Customer Reviews

Ortho's Home Gardener's Problem Solver

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Ortho kills bugs, pests and diseases. This book is indispensable for any serious or semi-serious gardener. Where there is growth there will be "anti-growth" force. The wilted vine, the brown grass, yellow spots on leaves, discolored needles, clusters of pink soft-bodied insects and, yes, garden fans, gray grubs with brown heads are all part of the "anti-growth" force.

This problem solving book has excellent color photos illustrating every problem you could possibly encounter. The layout below the photo is simple, yet very effective: Problem, Analysis, Solution. No book in my gardening library is used more.

"The Ortho Home Gardener's Problem Solver" even has a section for household pests (sorry, no section for your neighbor's barking dog). If it has a downside, it is that it is published by a chemical company which means that there are NO organic solutions. By-in-large Ortho's motto is "if it is alive, we can kill it chemically." This is the definitive reference tool for the home gardener. Highly recommended.

Anyone who is serious about gardening needs this book. The four page section on "How a Plant Works" is crammed with valuable information that will help almost anyone become a better gardener. The book starts by helping the reader identify symptoms that will help you reach a diagnosis of the problem. Color coded pages lead you to the chapter you'll need - Lawns, Trees etc, then you'll find a photo illustrating the problem, a map to assure that it does indeed occur in your area, an analysis of the issue and suggestions for solutions or at least for ameliorating the problem.

There is a vast amount of information in this book, well, organized and very readable. You can flip through quickly and easily to find the garden problem that's bothering you, and its solution. The research is thorough, and the consultants list is first class. There are a generous appendices that guide the reader to plants that are disease resistant and away from plants that are susceptible to specific problems.

This is a valuable book that should be on every gardener's bookshelf.

Our local Master Gardeners operate a call-in Hotline to help local gardeners who experience problems. We have been building a resource library to go with the university published fact sheets. This book by Ortho was on the list of books that would be helpful.

Having owned a copy of this book that I had given to a son several years ago I ordered two books of this title, one for the Hotline and one for the other son. It is a keeper.

I bought 7 books and gave away as presents, everyone loved them. Great for basic information and the pictures helped with identifing problems.