A Desert Gardener's Companion (Paperback)

~ Kim Nelson (Author), Paul Mirocha (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For old hands or inexperienced newcomers, A Desert Gardener's Companion is the essential reference for creating and maintaining a bountiful and environmentally sensitive Southwestern gardens. Master Gardener Kim Nelson provides a wealth of information in an easy-to-use seasonal format, covering what to do week-by-week in the desert climates of Southern California, Arizona, southern Nevada, southern New Mexico, and West Texas. Nelson covers everything from planting agave americana to mulching melons to adding zinc chelates to desert soils: one hundred sixty specific topics in all. Delightful drawings by noted nature artist Paul Mirocha demonstrate proper planting and pruning techniques, suggest complimentary landscape groupings, and illustrate specific low water-use plants. No other single volume provides as much useful advice about selecting, planting, and caring for such a wide variety of plants and gardens as Nelson packs into A Desert Gardener's Companion. Her informative and entertaining prose reflects her years of successful, hands-on gardening experience in both Southern California and Arizona and her wealth of knowledge gained as chair of the Plant Clinic at the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Tucson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Rio Nuevo Publishers; 1st edition (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887896201
• ISBN-13: 978-1887896207
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #263,668 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #14 in	Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > By Climate > Desert
  #30 in	Books > Home & Garden > Gardening & Horticulture > Regional > Southwest

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a practical guide for the desert, June 1, 2001

By A Customer

There has been a rush on new books about desert gardening lately, but most of them don't contain the secrets required to be successful. A Desert Gardener's Companion provides practical, only-learned-through-experience knowledge. In the manner of a confidante, it relays the intimate wisdom gained from a close, day-by-day relationship with a garden in the desert climate. With ecological explanations of why things happen, the suggestive advice makes good sense. This book could only have been written by a Master Gardener with a real love for their garden and the earth.