Customer Reviews

Ortho's All About Trees (Ortho's All About Gardening)

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

 

 

I can't imagine a book of this type where the buyer could get more bang for the buck. Just the beautiful color pictures of each species listed are enough to justify the cost but add in the charts and the quick and easy to reference material and this book is a tool that I would highly recommend to any homeowner.

This is no encyclopedia mind you but more of a reference manual and is basically limited to shade trees. Each page of the "Tree Selection and Growing Guide" section generally contains three types of trees so as you can imagine the information is superficial to say the least. The rest of the book gives hints on what trees grow best in certain situations such as which trees are the best street trees and which tolerate salt spray from the ocean and also gives pruning tips but I would look elsewhere for that information if I were you. One would also do well to look elsewhere for detailed information on each tree for the information provided here will only give you the basics. Also know that the producers of this book are a little conservative on what will grow in which zone so you can probably push the envelope a little. For example they say that Southern Magnolias and Crape Myrtles only grow in zone 7 or above but there are numerous specimens of both growing all around my zone 6 hometown.

The basics of course are what everyone planning to add trees to their landscape need to start with and this is an excellent book for that purpose. The information is clearly laid out in what amounts to a chart form for each tree, which will allow the reader to know in a glance if a certain species of tree is even a candidate for their landscape. By looking at the picture and the information provided one can easily decide if they are at all interested in that particular tree and can then check elsewhere for more in depth information.

I have found this book to be an extremely helpful addition to my library and I have referenced it over and again until it has become dog eared and ragged. I had never even thought of placing a Bald Cypress in my yard since I assumed that they needed swampy ground but with the aid of this book I have a nice healthy specimen growing only a little more than a hundred feet from my house. From my experience you will not likely find a handier guide to shade trees, especially for this price.

Overall a solid book. Great information and pictures for how to select, plant, and care for trees. However, if you are looking for a book that will give you several trees that thrive in zones 9 and 10 (southern California), you'll need another book.

Ortho's All About Trees is almost a great book about trees except it left out many of the fruit and nut trees, and just gives a partial list of species! It also does not include some species that have more zone tolerant relatives. For example, there is a type of Holly (Princess Holly for example) that is Zone 3-8, yet the book leads you to think Hollies are only zone 6-9. Also, newer trees such as Hydrangea Trees are not mentioned. How can you have a book about trees without mentioning the apple tree or pear tree, etc? No major fruit or nut trees are really mentioned except one type of walnut tree. Huh? It also just has a partial section on pruning, and does not say what time of year to prune and suggests to prune in summer by a rendition of a tree with leaves on it--most pruning of trees is not supposed to be done during the summer according to Ortho's All About Pruning. Did All About Trees lose some pages and chapters?

A five-star otherwise...

This book has everything you need to know about tees.