Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning: What, When, and Where and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden [Paperback]

Cass Turnbull (Author), Kate Allen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2005

Nothing about pruning is obvious; in fact, most of it is downright counterintuitive, says expert Cass Turnbull. This second edition of her definitive illustrated guide adds 40 percent new material, with more coverage of different kinds of trees, shrubs, and ground covers and how to prune them for health and aesthetics. The book is organized around the most common types of plants found in Northwest gardens: evergreen and deciduous shrubs; bamboos and tea roses; rhododendrons, camellia and other tree-like shrubs; hedge plants like boxwood and heather; clematis, wisteria and all those vines; and detailed information on trees by species from dogwoods to weeping cherries. In her trademark witty style, Turnbull also addresses tools, landscape renovation, and design errors. Included too are her amusing Ten Commandments for gardeners, which feature such treasures as “Thou shalt not weed-whip the trunk of thy tree, nor bash it with thine mower, nor leave anything tied on thy tree or the branches of thy tree, as is done in the land of the philistines.”

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There are many pruning guidebooks available, but only one (this one!) by the founder of PlantAmnesty. . . . goes far beyond the basic commandments. . . . we found the drawings particularly helplful." —HortIdeas "Get a copy of Cass Turnbull’s Guide t

About the Author

Cass Turnbull is the humorous voice of PlantAmnesty, giving indispensable pruning advice through the organization's newsletter. Both she and Kate Allen live in Seattle.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sasquatch Books; 2nd edition (December 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570614687
• ISBN-13: 978-1570614682
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great pruning guide, especially if you live in the PNW, September 6, 2006

By 

J. Notis (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning: What, When, and Where and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden (Paperback)

MUCH better than the highly rated American Horticultural Society pruning guide, in my opinion. I bought them both at the same time. She doesn't cover the huge variety of species that other books try to, and the book is actually a collection of short treatises she wrote for a periodical publication, so there's a lot of repetition. But the repetition is all information that you really need to learn, so it's better to get it hammered in right. Instead of a big quick listing of facts, you'll get to know the personalities of various types of plants in depth, and know how to put that knowledge to use. I definitely don't look at people's yards the same way anymore, and I feel confident that I can take care of my own shrubs and small trees now. I also enjoyed her dorky sense of humor, compete with bad puns and comic illustrations.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb supplementary reference and resource for gardeners, homeowners, and landscapers, May 4, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning: What, When, and Where and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden (Paperback)

Now in an updated second edition, Cass Turnbull's Guide To Pruning is a no-nonsense guide to pruning plants the right way, since the wrong way can lead to "water sprouts" (stringy, hairy twigs that grow straight up on a tree) or other eyesores and disasters. Professional gardener Cass Turnbull gives step-by-step instructions for pruning more than 160 species of trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines, and more. Over 150 b/w illustrations clarify the various techniques, and new highlights of the second edition include additional chapters on pruning ground covers and hedges, expanded coverage of mounding-habit, cane-growing, and tree-like shrubs, pruning tips organized by regions of America, new illustrations, and more. Cass Turnbull's Guide To Pruning is a superb supplementary reference and resource for gardeners, homeowners, and landscapers.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best pruning guide, funny and very readable., May 6, 2007

By 

Mark Gilliland "multi-dimensional explorer" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning: What, When, and Where and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden (Paperback)

I discovered Cass Turnbull's original guide several years ago through on-line research - and was amused and excited to read about her work forming Plant Amnesty, an organization with a goal of protecting plants from mal-pruing into meatballs and other boring shapes.

Her guide is structured to provide a general introduction to pruning techniques, then branching out to cover different classes of plants, finally focusing in detail on many common plants with specific guidelines for pruning. This has become my pruning bible.

Suffice to say that this second edition is more of the same, more plants covered, more photos and how-to illustrations, and more humorous stories. Well worth your investment!

Read it, refer to it, prune by it. And learn to respect your plants by pruning them naturally!