Customer Reviews

Herb Gardening for Dummies

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I will admit up front that I am a self confessed Dummie book fan. I own perhaps a dozen of them ranging from bird feeding to weather. I not only find them extremely comprehensive in their particular subject matter, but also they always seem to present their material with a humorous touch thrown in. They are interesting and educational, but also amusing and entertaining as well. This latest of the series that I picked up is no exception. Herb gardening is something of an idea that I have been batting around for some time now. I'm as much into the idea of it for fun and something to do as I am the potential bounty I hopefully will receive. Which I feel I have a lot in common with other folks in that respect as to liking gardening as a hobby. My only problem when it comes to any gardening with me personally is that I have little actual acreage to deal with that can be cultivated. That, and that I also have to admit that I am lazy, and have a nice big deck just begging for a contained herb garden. Although this dummie book devotes an entire chapter to container gardening, it still falls very much short of another book I have that deals specifically with growing herbs in pots. Magee and Stuckeys book which I have enclosed a link too. The dummie book would be my first choice if your intention is to dig and maintain a full fledged ground based herb garden. It's chock full of hints, info, illustrations, step by step guides, you name it as beginning and maintaining your own. And like all dummie books I have read in the past, it begins with their assuming you have never even heard of a herb garden. If you're a little more experienced than that, you can skip a couple of the opening chapters. But I would suggest you read them anyway. Their very informative and entertaining. But if like me you are interested in keeping your herb garden of the clean, lower maintenance variety container type, I would highly suggest you check out the Magee/Stucky book which in my opinion is the quintessential guide to all forms of container gardening. The dummie book unfortunately covers it all, and just falls a little short in that area. Happy gardening!... PS: By the way, the dummie series also has a book out on container gardening as well, but I have not picked it up or read any of it yet. I have no doubt that it is probably as good as the others in the series, and I would recommend checking out the reviews on it as well. McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers

This is a great book for someone planning an herb garden. There are descriptions of herbs, help in planning a garden, soil needs, plant diseases, ways to preserve herbs, info on medicinal herbs and more. I love the Dummies books because they're always well-written and informative and this book is no exception. A lot of fun to read and very helpful.

Generally not a fan of the "...for Dummies" books because I think that they simplify things too much, but I have to admit that I learned a lot from this book. Every summer I try to grow my own herbs, and sometimes I have success and sometimes I do not. Herbs can be very nutritious when combined in dishes, and for someone like me who likes to cook, I found this book will surely be a good reference when it starts to warm up! This book really helped me to understand why some things that I grow don't succeed while others do. I also really liked the section about where the various herbs come from (didn't know that aloe was part of the onion family). Always love a book that can teach me something new. Pretty decent publication!

This book has many things that most gardening books cover - soil type & preparation, zones & time to plant, and plant care - but it also covers things that I've been looking for and haven't found before picking up this Dummies book.

Chapter 17, Ten Lists of Herbs for Different Uses and Garden Situations shows lists of compatible herbs for different situations (kitchen herbs, container herbs, sunny, dry garden herbs, ornamental garden herbs, sweet tooth herbs, etc. The Appendix, An Encyclopedia of Herbs, however, is my favorite part of the book. The appendix goes through 67 different herbs, introduces you to the herb by giving a little history, planting instructions and suggestions for use. It is a really nice addition to this Dummies book.

There are other good chapters in this book - ranging from harvesting & preserving, herbs for healing, and herbs for culinary concoctions. The book is written in typical Dummies style, which is an easy to read format. The book includes some hand drawings, some information boxes, and a center of 8 pages of color pictures (I didn't find the color pictures a helpful addition to the book). Overall, this is a great herb gardening book and, because of the appendix, is a useful resource for any gardener.

Like most of the "Dummies" series, this is an excellent and rather comprehensive starter for its subject. Garden design, soil prep, plant selection, other useful products, choices as to seasons, and even a little medicinal herb information is offered. If you are interested enough to purchase this book, perhaps you will fill out some knowledge by choosing the many excellent books about growing herbs, use of herbs with food, and the medicinal use of herbs. The subject of plants is endlessly fascinating and the science of phytonutrients and medicinal use of plant substances is increasing exponentially... so it is always a good time to get started incorporating more healthy plants and plant extracts in your food and in your health regimen. This is a good "get acquainted" start for that. Blessings to you and yours.

Herb Gardening for Dummies provides very useful information for novice gardeners. I have always wanted to start a Herb Garden, but did not exactly know where to begin. This book provide the information needed to get started without making a lot of mistakes and to ensure a very healthy garden. Great as a beginners guide to Herb Gardening.

Herb Gardening for Dummies gives you all the information you need to build your herb garden.

This book has a wealth of information that you need... Along with giving some folklore and myths about various plants, I also appreciated how it:

* Shows how to make your own healing salves, cleansers, hair-care products, flavored oils, ect. (a real $ saver!)
* Includes herb identification, cultivation and preservation
* Provides cautionary advice on which herbs to avoid
* Contains numerous helpful gardening tips that I can use w/ other crops

My only wish is for more diagrams of aspects that may be confusing without visual aid. However, this wasn't a big problem for me.
"Herb Gardening for Dummies" is a surprisingly good book.

I've been interested in growing herbs but have never done so. I have several other gardening books and they only have a few pages or a chapter at best on growing herbs and the material I read from them never motivated me to actually try growing them.

BUT!!! "Herb Gardening For Dummies" has thoroughly motivated me try it. I've been reading through this book for quite a while now and on every single page I learn something new and interesting. It's like a fun school of how to go about the process of not only growing herbs, but where they originated, some of the folklore behind them, how to use them, and what part of the plants are good for what purpose.

I have discovered I have been growing some herbs just as ornamental plants outside in my yard. I had no idea that they were useful for anything else. This book is truly a great education on so many levels. Gosh, so many things are discussed such as soils, harvesting, preserving, making sachets, composting, medicines, patio gardens, herb anatomy, edible herbs and herbs that you need to avoid, making flavored oils and so much more! I've got several "Dummies" books on various topics and I love them all. This is the first one that I didn't have to pay for but it ranks up there with the rest of them.

Extremely good especially for the 1st time herb grower, like myself.

I'm not new to gardening but other than a few occasional attempts I've not grown many herbs. I knew enough to plant mint in a container (to keep it under control) but that was about it. I wasn't even sure what to do with most of them once they were grown. But this winter I've especially been looking forward to spring and getting out into the garden - and planned on including some specific herbs (after noticing how expensive they are in the grocery store!).

Herb Gardening for Dummies starts with the approach that the reader knows almost nothing about gardening. It covers such basics as an overview of what herbs are, climate zones and basic growing instructions, sample garden designs, pests, etc. Fortunately it goes on to explain methods for drying and storing herbs and includes a few recipes and instructions for how to use them in different situations (not all herbs are used only in the kitchen). Perhaps the most useful section after you've read it once is the encyclopedia of herbs at the end which is about 100 pages and full of useful information specific to each plant.

As is typical of the Dummies series of books it's well-organized, clearly written, and easy to follow using a corny kind of humor to explain concepts. It's got a small section of color photographs but most of the book is simple black and white drawings which are certainly adequate. It's more suited to the novice gardener than one with some experience, but still a useful introduction.

I recently started to use fresh herbs for a healthier diet and flavoring, and this wonderful "Herb Gardening for Dummies" has everything I need to know about them. From seed to drying and storing, it covers every facet of growing and using these magical, tasty plants, even to recipes for herbal vinegars, and warnings about flavored oils (but showing you how to safely do it if you must). Marinades, teas, and other uses are also described.

Where and how to plant your lovely herbs, sun, wind, and best locations for each variety, fertilizer questions, and an extensive chapter on container planting, which I found excellent, as my "garden" is a patio.

The "Appendix: An Encyclopedia of Herbs" is terrific, covering every popular herb, with sections of "How to grow," "Cultivars and related plants," and "Lore and usage." You'll find some amusing cartoons by Rich Tennant, and a full-color section of photos. For a plethora of information at your fingertips, "Dummies" books are great, and "Herb Gardening" is particularly good.