Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs [Hardcover]

Michael A. Dirr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2011

With Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs and Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates, Michael Dirr set the gold standard for horticultural reference. This season, Timber Press is proud to publish his seminal work, Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs, the most comprehensive visual reference on this important subject. A combination of Dirr's bestselling books under one cover, adding new plants, new photographs, plus all new commentary in Dirr's signature style, it is the bible of woody plants.

From majestic evergreens to delicate vines and flowering shrubs, Dirr features thousands of plants and all the essential details for identification, planting, and care, plus full-color photographs showing a tree's habit in winter, distinctive bark patterns, fall color, and more. In a class by itself for its quality of information, the best researched recommendations for hardiness in the industry, beautiful photography, and Dirr's own preeminence as a master plantsman, Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs is a critical addition to any garden library.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* With beautiful, artistic photographs and succinct text, this volume is nearly as attractive as one of the gorgeous blossoming shrubs discussed within. Dirr has added another well-written and slickly produced book to his volumes on plants used in ornamental horticulture. This volume is filled with information for the gardener, landscape architect, and all those curious about the trees and shrubs they may encounter.The chatty descriptions incorporate information often limited to tables—disease resistance, size, shape, and zone hardiness as well as some history and taxonomy. These descriptions are accompanied by high-quality photographs. Reading the entries is educational as well as inspirational for readers. There are mentions of trends, such as the note that junipers are falling out of fashion but that potentillas are highly regarded in northern gardens. An appendix listing plants for specific needs and purposes is notable. Comments like “about the closest to red flowers but still not red” speak of Dirr’s passion for and delight in the trees and shrubs as well as his expertise. His personal experiences with particular species are forthrightly and sometime wryly noted: “They sit in the garden and look at me, never prospering.” With descriptions of 380 genera illustrated with 3,500 photographs, this is likely to become a standard reference for including trees and shrubs in gardens of all types. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries. --Linda Scarth

Review

“Seasoned gardeners, landscape professionals including nursery and garden center personnel, designers, architects and enthusiastic beginners need look no further.”

(Erica Glasener )

“His book Manual of Woody Landscape Plants has been a go to reference around the office years so we're excited about his latest book.” (P Allen Smith PAllenSmith.com )

“A new gold-standard.… [R]efreshingly readable and personable for a reference manual. This book will be your personal Dr. Dirr ready and willing to advise you and your customers on the right plant for the right purpose.” (Ellen Wells GreenProfit Buzz )

“If you're the type of gardener who likes to settle in with big, fat reads over the winter, Dirr's 8-pound (I weighed it) "Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs" (Timber Press) could keep you occupied until April.” (Cindy McNatt OC Register )

“…[H]e grows or has grown many of the plants he writes about. Fortunately for the rest of us, his passion for plants continues and this book is bound to gain him even more fans.” (Erica Glasener EricaGlasener.com )

“Professor Michael A. Dirr is THE MAN when it comes to woody plants.  And I agree –‘smart, opinionated, comprehensive, wonderful’ - all true!” (Susan Harris GardenRant )

“A gorgeous updated version of the classic. Do you need it? Yes!” (Jane Millman Upstate Gardeners' Journal )

“Excellent and thorough coverage… I would recommend this book to any gardener seeking a definitive book on woody landscape plants for North America.” (Jessie Keith Working Mom's Garden Blog )

“Michael A. Dirr does not disappoint." (Nursery Management Magazine )

“Dirr has guided discerning gardeners for decades -- he has made the American landscape a better place.” (Adrian Higgins The Washington Post )

“The man we have all relied on for decades outdoes even himself in sussing out the woody-plant picture today.” (Margaret Roach AWayToGarden.com )

“Dirr has added another well-written and slickly produced book to his volumes on plants used in ornamental horticulture. Educational as well as inspirational…this  is likely to become a standard reference for including trees and shrubs in gardens of all types.” (Booklist )

“Long regarded as the nation’s foremost expert on trees and shrubs, Dr. Dirr… draws on his encyclopedic knowledge and years of personal experience with trees and shrubs.” (Better Homes and Gardens )

“For obsessed plant geeks, this 8-pound tome gives renowned Prof. Michael Dirr’s rundown on just about every woody plant you’d ever want to grow (and lots you wouldn’t.) It’s got color photos, too.” (George Weigel GeorgeWeigel.net )

“Whether you're a landscape designer or architect or just a garden enthusiast, you can't do without either of these (Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs and the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants) books.  The new Dirr Encyclopedia is a sheer delight, and way too long in coming!” (Jane Berger Garden Design Online )

“This is likely to become a standard reference for including trees and shrubs in gardens of all types. Highly recommended.” (Booklist )

"More like an arboreal expose than an encyclopedia, everyone who has something woody in their life needs to own a copy of this book…Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs helps us separate the dynamos from the dregs" (Cuttings )

“Dirr’s frank and often witty assessments make his works all the more special, unique, and fun to read.” (James B. Calkins The American Gardener )

The world of trees and shrubs is dealt with as thoroughly as anyone has done it before. (The Oregonian )

"This is an important and valuable book, truly Michael Dirr's magnum opus, and well worth the price." (Catriona Tudor Erler Smith Mountain Laker Magazine )

"Dirr... fills the text with fascinating information for the gardener, landscape architect, and all those curious about the trees and shrubs they may encounter." (Linda Scarth Booklist )

"Everything you will ever need or want to know about the...beauties in your own yard...is here." (Barbara Mahany Tri-Valley Herald )

"For any serious gardener, the expense of this book will be repaid many times over in the valuable advice and information it will impart, page by page and pound by pound.”

(Country Gardens )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 952 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press (October 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881929018
• ISBN-13: 978-0881929010
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 2.1 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > Shrubs
  • #2 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Gardening & Landscape Design > Trees
  • #4 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Gardening

More About the Author

Michael A. Dirr is a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia. He is the author of twelve books, including Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia and the text and reference book, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, and has published more than 300 scientific and popular papers and articles. His teaching, lectures, seminars, garden study tours, and plant introduction programs have contributed enormously to greater horticultural awareness. He has received the highest teaching and gardening awards from the University of Georgia, American Society of Horticultural Science, American Horticultural Society, American Nursery & Landscape Association, Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Southern Nursery Association, and Garden Club of America.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Landscaper's Dream Come True! October 27, 2011

By Pie Grrrl VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've been in love with Michael Dirr's brain since I was a student of his at U of I, Urbana in the 70's. Like other fans, I've got each addition of his "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants", the industry Bible. If your nursery or landscaper does NOT have a weather-beaten copy of the Manual in their shop or truck, DO NOT HIRE THEM!!! lol

I received advance notice of this book's release and placed an advance order, counting the days until arrival. And it's finally HERE<<<, in my hot little hands, and ready to be devoured and enjoyed.

Note: The weight of this book is NOT for the faint of heart. It must surpass 6-7 pounds, as a hard cover. The quality of the paper used for printing is of high quality; the way a high-priced coffee table book should look and feel.

The photos show a lifetime of passion by Dr. Dirr; this must be one of his proudest achievements, to place in ONE spot just some of the photos he's taken throughout his career. Crisp, clean and sharp; some show Autumn colour, flowers, and adult form, which will be invaluable to landscape services. When you are trying to impress upon a client just HOW BIG a certain tree will become and they don't believe you, THIS book will put that topic to rest.

This certainly does not replace the Manual of Woody Plants; it's a short cut with Dirr's usual pithy comments. There's adult size and zoning, with a paragraph or two about each genus and species, but you'll certainly need the Manual for more specifics.

What is missing from this book, which I was hoping was present but is not, is clear close-ups of terminal buds of the trees and shrubs. Even in the Manual of Woody Plants, the majority of line drawings are only of the individual leaves and rarely a terminal bud, which is KEY to identifical of the more unusual of plants. A friend of mine, who is an arborist, is weekly running into botanical oddities that were dragged from the woods of Wisconsin or Michigan, or ordered from a now defunct nursery and he has NO CLUE what these things are! He and I log 2-5 hours per week, trying to key them out from Dirr's descriptions in the Manual; if he had included terminal buds in this book, it would have made it perfect.

However, most people do not have to key out random and odd Ostrya virginiana or Lindera benzoin trees on a daily basis so they will love and cherish this fine volume. I knew I needed one copy; I was waiting to delve into it to see if I need another. Yup, I do: one for my office and one for my truck, to take to meetings.

Any Dirr fan will want/need this book to add to their collection of one of our nation's greatest living horticulturists. Do I recommend it? See above! :)

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words November 8, 2011

By Bryan Campbell

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Dirr is truly a Giant of his industry. All of his books have been invaluable go-to references. This book is a little less information rich than his "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" but it does provide many of the critical details along with large beautiful photos. As with his other books Dirr shares his opinions openly and often with great humor. This book would be a good introduction for someone discovering Dirr for the first time.

This man truly lives for what he writes about. Almost every plant in his encyclopedia is accompanied by some personal experience or observation by the Author. I am humbled by his knowledge and grateful that he has taken the time to share it with us.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dirr's Encyclopedia a new industry standard November 26, 2011

By Gen of North Coast Gardening TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The internet has removed the need for so many types of book. Between the online nursery descriptions and search engine image searches, you can find basic information on many types of plant, and that's often good enough.

However, things become tricky when you're trying to compare plants. For example, recently I wanted to plant a Spirea `Neon Flash', but all the nursery had was `Anthony Waterer'. Using the internet, the descriptions looked remarkably similar, to the point where I wondered whether I was dealing with the same plant under two different names (this happens a surprising amount in the plant world).

This is where a giant, thorough encyclopedia comes in handy.

Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs is a game-changer. Twice as thick as Dirr's most famous work, Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs, it is crammed full of photos and deliciously blunt descriptions of each of the varieties listed. The book feels like a gift - the essence of Dirr, immortalized - and is clearly going to be the new must-have book for anyone serious about gardening.

The benefits of a comprehensive enclyclopedia like this are numerous. First, in my Spirea research, I was able to get a clear comparison between `Neon Flash' and `Anthony Waterer'. (If you're curious, `Neon Flash' is slightly shorter, much less wide, and doesn't have the tendency to develop cream-colored foliage reversions as does `Anthony Waterer' - in short, had I gone with the internet's advice I would have been pruning dear Anthony off his neighbors for years to come.)

Second, I trust Dirr. He's brutally sarcastic, thoughtful, and has no motive to make a plant sound better than it is (hello, nursery catalogs!). I've certainly gotten some nasty surprises over the years through ordering plants that sounded fabulous from nursery descriptions, and then had lackluster coloring or performance. Dirr cuts through all the hype and nonsense, and provides clear comparisons and quick summaries of the benefits or drawbacks of each variety.

And the photos! Oh, the photos. There are 2-6 color photographs on every page, which means that I can see for myself what the habit or flower color looks like, without having to guess what "vase-shaped" or "more red than the species" means to him.

If you've ever tried to look up an unusual plant in any search engine's image search, you know the extreme limitations of that media. Mislabeled plants, no clear distinction between named varieties, and few photos of the habit of the plant (just flower closeups) are just some of the issues.

Seeing the photos of differing varieties laid out right next to each other has already saved me enormous amounts of time when selecting just the right variety for a spot. It takes a lifetime of travel and dedication to build a photo library as extensive as this one, and it is almost as much of a gift as the text itself.

If you're a gardener and you already know and love the usual Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs, then this much-more-comprehensive encyclopedia is going to be on your wishlist this Christmas. I'm keeping my old copy of Dirr's Hardy, but mostly because it's so muddy, dog-eared, and highlighted that I feel I'd be getting rid of a personal journal to pass it on now. In the years to come, I expect this new encyclopedia to take on that same well-beloved look.