Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally [Paperback]

Robert Kourik (Author), Rosalind Creasy (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2005

First published in 1986, this classic is back in print by popular demand. It is the authoritative text on edible landscaping, featuring a step-by-step guide to designing a productive environment using vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs for a combination of ornamental and culinary purposes.
It includes descriptions of plants for all temperate habitats, methods for improving soil, tree pruning styles, and gourmet recipes using low-maintenance plants. There are sections on attracting beneficial insects with companion plants and using planting to shelter your home from erosion, heat, wind, and cold.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Kourik is a landscape design expert who lives in California

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Permanent Publications (March 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856230260
• ISBN-13: 978-1856230261
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #795,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Library Within This Book, June 14, 2006

By 

ConstanceB "cb" (SoCal high desert) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally (Paperback)

One of my most-used books; I'm buying this copy for a wedding. Two negatives -- The cost is high, and even as I wish for more color photographs, I ponder how much the price would rise with them. Also, as a new gardener, I struggled with five-syllable foreign terms and phrases. But he compensates well. After "an inoculant called rhizobium that colonizes the roots of leguminous plants", he says, "Pull up some bean plants. If you can see small pinkish white nodules on the roots" then it's okay. (p. 125)

The range of material is wide yet thorough. Can I grow peaches where I live? He compares 10 varieties, with limitations and virtues. He suggests alternate reading for each subject, and offers a capsule review (e.g., "A good one to browse in the library; only serious tree crops enthusiasts need own it." p. 219). The appendix seems all-encompassing to me, with an expansive index, recommended magazines and supportive organizations, mail order suppliers, & real recipes like "Chayote Parmigiana", with text on everything you'd EVER want to know about growing chayote for the dish, including Effort. (p. 300, 301)

Rosalind Creasy broke ground (ha!) promoting edibles in the landscape, and Kourik credits her. Her book has not been updated, however; this book remains timely.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On par with popular permaculture/sustainable living books, August 6, 2008

By 

Sarira (WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally (Paperback)

I just got the book a week back and I am still reading it. I had to write this review because of the number of stars this book got. It is unfair since only 2 persons have reviewed it. Yes, this book is a little technical, but nothing that a lay person cannot understand. Actually, that is the reason I got this book for. I wanted facts and not stories. I have been reading about permaculture for a while now. I had so many unanswered questions. The minute I read preview pages on Google books, I bought it without the usual second thoughts I get. I am still learning a lot. I liked the section on companion planting and decided not to buy a book on it. Instead I just ordered his book on drip irrigation. I didn't get any color photos in my book. I found I had to download it from his web site. But I don't care much for somebody's landscape photos because I will design my own :) This book has a section on roots too. I also bought his other book on roots as I found it hard to design without knowing what happens underneath. If you are in doubt about buying this book, read the preview to see if this is for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A salt of the earth resource, October 3, 2010

By 

Ecobotanica - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally (Paperback)

What an exciting day, receiving my own copy of this book. It's a terrific reference for those who want more than the gloss and pictures.
Open the pages and become immersed in details you'll find hard to discover elsewhere, such as analysis of rootstock and thier resistance to crown rot; how to reduce wind chill and improve orchard output and a table formatted Bio selector for insect pest control using biologicals, minerals, beneficials and botanical organic options.
Ater many years of being without this reference book, and the only copies stolen or lost from the local library, (I understand why) I now have my own and will guard it greedily.
It's an essential additional to my professional library and highly recommended for others in the horticultural industry too, even if you are in the subtropics as I am.