The Hillier Gardener's Guide to Trees and Shrubs [Hardcover]

Editors of Reader's Digest (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 1997

The most comprehensive guide on trees and shrubs on the market. This is an extraordinary reference and practical, hands-on manual. The authoritative plant directory is arranged alphabetically and comprises more than 4000 plants from more than 400 genera.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The late John Kelly, an extensive contributor to gardening literature and the BBC's Gardener's World program, presents an authoritative, alphabetically arranged plant directory covering more than 4000 plants with over 400 genres represented through the support of the Hillier Arboretum. An excellent introduction to using the guide is followed by plant hardiness zone maps and discussions of basic biology, theory and practice, selection and purchase, care and maintenance, pest and diseases, plant propagation, plant names, and plant selection. These serve as the prologue for the plant directory, listing trees, shrubs, conifers, climbers, and bamboo. The descriptions cover such details as plant size, flower color, rate of growth, special plant attributes, and hardiness for both the United States and Canada. Superb full-color photography accompanies the plant descriptions. The index gives common names, gardening terms, and techniques, and italic page numbers refer to photographs and illustrations. An earlier Hillier work of horticultural-historical comparison is Sir Harold Hillier, Desmond Clarke, Roy Lancaster, and P.H.B. Gardner's catalog of plants, Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs (1972), an inspiration for the present publication. Carefully composed and well written, this reference source is highly recommended for all public and academic libraries with horticultural collections, as well as special libraries in the fields of botany and horticulture.?Daniel Kalk, Enfield, Ct.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest (October 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895779730
• ISBN-13: 978-0895779731
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #989,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb! Better than Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs, December 27, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Lexington, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hillier Gardener's Guide to Trees and Shrubs (Hardcover)

Every connoisseur of ornamental trees & shrubs will love this book. Containing more than 3,000 crisp, very detailed color photos, including the most awesome Cedar of Lebanon photo one can imagine, it is the single best illustrated encyclopedia on the subject of woody ornamentals. Although it is based on ornamental plants that can grow in the United Kingdom, and therefore incomplete for the U.S. gardener (ex., Lagerstroemia (Crapemyrtle) was not included), it more than makes up for these few omissions in rich horticultural detail. Beginning with some basics (glossary of terms, U.S. and Canadian climate zone maps, basic biology of trees & shrubs, etc.), it quickly moves to topics of greater interest to the common gardening enthusiast, such as selection, care & maintenance, propagation, and pests & diseases of woody ornamentals. In the Plant Directory, the Latin and Common names of each plant are listed, followed by a detailed description of its character, its geographic derivation, the date that it was introduced into the nursery trade, the northern extreme of the U.S. and Canadian hardiness zone that it will live in unprotected, and whether or not it has received the Award of Garden Merit (AGM), given by the Royal Horticultural Society to recognize plants of outstanding excellence for garden use. A sample entry in the Plant Directory is "Prunus Sargentii (Sargent Cherry) Considered by many people to be the lovelist cherry, this is a round-headed, small deciduous tree with chestnut brown bark and bronze-red young foliage. The single pink flowers open in early spring, and the small, almost black fruits ripen in midsummer. It is one of the first trees to color in fall, when its leaves turn orange and crimson. Japan, Korea. Introduced 1890. Zone 4 U.S., 5b Can. AGM". The Plant Selector is of great value to the gardener, containing detailed listings of plants and trees for various soil types and growing conditions, plants of pendulous and upright habit, plants with ornamental bark, bold foliage, good Fall color, ornamental fruits, fragrant flowers and foliage, and flowering plants with typical time of flowering, just to name a few. In short, if you could only have one book on Ornamental Trees & Shrubs in your library, this should be the one.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent encyclopedia of woody plants, plus more., June 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hillier Gardener's Guide to Trees and Shrubs (Hardcover)

There is a pocket version of this magnificent book, but I can't imagine not wanting the real thing. This is a book lovingly written by members of the renowned Hillier Arboretum. The book can be considered an excellent reference for all woody plants, not only trees and shrubs. Many vines are included as well as woody perennials and herbs.

The design is easy to use, laid out in order by genus, and includes many good color photos. All the major chapters include culture tips and information not easily found elsewhere. With more and more cultivars available each year, this work does not strive to be all-inclusive, but instead will stand the test of time as a guide to the real backbones of the garden: the trees, shrubs, vines, and woody perennials. This is a book for the beginner eager to learn more but will also capture the fascination of the more seasoned gardener. I continually reach for it when coming across an unfamiliar name, or enjoy perusing it after a trip the arboretum.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite reference for woody plants, February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hillier Gardener's Guide to Trees and Shrubs (Hardcover)

Simply put, I love this book! Its listings are extensive, and I can usually find the specific cultivar that I am looking for. The pictures are a good balance between close-up detail shots and distance shots that show the overall structure of the plant. The information is quite detailed and often includes such tidbits as, "This cultivar is beautiful, but quite susceptable to fireblight...". My one complaint is that they don't give estimates on the eventual size of the trees/shrubs. They do tend to clasify them as small/ medium/ or large, however they don't give a definition as to what size ranges these catagories correspond to. Other than that, however, I have no complaints what-so-ever, except for lack of funds to by all of the fantastic specimins I fall in love with in this book!