Time And The Gardener

From her vantage point as an octogenarian gardener, Elisabeth Sheldon knows that one of the most important elements in the making of both a great garden and a great gardener is the passage of time. Now, in Time and the Gardener, Sheldon shares with readers the lessons, triumphs, tips, and favorite plants that have inspired her over the last three decades.

There are no stupid questions here. Everyone has to start somewhere, after all. In The First-Time Gardener: Growing Plants and Flowers, Sean and Allison McManus, the gardening pros behind the popular website and podcast Spoken Garden, answer all of your questions and more. Caring for outdoor plantings can be intimidating, especially if the process is completely new to you. Before running to the hardware store to stock up on plastic bags of mulch and tools you don’t really need, arm yourself with the know-how to plant and tend outdoor areas correctly and safely. Doing so saves you time, money, and energy—and helps make the process a whole lot more fun! With help from this easy-to-follow beginner gardening guide, you’ll learn: Tips for selecting the best plants and flowers for your growing conditions The best planting techniques for different types of plants How to mulch trees, shrubs, and garden beds correctly Pruning dos and don’ts for common garden plants Ways to keep weeds out of outdoor areas—without using synthetic herbicides How to recognize and manage different pests and diseases naturally Insider tips on everything from the difference between annuals and perennials to choosing the best organic fertilizer Plus, you’ll find time-management advice and tips for effective, resource-conscious gardening You will close the book not only knowing how to care for your home's outdoor plantings using earth-friendly methods, but also knowing the satisfaction of a beautiful, all-natural landscape. This book is part of The First-Time Gardener's Guides series from Cool Springs Press, which also includes The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables. Each book in The First-Time Gardener's Guides series is aimed at beginner gardeners and offers clear, fact-based information that's presented in a friendly and accessible way, including step-by-step instructions and full-color illustrations throughout.

Beautifully illustrated throughout, this guide will teach you the very basics of what gardening is about. It assumes no prior knowledge and takes you through the basics of planning a garden, choosing plants and turning your ideas into reality.

For use in schools and libraries only. In a series of letters relating what happens when, after her father loses his job, Lydia Grace goes to live with her Uncle Jim in the city but takes her love for gardening with her.

The First-Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening is an essential beginner’s guide to building, filling, and growing a raised bed vegetable garden.

From her vantage point as an octogenarian gardener, Elisabeth Sheldon knows that one of the most important elements in the making of a garden is the passage of time. This is true in the making of a gardener as well; no great gardener is young. Now, in Time and the Gardener, Elisabeth Sheldon shares with readers the lessons, triumphs, tips, favorite plants, and more that have guided her over the last three decades. The result is a book that is both practical and enjoyable, a perfect companion for new and veteran gardeners alike. Sheldon's long life in gardening has yielded a plethora of lessons -- for instance, that novice gardeners should not take gardening books too seriously, and that gardeners should never berate themselves over plants that die. She also advises her readers on such timeless topics as seed gathering, gardening in the deep woods, mail-order plants, and putting the garden to bed. Sheldon is a plantswoman par excellence, and in Time and the Gardener she writes delightfully about many of her favorite plants -- columbines, lysimachias, clematis, astilbes, and more. Even gardeners in other eras have inspired Sheldon, and in this book she gives readers colorful portraits of some of her favorites -- Jane Loudon, Gertrude Jekyll, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and others. Marvelously written yet intensely opinionated, witty, and wise, Time and the Gardener is vintage Sheldon and will inspire and inform gardening enchusiasts everywhere. Book jacket.

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

From Minnesota to Moscow — how to grow fresh figs in cold climates Growing Figs in Cold Climates is a complete, full-color, illustrated guide to organic methods for growing delicious figs in cold climates, well outside the traditional hot, arid home of this ancient fruiting tree. Coverage includes: Five methods for growing figs in cold climates including overwintering Cultivar selection for cool and cold climates Pruning techniques for a variety of methods of growing figs in cold climates Pest problems and solutions Harvesting, including ways to speed ripening, identify ripe fruit, and manage an overabundance Small-scale commercial fig production in cold climates. Fresh figs are juicy, full-bodied, and filled with a honey-sweet flavor, and because truly ripe figs are highly perishable, they are only available to those who grow their own. By choosing the right cultivars and techniques, figs can be grown across cool and cold growing zones of North America, Europe, and beyond, putting them within reach of almost every gardener. Easy and delicious — if you can grow a houseplant, you can grow a fig.