Customer Reviews

The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Finally, a book that doesn't just identify the plant but tells you what to do with it once it is in your garden!Tracy DiSabato-Aust writes in detail about the particular characteristics of each plant, growth patterns and how to maintain the good health and look of each plant. Easy to follow language and excellent descriptions of how to prune, prepare soil and where it thrives best make anyone feel like a professional. I also appreciate the author's personal comments about what she finds most appealing about each plant or how she has used it in her various landscaping projects. The accompaning photos and diagrams show clearly how to prune, before and after pruning, pruning techniques described, landscaping from raw patch to full grown beauty and more. This book was recommended to me by the hortalculturalist at our favorite perennial farm who had a well worn copy on his desk. I have given this book to three other perennial gardeners and continue to receive raves about its helpfulness. If you already have an encyclopedia of perennials, this is the next one for your library and garden!

As an avid reader and passionate gardener, I have to tell you this is a great book....simply a must for your bookshelf. The book begins with a thorough explanation of soil preparation and some basic ideas on designing with perennials and then gets right to the the heart of it's real message...teaching innovative perennial pruning and maintenance techniques...not only the hows but the whys as well. If that isn't enough there is a very good perennial plant encyclopedia with each plant's maintenance regimen described fully according to the procedures we have just learned. This is cutting edge (please excuse the pun) gardening, but is based on common sense and patient observation. We are encouraged to get out in our gardens and watch how our own plants grow and then how they respond to our care... or lack of it. New gardeners will learn their skills the right way and us old dogs will just have to learn a few new tricks!

The book is composed of three main sections. The first section has 104 pages of garden advice and technique: 26 pages are on soil discussions, bed preparations, and maintenance factors. 12 pages on planting techniques, mulching, and fertilizing. 10 pages on pests and disease. 56 pages on pruning, deadheading, thinning, staking, division and seeding.

The second section is an encyclopedia of 179 perennials (about 100 pages). Each perennial is described by growing zone, common name, scientific name, size, and flowering season. Each plant contains a paragraph or two about pruning, maintenance, and related plants. The majority of the plants listed grow in zones 4-8.

The third section of 50 pages contains the appendix, glossary, and index. Information covers 4 pages on ornamental grasses, 8 pages on monthly maintenance planning (broken down by what to do each month), 36 lists of recommended perennials for specific growing conditions, USDA zone map, 5 page glossary, 2 page bibliography, and a 13 page index by plant name.

The book also includes informative photographs. 64 full color pages of garden designs, techniques, and planting ideas. Each picture is captioned by a descriptive comment identifying what technique or characteristic is being shown in the photograph.

This is a great book for the beginning gardener, and even the garden expert might learn a thing or two. It contains clearly described gardening techniques, maintenance advice, planting recommendations, an encyclopedia of common perennials, photographs and a glossary. The book is filled with solid information and comments gained from garden experience. No fluff here.

An excellent garden technique book. Especially useful for the beginning perennial gardener. A great buy!

This book is one of the best written on how to handle prennials. I meet Tracy at a seminar on here book and practices at Longwood Gardens in 1998. I have spent more then 10 years in the feild of Landscaping and we go by her book as reference. We have even used her book with customers. Last year for Christmas I bought the book for every member of my staff. I most truely recommend this book even for the beginner starting out. Keeping the world bright and beautiful Michael S. Haldy Landscape Owner

This book not only helps you select the best perennials for your garden, but goes into detail about how to keep your garden looking its best. I think it is better suited to the more experienced gardener, however, because in most cases the Latin names are used as opposed to the common names that most beginners are familiar with. It has great appendices, naming perennials suited for particular situations. In the photo section there are neat "before and after" pictures. The author is honest about a plant's shortcomings such as high maintenance. It is a definite "must have" for serious perennial gardeners.

This book is one of the top 25 best sellers for Timber Press, who have earned an enviable reputation for publishing top-notch books about gardening.

Like many authors of this type of book, DiSabato-Aust has divided her material into two parts. Rather less than half provides information about basic perennial gardening - planning, maintenance and pruning for example. Rather more than half is a listing of plants giving basic information about each and information about maintenance and pruning specific to the species, and related plants.

I found the most useful sections to be those on disbudding, pinching back, cutting back, thinning and dead-heading. I know these are all ways to encourage better blooms and healthier plants, but I've never known how much, when and with which plants. This book explains these techniques thoroughly. I've no excuses now - it's off with their heads and I'll have masses of bloom and compact healthy plants.

The writer has packed a ton of valuable information into this book, but it isn't the most readable book on this topic and the illustrations aren't up to the usual standard for Timber Press. The dedicated gardener, however, will find lots of ideas for refining their gardening techniques.

I am a garden designer and consultant for folks who do their own work. I recommend this book because it explains everything you need to know - getting started, renovating, grooming, dividing, wintering - it has it all.

If you've ever been afraid or uncertain of when to prune or cut back your perennials, you won't be after reading this book. I've been an avid perennial gardener for many years and had no idea I could prune my perennials to delay bloom time or alter their appearance. Pruning and maintenance suggestions are in an easy to read A-Z Encyclopedia format. Beyond pruning, a great section on bed preparation and planting will guarantee your success.

I was already an experienced home gardener when I fell into a job managing a large estate landscape. But when confronted with hundreds of plants with which I had little previous experience, I realized that instinct would only get me so far, and so I bought this book. It doesn't have every plant that I have ever looked up, but I think the information it does have is great. She is very specific about how each plant grows and flowers and behaves, and her voice is very reassuring and knowlegable.

I do find her lauded pinching and pruning techniques to be a little on the anal side, and have had mixed success with them. Some plants really do flower later and more profusely if you pinch them, but others didn't work out for me even though she recommended it. And some of the suggestions seem downright odd. Why would you want Eupatorium to grow shorter than its usual 7'? Its height is what makes it so special. Better to plant it where it can be appreciated. I also don't find it necessary to pick the seedpods off of Siberian Iris... they bloom fine for us every year, and why rob the winter garden of the seedpods when they're so attractive. Plus, who has time to do that?! But her experience is extensive, and she shares plenty of vital information along with all the tips for overprotective gardening.

This was a great resource that gave me the information I needed to learn how to take care of my client's gardens. But so many of her specific techniques seem to be affected by climate, soil, and other factors, that I now prefer to rely on my observations rather than follow her handy catch-all month-by-month gardening schedules and obsessive pruning instructions. I am grateful for the jump-start this book gave me, and it will always have a place on my reference shelf.

I've gardened for 40 years and have finally found crucial information on pruning perennials. Since we usually have only one go at a plant a year, we don't want to prune a plant for flowers just to find we have lost our years's bounty. On the other hand, I'd like to have a tidier garden, less need for staking, better formed and healthier plants. This book is a treasure--complete, knowledgeable, and easy read. Thank you, thank you, Trace DiSabato-Aust.