Customer Reviews

Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

At first blush, I'm a little disapointed. I wanted some nice photographs and there aren't any. bummer. I like to see how things will look. It's hard to imagine landscapes without the photos. There is a lot of information, so I guess that is what really counts, but its like a cookbook without any pictures to wet the appetite. Kind of boring and uninspiring.

I'm sure this book is interesting to some, but it left me disappointed. The style was too dry and technical to inspire me.