Ward Lock Encyclopedia of Practical Gardening: The Definitive Single-Volume Guide to Garden...

I kid you not - I looked through 2 shelves worth of gardeningbooks and went cross-eyed without finding anything as good as this.It of course depends on what you are looking for - if you wantdetailed information about how to grow waterlilies, this is not foryou. It is best suited for someone who is beginner to intermediate -although I think even the expert will appreciate having this fantasticreference to all the major (over 4000) flowering plants, shrubs andtrees, climbers, and fruit. Advantages of this book over thecompetition:1) There is a picture for every plant that ismentioned. It is amazing that not all gardening books have picturesand the description is just another plant name. Pictures also meanthat if you see a beautiful flowering bush as you are driving, you cancome home, check its name, and go to your local nursery to ask for it,rather that say "Uh, I think its got pink flowers, and greenleaves." Save your nurseryman from a headache and yourself fromembarassment! Oh and the photos are stunning as well, if you like toenjoy reading your garden books for pleasure.2) There are a few'encyclopedic' reference books around that give very detailedinformation about the plant, up to the history of its development -but no tips. Not so here. Each plant come with a short descriptionof the plant, useful hints for growing, and recommendations ofvarieties.3) There is a section on gardening techniques - coveringall the essential steps: planning (beautifully illustrated plans forthe garden to suit your needs eg. garden for family with children, forthe elderly or disabled, how to make a square garden look less angularetc. I love this section, it is so creative and the author has goodideas); there are also buying tips (how to choose); constructiontechniques (yes! actually teaches the easier methods of building aflower beds, fences, paving, steps, rock gardens and also coversthings like drainage, watering etc); propagation techniques; improvingsoil quality; maintainence and more.4) The author has thoughtfullyand very usefully compiled all the information in quick referencetables at the end, tabulating soil requirements, aspect/hardiness,foliage, flowering season, problems, etc. Basically everything youneed to know when planning which plants to put with what, what to growso you have flowers all year round, how to get plats to flowersimultaneously. It's amazing how many gardening books fail to dothis.5) ... I couldn't believe it. It's one third of the nextbest 'encyclopedia'-type book. You get so much out of it, consideringyou can buy a book just on planning and designing for that price....

Read and reviewed most what I have in my garden and found it very sourceable with all information on what I should do and prevent errors from occurring. I should have done my own planting AFTER buying this book to read to learn more on how my plants thrive on and give you a better GREEN THUMB knowledge. It's an excellent book for those who cannot afford a more expensive book and budget wise...