book because the subtitle, What to Do and When to Do It, precisely captured my state of confusion as a new gardener. I don't always know how to do a thing and just as often don't know when to do it either! The author takes us through a full year's worth of work, beginning with using a garden diagram and proceeding through finding plants and tools, pruning, weeding, mulching, watering and fertilizing, pest control, maintenance and getting ready for the next season. The book concludes with a chart of instructions for particular species of perennials, an index and a bibliography. The chart, in fitting with the emphasis of the book, instructs in each plant's proper care and is divided into months, April through November. The first chapter, kind of an overview of the year-in-gardening approach, has many color photographs, and the rest of the book contains many line drawings to illustrate techniques. Quite nice and very helpful.

Janet Macunovich and Steve Nikkila have done a wonderful job of organizing this book. It is a month to month compilation of things to do in the garden. You see the garden before it has been replanted. The author tells the reader what is wrong with the garden and then proceeds through the growing season with lists of things the gardener needs to accomplish. The time spent in the garden is minimal for lasting results.

This book is useful and definitely a keeper.

Having gardened for over ten years, and purchased many books about perennial gardening in that time, I find myself coming back time and again to two old favorites: this book and Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials. (With an occasional glance at Rodale's Insect Weed and Disease Guide when circumstances demand it!) I consider these to be the essential guides to perennial gardening, and as I write this realize I need to go through all my gardening books and sell all the others on Amazon! :o) I agree with the other reviewers; Macunovich's detailed instructions, pictures, plant recommendations, drawings, are just invaluable help to a gardener in the midst of maintaining a perennial garden. Her method for controlling weeds is the most rational approach going. Stories about gardens that have gone wrong, how gardens change over time and need to be adjusted, tradeoffs that can be made to save time ... I can't recommend it enough!

For me, an eager, bright, but fairly inexperienced gardener, this book has been a godsend. Here are the steps to take, month by month, to achieve the garden you dream about when you read all the plant catalogues. Macunovich is a friendly voice at your back, pushing you to do those boring chores now rather than later (you'll appreciate it) and reassuring you when things don't quite go as you planned (it happens to the best). This is a step by step how-to book, yet more. My favorite line concerns the inevitability of black labrador retrievers blundering through newly planted parts of the garden to happily greet the gardener.

This book tells you what to do in a clear and understandable way, without expecting you to already be an expert gardener. This has been a really great help for me in landscaping and upkeeping my yard.

Janet Macunovich has provided a very detailed account of what to do after you have planted your perennial garden. It is very informative as we follow her tending an actual perennial garden; a great concept. Mistakes and all, we see the problems, challenges, and joys of perennial gardening the way most of us do it. From early spring cleanup, to plant division, to weeding, plant choice and more, this is an excellent book for those who have a perennial garden, or those who are considering one. No punches pulled; highly recommended. Why four stars? I live in Arizona; if the book was written for desert gardens, five stars. (I know, I know...)
Bob Burke

This book is a good resource book. The author makes it interesting, and takes you through her garden in a great way. Although I think it is a great resource book, it would have been much better for me, if it had been written more under the plant's common name, as opposed to the scientific names. That is kind of rough for beginners looking for info on how to care for certain plants, but still inexperienced at scientific species...

I'm new to gardening and have been very timid about what to do with all of my new plant materials. This book is one of my favorites for its thorough and practical advice coupled with excellent illustrations.