New Gardening Books: 2015

Building Soil: A Down-to-Earth Approach

This is your down-to-earth, complete manual for achieving great gardening results with your own rich, organic soil!How do you recognize healthy soil? How much can your existing soil be improved? What are the best amendments to use for your soil? Let Building Soil answer your questions and be your guide on gardening from the ground up! Fertilizing, tilling, weed management, and irrigation all affect the quality of your soil. Using author Elizabeth Murphy’s detailed instructions, anyone can become a successful soil-based gardener, whether you want to start a garden from scratch or improve an existing garden.
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Foodscaping: Practical and Innovative Ways to Create an Edible Landscape

Foodscaping is chock-full of real-world examples, photos, and advice so that even an “average Joe” homeowner and gardener can grow food without sacrificing either their lawn or their home’s appearance.
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Essential Perennials: The Complete Reference to 2,700 Perennials for the Home Garden

Perennials are the mainstay of any garden. But how do you choose from the thousands available, and care for the ones you already have? Essential Perennials helps you decide exactly which plants will bring you the beauty you want and will thrive in the conditions you can provide. Trusted garden experts Ruth Rogers Clausen and Thomas Christopher focus on what every gardener needs to know. For each plant you’ll find information on flower color; season of bloom; foliage characteristics; height and width; light requirements; and hardiness and heat sensitivity. You’ll also learn cultural tips, the most outstanding cultivars for each species, and whether a plant has any special requirements or potential problems.
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The Nonstop Color Garden: Design Flowering Landscapes & Gardens for Year-round Enjoyment

The Nonstop Color Garden shows how to use color as an exciting element in your garden during all four seasons. Perfect for experienced gardeners and engaged novices alike.Your garden can be a kaleidoscope of color in every season!

Ask any gardener and they will tell you, color is the most important (and most fun!) part of garden design. In The Nonstop Color Garden, author Nellie Neal shows how to use color as an exciting element in your garden during all four seasons–and it’s not just flowers!
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The Right-Size Flower Garden: Simplify Your Outdoor Space with Smart Design Solutions and Plant Choices

Today, the reality of a “bigger is better” garden no longer holds the same allure as a “small is beautiful” one. We’re busy, we’re aging, and the demands of the garden can feel overwhelming. What to do? Make smarter use of the space we have and the plants we select, says garden expert Kerry Ann Mendez. In The Right-Size Flower Garden, she shares her successful recipe for having a garden we can manage and love again…the right-size, low maintenance, drought tolerant garden. The goal is ditching 50% of the work by choosing high-value plants and making simple design changes.
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Grow a Little Fruit Tree: Simple Pruning Techniques for Small-Space, Easy-Harvest Fruit Trees

Grow your own apples, plums, cherries, and peaches in even the smallest backyard! Expert pruner Ann Ralph reveals a simple yet revolutionary secret that keeps an ordinary fruit tree much smaller than normal. These great little trees take up less space, require less care, offer an easy harvest, and make a fruitful addition to any home landscape.
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The Allergy-Fighting Garden: Stop Asthma and Allergies with Smart Landscaping

If you are one of the millions of people with allergies or asthma, this totally unique book shows you how to avoid plants that trigger allergies and to create a garden that will actually protect you by trapping pollen and cleaning the air around you. This revolutionary approach combines the best of horticulturist Thomas Ogren’s previous books—Allergy-Free Gardening and Safe Sex in the Garden—into a full-color guide, including hundreds of new and updated plant listings and photographs.
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How to Mulch: Save Water, Feed the Soil, and Suppress Weeds

Mulching makes your garden and yard much easier to care for, helping to retain moisture, keep weeds in check, and protect young plants. This concise guide shows you exactly how to mulch for any situation, covering sheet mulching, feeding mulches, and living mulches for use in the yard, garden, and home landscape. It even includes a quick-reference chart of mulch types and a section on mulching for success with specific vegetables.
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Texas Month-by-Month Gardening: What to Do Each Month to Have A Beautiful Garden All Year

Texas Month-by-Month Gardening, the companion to Texas Getting Started Guide, presents a month-by-month breakdown of what to plant, when to plant, and how to take care of it in order to have a beautiful Texas garden year-round.

If you’re a home gardener, knowing what to do when can be overwhelming–that’s where Texas Month-by-Month Gardening, the companion book to our Texas Getting Started Garden Guide, comes to the rescue. Inside, Houston horticulturist Robert “Skip” Richter makes it easy with a in-depth month-by-month breakdown of what to plant, when to plant, and how to take care of it in order to have a beautiful Texas garden all year round.

Northwest Gardener’s Handbook: Your Complete Guide: Select, Plan, Plant, Maintain, Problem-Solve – Oregon, Washington, Northern California, British Columbia

The complete guide to select, plan, plant, maintain, and problem-solve for gardeners living in the Northwest (including Oregon, Washington, northern California and British Columbia). The Northwest Gardener’s Handbook is filled with all the need-to-know information to make your Northwestern garden a success. This book is the when-to, how-to, and what-to of gardening for the more experienced gardener.  A section devoted to water-wise gardening offers insight into a key component of every garden which is especially in this region. Save water, money and time with Pat’s tips!

Gorgeous, full-color photographs provide at-a-glance information on the best plants to use in any situation. Create the best garden possible, using information designed for your specific needs. Whether you’re designing a garden from scratch or maintaining one that you’ve had for years, this is the book for you!

Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time

Savor your best tomato harvest ever! Craig LeHoullier, tomato advisor for Seed Savers Exchange, offers everything a tomato enthusiast needs to know about growing more than 200 varieties of tomatoes — from sowing seeds and planting to cultivating and collecting seeds at the end of the season. He also offers a comprehensive guide to the various pests and diseases of tomatoes and explains how best to avoid them. No other book offers such a detailed look at the specifics of growing tomatoes, with beautiful photographs and intriguing tomato profiles throughout.

Growing Christmas Trees: Select the Right Species, Raise the Best Trees, Market for the Holidays

Growing Christmas trees is a great way to generate off-season farm income and make better use of your land. This Storey Basics® guide shows you exactly how to grow and sell your trees, from choosing the best site and preparing the soil to selecting the best tree species, planting seedlings, maintaining trees to market size, controlling weeds, dealing with pests and diseases, marketing your trees, and generating additional income with wreaths and greens.

Managing Manure: How to Store, Compost, and Use Organic Livestock Wastes

Anyone who raises livestock or keeps horses must deal with manure, and this concise guide shows you how to make it manageable, valuable, and even profitable. Expert Mark Kopecky thoroughly discusses the characteristics and nutrient content of the manure of various species. He then explains the fundamentals of storing, composting, and spreading manure and even how to handle and market certified-organic manure for fertilizer on organic farms.

From Vines to Wines, 5th Edition: The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine

From breaking ground to savoring the finished product, every aspect of growing flawless grapes and making extraordinary wine is covered in this classic guide. Fully illustrated instructions clearly show you how to choose and prepare a vineyard site; build effective trellising systems; select, plant, prune, and harvest the right grapes for your climate; press, ferment, age, and bottle wine; and judge wine for clarity, color, aroma, and taste. This revised and updated second edition features all-new information on creating your own sparkling wines, ice wines, port-style wines, and dessert wines!

Garden-pedia: An A-to-Z Guide to Gardening Terms

Gardenpedia fills the need for a clear, concise book of useful terms for the layman gardener. In a friendly, conversational style, Pam and Maria give the reader easy access to the what, when, why and how of gardening — with over 300 of the most common terms you’ll encounter, presented with entertaining sidebars, useful tips and color photos throughout. Say goodbye to confusing “hort-speak” terminology. This A-to-Z tool offers simple explanations and high graphic appeal. Up-to-date and authoritative — and the first of its kind — Garden-pedia is destined to be the reference of choice for new or experienced gardeners, Master Gardeners and green industry professionals everywhere.

The Kid-Gardener’s Planting Book for Parents: Gardening tips, tricks and ideas for kids of all ages and abilities

Your child wants to grow a garden. You have the location picked out and have brought home soil for a container or for a planting bed outside — but what comes next? Pick plants easy enough for your child to grow without the disappointment that comes with choosing beautiful, but delicate plants…and then seeing them wither away instead of prospering. First-time gardeners may show no rhyme or reason in picking their plants, and there is no reason to expect more from kids. Before you help your kids choose, think about the kind of garden you want. Choose your child’s tools wisely, pick the plants that fit his or her needs, and start gardening.

Grow A Living Wall: Create Vertical Gardens with Purpose

Shawna believes gardeners are still stuck on the ground, in containers and limited floor space. Grow a Living Wall is her guide to growing vertically — but doing it well. Containers might be the comfortable option, but Shawna says a little effort will pay off big. This book breaks down the right system for every garden goal. A shady space, full sun, veggie only, flowers only, herbs and cocktails… the options are laid out according to a shopping list and planting & maintenance instructions. The goal is to provide a Living Wall that meets the space and the conditions while producing exactly what the gardener wants on the plate or in the vase.

The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change

The New Shade Garden is a comprehensive guide for a new generation of gardeners who are planting gardens not only for their beauty, but also for their positive impact on the environment. Detailing all aspects of the gardening process, the book covers a wide range of topics such as designing your own garden, choosing and planting trees, preparing soil for planting, solving the deer problem, and the vast array of flowers and foliage that grow best in the shade. Ken walks the reader through every step, sharing personal anecdotes and plant lore and offering advice on how to respond effectively to our changing climate, shrinking resources, and challenging new weather patterns.

Monet’s Palate Cookbook: The Artist & His Kitchen Garden at Giverny

Monet’s Palate Cookbook contains 60 recipes inspired by Monet’s 2 ½ acre kitchen garden, his farmyard and travels. Also, chapters include his ornamental gardens and house interior. PBS television channels will be using the book as a fundraiser in June together with a video of the same name.

The Herb Lover’s Spa Book: Create a Luxury Spa Experience at Home with Fragrant Herbs from Your Garden

Sue shows us how to create the luxury spa experience in our own home featuring fragrant, therapeutic herbs from the garden. With lavish photos throughout, The Herb Lover’s Spa Book gives the reader simple steps for growing and preparing herbs for the home spa. It has never been easier to enjoy the spa ambiance and let the stress of the day melt away.

A Gardener’s Compendium, Volume 1 Gardening with Life: Gardening in a Twitter World in 140 Characters or More

A Gardener’s Compendium is a collection of garden facts, quotes, anecdotes and history categorized by context into themes and appropriate hashtags. The broad scope of this series and the painstaking efforts Teresa has made to ensure the accuracy of the content and its source will make A Gardener’s Compendium an invaluable resource for new gardeners, garden writers, bloggers, teachers, and anyone who desires to provide an interesting fact for presentations or is just looking for a source of like-minded inspiration.

Homegrown Herb Garden: A Guide to Growing and Culinary Uses

Take your home cooking to the next level by incorporating fresh homegrown herbs! You don’t need lots of space for a huge herb garden, and you don’t need to spend a lot of money on fresh herbs at the grocery store or farmers’ market. With Homegrown Herb Garden, you can choose the herb or herbs you will use the most and build your herb garden around them. Start with an overview of how to grow, harvest and store herbs. Then, learn how to handle each herb and what flavors they work well with. The culinary section includes how to prepare and use your herbs, plus savory and sweet recipes to feature them in. Choose your favorite herbs, learn to grow them successfully, and never be at a loss for what to do with them!