The Irish Gardener's Handbook


Book Description

Want to get into gardening? Wondering how to get started? Anxious that you won't know what to do? Have given up before, want to get started again? Want to improve your growing, yields and practices? This is the book for you. It takes you through all the most commonly grown vegetables and fruits in the context of Irish conditions. Learn from a gardener who has worked a garden since the 1940s as a child on his father's market garden, then as an adult home gardener and horticulturist, currently as an allotment advisor. This book combines the old and most recent knowledge in one easy-to-follow text. It's a book you'll consult over and over, through the wayward Irish seasons. Gardening for all situations




The Irish Garden


Book Description

Visit over forty of Ireland's most beautiful gardens without moving from your armchair with this stunning book, ranging from the grand old demesnes of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy to the intensely personal creations of passionate plantsmen and garden makers. Visitors to Ireland are often surprised at the 'palm trees' that make so many gardens look as if they belong in a holiday postcard. How can such exotics survive on an island that is as far north as the prairies of Canada and the pine forests of Siberia? The answer lies in the tail of the Gulf Stream - the North Atlantic Drift - which wraps around this green land on the western edge of Europe. Its warm and watery embrace bestows the renowned 'soft' climate that allows those palm trees (in fact, New Zealand cordylines) to make their homes here - along with tree ferns from Australia and bananas from Japan. Plants from colder regions, including rhododendrons, primulas and all manner of alpines, are equally happy. So, with a range of plants that runs from the subtropical to the subarctic, and a landscape that varies from gently pastoral to savagely rugged, the aptly named Emerald Isle has some of the most romantic and interesting gardens in the world. The result of a lifetime visiting, considering and writing about gardens in Ireland, and several years of dedicated photography, this is a truly comprehensive exploration of a fascinating subject.




Vegetables for the Irish Garden


Book Description

This text covers all aspects of organic vegetable growing and is specially tailored for Irish growing conditions. Each vegetable is described in detail including its history, folklore and concise information on how to grow it. It also covers ground preparation, soil fertility, composting, and green manuring.




A Year Full of Flowers


Book Description

Inspiration, planting ideas and expert advice for a beautiful garden all-year round Colour and scent are the hallmarks of Sarah Raven's style – and they are simple luxuries that everyone can bring into their garden. A Year Full of Flowers reveals the hundreds of hardworking varieties that make the garden sing each month, together with the practical tasks that ensure everything is planted, staked and pruned at just the right time. Tracing the year from January to December at her home, Perch Hill, Sarah offers a complete and transporting account of a garden crafted over decades. Sharing the lessons learned from years of plant trials, she explains the methods that have worked for her, and shows you how to achieve a space that's full of life and colour. Discover long-lasting, divinely scented tulips, roses that keep flowering through winter, the most magnificent dahlias and show-stopping alliums, as well as how to grow sweet peas up a teepee, take cuttings from chrysanthemums and stop mildew in its tracks. This is passionate, life-enriching gardening; it's also simple, adaptable and can work for you. Sarah has made the garden central to her life – this book shows you how you can too.




The Urban Farmer


Book Description

There are twenty million acres of lawns in North America. In their current form, these unproductive expanses of grass represent a significant financial and environmental cost. However, viewed through a different lens, they can also be seen as a tremendous source of opportunity. Access to land is a major barrier for many people who want to enter the agricultural sector, and urban and suburban yards have huge potential for would-be farmers wanting to become part of this growing movement. The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else's). Major benefits include: Low capital investment and overhead costs Reduced need for expensive infrastructure Easy access to markets Growing food in the city means that fresh crops may travel only a few blocks from field to table, making this innovative approach the next logical step in the local food movement. Based on a scalable, easily reproduced business model, The Urban Farmer is your complete guide to minimizing risk and maximizing profit by using intensive production in small leased or borrowed spaces. Curtis Stone is the owner/operator of Green City Acres, a commercial urban farm growing vegetables for farmers markets, restaurants, and retail outlets. During his slower months, Curtis works as a public speaker, teacher, and consultant, sharing his story to inspire a new generation of farmers.




Kitchen Garden Revival


Book Description

Elevate your backyard veggie patch into a work of sophisticated and stylish art. Kitchen Garden Revival guides you through every aspect of kitchen gardening, from design to harvesting—with expert advice from author Nicole Johnsey Burke, founder of Rooted Garden, one of the leading US culinary landscape companies, and Gardenary, an online kitchen gardening education and resource company. Participating in the grow-your-own movement is important to both reduce your food miles and control what makes it onto your family’s table. If you’ve hesitated to take part because installing and caring for a traditional vegetable garden doesn’t seem to suit your life or your sense of style, Kitchen Garden Revival is here to show you there’s a better, more beautiful way to grow food. Instead of row after row of cabbage and pepper plants plunked into a patch of dirt in the middle of the yard, kitchen gardens are attractive, highly tailored food gardens consisting of easy-to-maintain raised planting beds laid out in an organized geometric pattern. Offering both four seasons of ornamental interest and plenty of fresh, homegrown fruits, vegetables, and herbs, kitchen gardens are the way to grow your own food in a fashionable, modern, and practical way. Kitchen gardens were once popular features of the European and early American landscape, but they fell out of favor when our agrarian roots were displaced by industrialization. With this accessible and inspirational guide, Nicole aims to return the kitchen garden to its rightful place just outside of every backdoor. Learn the art of kitchen gardening as you discover: What characteristics all kitchen gardens have in common How to design and install gorgeous kitchen garden beds using metal, wood, or stone Why raised beds mean reduced maintenance What crops are best for your kitchen garden A planting, tending, and harvesting plan developed by a pro Season-by-season growing guides It's time to join the Kitchen Garden Revival and start growing your own delicious, organic food.




Texas Getting Started Garden Guide


Book Description

Full-color plant photos and complete step-by-step growing instructions for the native plants of Texas.




Month by Month Gardening in the Deserts of Nevada


Book Description

The Month-By-Month series is the perfect companion to take the guesswork out of gardening. With this book, you'll know what to do each month to have gardening success all year. Written by authors in your state, the information is tailored to the issues that affect your garden the most. When is the best time to plant trees and shrubs? Should I fertilize my lawn now? Is it time to prune my roses? What should I be doing in my garden this month? You'll find the answers to these questions and much more inside. This easy-to-use book highlights each of the ten major plant categories using a monthly format. It guides you through each month of the year, telling you exactly what your garden needs. It is like having an expert in the garden with you all year long. Valuable hints are located throughout the book, and beautiful photographs will inspire you. Written just for gardeners where you live, you can be confident that the information is right for you-and your garden will show it.




Agaves, Yuccas, and Related Plants


Book Description

Architectural and striking, these drought-tolerant plants provide excellent contrast to flowering perennial plantings. All the necessary tips to achieve success can be found in this helpful and expert text.




Georgia Master Gardener Handbook


Book Description

The Master Gardener Handbook is the official reference text produced by the University of Georgia and developed for Master Gardener training.