Useful for Inland Northwest gardens
935451
I gave this to my husband for his March birthday. He's been reading it for good suggestions to help with his Spring yard work.
4347894
The pictures are very clear and helpful in determining what invasive species live in my outdoor space.  Identifying and removing these first provides a great jumping off point for overhauling my outdoor space to a native plant landscape.
4530695
cute and portable. useful for water baby plants in the garden
3318227
As its title suggests, this book is an all-purpose reference for those who want a low-maintenance garden they can care for in the free hours they have on the weekends. To illustrate what she means by "weekend gardening," Roth starts out the book by comparing her garden with her next-door neighbor Bill's. Bill used to spend all weekend, every weekend, out in the yardmowing his steeply sloped lawn, pruning his massive overgrown shrubs, weeding the flower beds, and hauling "bag after bag of leaves" in the falleven though he didn't seem to get much enjoyment from any of it. By contrast, Roth and her husband invested most of their gardening hours (which she estimates at about one-fourth of Bill's) in revamping their landscape to make it easier to maintain, as well as more attractive. Over the first four years in their home, they drastically cut back the amount of lawn, filling in the areas with mulch, ground covers, and beds of herbs and perennial flowers. They also added a salad garden to one side of the house, as well as beds of berries and cutting flowers, thus turning a scruffy and hard-to-mow area to productive use. Most of all, they always chose their plantings carefully to require little maintenance in future, so that they would need less time, less water, less fertilizer, and less resources in general to keep looking their best.

The Weekend Garden Guide has sections on ground covers, shrubs, flowers (with a special emphasis on perennials), vegetables, fruits, and trees, as well as a full-color insert with 32 pages of photos of gorgeous yards designed along weekend-garden principles. There are also handy boxed features on such topics as pruning techniques, how to divide various types of groundcovers, the best plants for various areas (shade, sun, foundations, etc.), and lists of high-maintenance plants not to include in your yard, from disease-prone trees to "finicky" perennials. Perhaps the most useful section, however, is the "Encyclopedia of Easy-Care Plants for Weekend Gardens," a huge table of plants sorted by type and botanical name with notes on their appearance, cultivation, and uses in the landscape. Arranged into sections based on their function in the landscape (groundcovers, deciduous trees, perennials, etc.), this at-a-glance reference is the easiest possible way to find easy-care plantings that will work for your particular site.

Although I have a whole shelf devoted to gardening books, this is the one I refer to most oftenperhaps even the only one I refer to often. If all the books on my gardening shelf were destroyed in some kind of freak accident, this is the first one, if not the only one, I'd replace. This is the book that first taught me the easy way to care for raspberries (cut them all back each winter, then harvest one big crop the next fall) and informed me about the existence of bush cherries, which aren't even covered in most gardening books. I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who wants a beautiful garden but doesn't want it to be a full-time job. Whether you hate gardening (but love the results) or love gardening (but have limited time for it), this book will save you hours of effort and leave you more time for the best part of gardening: enjoying the fruits of your labors.
32723
Novice gardener here.  SO AND I scattered these seeds in regular garden soil late March - zone 9 - Northwest Arkansas.  We didn't really know what we were doing.  Seemed to take forever to see little seedlings and then arrive at wildflower bonanza but I think this spot gets a little more daily shade than I originally thought.  As you can see from pic we now have an overabundance of beautiful blooms (Yes I plan to thin them out but I wanted to see what they were first )
Lots of Chinese forget-me-nots, zinnias, rose mallow.  Some nasturtiums, sweet alyssum, and toadflax(?).
108044
Plants doing well in a chilly window sill-only have to water once a week or so.  Beautiful though! Thanks.
2261155
I live in a small 2-bedroom apartment with limited space and limited exposure to the sun out of my east and west facing windows.  I live in Alaska so I REALLY look forward to planting stuff each spring because after 6 months of winter I'm ready for warmer days and starting an indoor garden is a great way to get it going before the snows all gone.

My apartment poses two issues -

1) I'm on the north end of a 4-plex so I only get a few hours of morning sun and another few hours of evening sun in early-mid spring.  This means I needed something I could easily move from one side of my apartment to the other as I chased the sun.  The Gardman R687 4-tier mini greenhouse does the trick perfectly as it is VERY lightweight yet very sturdy.  I can very easily move the enitire unit, without any disassembly, from one side of my apartment to other which I have to do daily (I remove the plant trays first to avoid spilling them but could probably move the whole get-up if I were really careful).

2)The other issue is space. The 4-tier design is really nice as I can have 4 trays of plants going at once and the upper tier offers more "head room", so to speak, for my already established plants that I'm trying to kick start for spring.  Also the lightweight wire shelves are easily removed so once my plants get going I plan to transfer the greenhouse out to our balcony with two tiers removed for more room for my tomatoes and peppers to grow.

The unit is easily accessible via the two front zippers which once unzipped allow you to lift the entire front panel of plastic up and out of your way and the zippers seem to be fairly durable as well.  The plastic is fairly heavy weight and overall the unit looks to be very durable but since it's my first season using it, time will tell.  For the price, I don't think you can beat it.  I can't believe Amazon shipped it to me for free (thank you, Amazon!) as most online merchants either don't ship to Alaska at all or they gouge us because we're not in the lower 48 states.  Amazon is one of the only online merchants that treats those of us in the 49th state like we're actually part of the USA.
1787834
I am using these as aan aalternative version of a drip system on outdoor plants. The uptake of water seems highly variable between plants of the same type planted next to each other. Certainly, the cause could be unrelated to the delivery system. The spikes were easy to use, and I had no difficulty installing them without any breakage.
3682060
A very specific book with lots of details on individual plants.  If you like to landscape or garden in the Western region of the U.S. I recommend this book.  Love the pictures.
662020
My wife stumbled across these things when looking to replace those hideous coconut husk baskets from Lowe's. These pots still need to be topped off each day in the summer (at least in Texas), but the bougainvillea started blooming like crazy once transplanted. It also keeps the grass from dying from the run-off from other planters that drain out. Careful about the cable hangers, though. One of ours came loose and they're not easily fixable. A quick call to the US distributor had a free replacement to us in a week.
4683530
I received this book as a gift so I didn't have time to peruse in a bookstore or online before making a decision but I have been very impressed so far.

After some basics in the first few chapters the book is organized in alphabetical by vegetable.  There is a little bit of history and information about where the plant came from and usually a nice color ink drawing.  For the hands on growing parts it starts from the beginning and guides you through to the end of the season where it even gives guidance for how to ensure the soil is rich and prepared for next season.  There is also a section on saving seeds for each vegetable I've read about.

Given the author is from Seattle it also gives some very pertinent advice for growing in the Pacific Northwest which is pertinent to my garden in Vancouver, BC.

The season is still early so we'll see how the garden turns out at the end of the season.
1391242
Bought this for my Daughter's birthday.  Wish I had one for myself.  Very useful book if a person like gardening and lives in the Pacific Northwest.
76171
I was looking for a field guide for the Southern Appalachians with bloom times and locations, and this book delivers that information. Each plant description lists the months for blooming, as well as habitat information with the occasional tip where to find it along the Blue Ridge or in the Smoky Mountains. A list of State Parks and other places with addresses, phone numbers and websites is provided as an appendix, making this a useful resource for planning your next wildflower hike.

The book is suitable for the lay person without any botanical knowledge due to its organization by flower colors rather than taxonomic groupings. The index contains both common names and scientific names, making it easy to look up information on a certain plant. Almost all plant descriptions list sizes for petals, leaves etc and the back cover provides a convenient ruler in both inches and centimeters to measure plant parts in the field.

The book covers almost 300 plants (~292 based on a quick count). Given that the Southern Appalachians are an extremely diverse area with thousands of plant species, this means that it is restricted to just common plants. For example, I could not find any of the rare or endangered wildflowers I've photographed on Grandfather Mountain or Roan Mountain in this guide. It does include quite a few non-native plants that are common in the area, but this book is likely to fall short when trying to ID uncommon or even rare endemic species.

The photographs are mostly around credit card size with a few larger and smaller ones. With a few exceptions where only the flower or inflorescence is shown, the pictures show flowers and foliage, often even the entire plant. Since leaves and growth habit are often important clues in identifying plants, this is good information. However, I find the quality of the images to be a bit of a mixed bag. Quite a few images appear to have been taken in full sun, which is not the best lighting for wildflower photography. Some are less useful than others due to the small size of the flowers in the pictures or looking overexposed with loss of detail. This is particularly a problem with white and brightly colored (e.g. yellow) flowers. It looks a bit like spot-metering should have been used to expose these properly but wasn't. Other pictures look beautiful and give a good impression of the plant. As someone who photographs wildflowers as a hobby, I know how hard it can be to get good images of them, but I would hope for more consistently high quality pictures in a field guide.
2945584
I've had a lot of fun with the AeroGarden. I've grown flowers, herbs, cherry tomatoes, and now that the weather has gotten cold, I think I will probably go back to flowers for some color. It's so easy to care for. All you do is dump in a few cc of the plant food and top off the water every couple of weeks. It does the rest.
2395691
My  acre lot hosts a house, driveway, sidewalks, and  of the paved street in front of the property. Restrictive covenants prohibit vegetable and fruit plantings in the front yard so my veggie growing space is reduced to a narrow band inside the full-shade backyard. Kate Copseys book, The Downsized Veggie Garden, was written for gardeners who have limited space but desire to make the most of it.

Copsey begins with a discussion of gardening options in various living arrangements such as apartments, condominiums, townhomes, and suburban homes with postage-stamp lots. She acknowledges the additional challenges present by restrictive covenants, though the reader should not expect suggested workarounds. When the gardening bug bites, dedicated gardeners struggling under those covenants may need to seek a new property.

The book offers ideas suitable for nearly everyonewindow boxes, containers, vertical gardening and Square Foot Gardening. In a chapter dedicated to raised beds and containers the author states, The ideal vegetable garden is the one that fits into your lifestyle, your available space and how it connects with your home activities. Copsey then explains the importance of sketching the property and planning the garden before planting, and she reminds the reader of the need to understand the sunlight patterns for the chosen garden spot.

Copsey covers the benefits and disadvantages of planting seeds directly versus purchasing starter plants. Tips for progressing from seeds to healthy plants take the guesswork out of the process, and the authors experience is evident in the myriad suggestions directed toward making the gardener successful.

Guidance for choosing plants that behave in limited space permeates the book. Seasonal planting grids for use with a 4 x 4 raised bed remove the guess work on designing the garden. In addition the reader will discover twelve easy-to-grow herbs that can spice up meal time. Imagine the feeling of stepping from the kitchen to the patio to pick fresh basil for the evening meal.

The Downsized Veggie Garden presents a wide-spectrum of veggie gardening knowledge from the authors extensive experience. This useful book would make a great addition to any gardeners library.
4527594
Just a wonderful gardening book but 'only' for the Oregon Rogue Valley area.  I'm not familiar with the area but do have friends who moved there - thought this might help them.  We both love the book.
3966945
Living in west-central Wisconsin, I sought a gardening book for the northern U. S..  However, this book is aimed at Canada.  The table of frost dates contains only Canadian locations, & most of the nurseries listed are in Canada.  The hardiness zone map does include the U. S..  Otherwise, the information on growing vegetables, flowers & herbs should apply to the northern U. S..  A chapter is devoted to each of the three groups, & listed in alphabetical order, each plant is easy to find.  Trees, shrubs & fruits are not included.
  The copy I received is like new & cheap in price.