Roots Demystified: Change Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive [Paperback]

Robert Kourik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2007

Roots Demystified, explains simple solutions about growing healthy roots and, thereby, healthier plants. The book explores the subterranean part of every gardener's world, revealing how roots really grow while dispelling myths such as where most gardeners apply water, mulch, and fertilizer or compost. This is the first and only book in print for gardeners with such an extensive number of illustrations of garden and orchard roots. The roots covered are: lawns, prairies, shrubs, vegetables, fruit trees, and native and ornamental trees. Practical tips for how a gardener might use this new information to create more abundant vegetables, better lawns and sturdier trees and shrubs are offered with each of the 70 illustrations. Roots Demystified also describes several ways to garden without turning the soil--no-till and surface cultivation--a plus for aging baby-boomers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kourik's color photos and Massion's art effectively illustrate a text that fulfills the title's promise. The author's advice is sound and practical although the reader may bridle at his tone at times. (Attempting a chatty informality, for example, he orders one to "find a comfortable chair and leaf through the book.") Otherwise, this is a valuable guide to the holistic approach to gardening, which relies on natural fertilizers and avoids chemicals. The author begins with suggestions for designing plots according to environment, space available, personal preferences. (The pictures prove that areas featuring vegetables, herbs, fruit- and nut-bearing trees and other edibles can be beautiful.) Kourik, who frequently appears on TV and lectures nationally, includes recipes that use the wide variety of foods featured here.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Kourik espouses organic gardening methods to create beautiful edible landscapes that are compatible with other plantings as well as with the climate, terrain, and the owner's budget. Expanding upon Rosalind Creasy's The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping ( LJ 5/1/82) he makes this gardening fashion seem not only reasonable but easy. From design basics to how to grow specific vegetables, fruits, herbs, he describes his methods and theories and adds lists of books for further reference. Appendixes are voluminous and cover some unusual aids (e.g., estimating amounts of materials needed for landscaping projects). A useful addition. Louise B. Hodges, Amherst County P.L., Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Metamorphic Press (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0961584831
• ISBN-13: 978-0961584832
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I have ever read related to gardening!, September 11, 2005

By 

M. Andrews - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally (Paperback)

I am an experienced gardener but I never fail to learn something new when I pick up this book. I have had my copy for over fifteen years but still find the information current. This book is a must for anyone who has every wanted to grow an edible garden. From cover crops to choosing apple tree varieties it's packed full of information. I only wish the author would write another similar book so I could buy it. I own most of the books written about edible landscaping and can say this is by far the best.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book!, January 26, 2008

By 

A. Halpin (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roots Demystified: Change Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive (Paperback)

This insightful and instructive book is full of surprising information--it's incredibly useful. Understanding how roots grow is key to successful gardening, and a lot of what I thought I knew about them (such as that most of a tree's roots lie below its canopy) was wrong. Kourik debunks a lot of myths, and his clear, easy to read text is loaded with interesting bits of information on growing all sorts of plants. This book is a valuable addition to my library, and I'll consult it often. I'm a lifelong gardener, and I learned a lot!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good introduction to plant root growth, March 1, 2008

By 

A. M. Gladding (Coastal Mountains, Northern CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Roots Demystified: Change Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive (Paperback)

Roots Demystified: Change Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive, by Robert Kourik.

A good introductory book to the growth of tree, shrub, and plant roots. Has some material on other things that grow in the soil that interact with roots, and some basic soil science, including a brief chapter on fungus and symbiotic relationships. There are sections on vegetables, shrubs, and trees, how their roots grow and differ, with good planting and care advice. If you have other books with sections on roots, there is little new here. If not, it is a good book to start with. It has a good reference section of current books that we can actually purchase or borrow.

I have read the book, and thumbed through it several times more, and I am still not sure what the author's recommendation for changing my gardening habits to is, there does not seem to be a conclusion or summary. I think, I may be wrong, that he recommends double digging if the soil is poor or compacted, then move on to compost, mulch, and shallow tilling only.

The book is recommended by John Jevons, the "Grow Biointensive" double digging proponent, and it often mentions Ruth Stout, the no dig no work gardening advocate of thick mulching. He draws on the work of John Weaver in the 1920's and 30's, which is good, as Weaver's books are not readily available.

All in all a good book, easy to read presented with a dry sense of humor, solid information, a book I may go back to read again for inspiration, and a bit of reference.