The Garden Primer

Now the beloved classic is revised front-to-back. The new edition has gone 100% organic, which in Barbara Damrosch's hands also means completely accessible. It reflects the latest research on plants, soils, tools, and techniques. There is updated and expanded information on planning a garden, recommended plants, and best tools. Ecological issues are addressed much more extensively, covering lawn alternatives, the benefits of native species, wildlife-friendly gardens, and how to avoid harmful invasive species. More attention is paid to plants appropriate to the South, Southwest, and West Coast, while cold-climate gardeners are given detailed advice on how to extend the growing season. Simply put, the book is a richer and fuller compendium than ever before, with more text, more illustrations and garden plans, expanded plant lists, and gardener's resources. But Barbara Damrosch's core of practical, creative ideas and friendly style remain — she is still an "old-fashioned dirt gardener" at heart.

"This comprehensive compendium of gardening facts, helpful hints and earthy advice is an unusually readable, user-friendly gardening encyclopedia. The book's first section covers the basics of what a gardener needs to get started: principles of landscape design, 'What Plants Need,' gardening gear and how to buy plants. Damrosch, who aims to 'answer as many questions about gardening as possible,' gives more than the standard instructions for making compost and buying pruning tools; she includes details like parts of plants and a comprehensive guide to botanical names that give beginning gardeners an unusually sophisticated and scientific footing. Her intimate, up-to-date, down-to-earth writing is distinctly rooted in the garden, with humor born of experience: 'A garden hose is like a lover that you can't live with and can't live without. No scientific advance, to my knowledge, has yet tamed its willful nature.' With sections on annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, fruits, bulbs, lawns, trees and even houseplants, to name a few, and with specifics for individual plants in each section, this book will be a useful addition to the collections of seasoned gardeners as well as novices." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Barbara Damrosch delivers the goods." Chicago Tribune

"Barbara Damrosch's writing has the snap of a good snowpea and the spice of an old rose." The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer

"An extraordinarily comprehensive guide." The San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

"Takes your soaring visions of garden splendor and plants them firmly in the ground." The Toronto Star

"Covers just about everything you could think of and then some." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Best of the crop." House Beautiful

Remarkably complete, this is the one: the indispensable one-volume reference guide to gardening simply, beautifully and well. It is jam-packed with useful information, old-fashioned common sense, and a lifetime's worth of experience, and is thoroughly revised and expanded to be 100 percent organic in its recommendations. Updated with the latest on plants, soils, techniques, and tools, it includes: The basics of landscaping, emphasizing sustainable methods. Understanding what plants need and avoiding complex rules and formulas. How to choose and combine flowers for season-long color, orchestrating with perennials and accenting with annuals. Extending the season - that's right, harvest carrots in January. The secret to raising roses without fuss, less demanding lawns, vines with discipline, and trees that will enhance your property. There is new information on native species, and all the gardening resources you needand#8212;explained in a voice that andquot;has the snap of a good snowpea and the spice of an old roseandquot;

The most comprehensive, entertaining, down-to-earth one-volume gardening reference ever, and highly praised:

andquot;Barbara Damrosch delivers the goods.andquot;and#8212;Chicago Tribune

andquot;Best of the crop.andquot;and#8212;House Beautiful

andquot;Barbara Damrosch's writing has the snap of a good snowpea and the spice of an old rose.andquot;and#8212;The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer

andquot;Covers just about everything you could think of and then some.andquot; and#8212; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

andquot;An extraordinarily comprehensive guide.andquot; and#8212; The San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

andquot;Takes your soaring visions of garden splendor and plants them firmly in the ground.andquot;and#8212;The Toronto Star

Now the beloved classic is revised front-to-back. The new edition has gone 100% organic, which in Barbara Damrosch's hands also means completely accessible. It reflects the latest research on plants, soils, tools, and techniques. There is updated and expanded information on planning a garden, recommended plants, and best tools. Ecological issues are addressed much more extensively, covering lawn alternatives, the benefits of native species, wildlife-friendly gardens, and how to avoid harmful invasive species. More attention is paid to plants appropriate to the South, Southwest, and West Coast, while cold-climate gardeners are given detailed advice on how to extend the growing season. Simply put, the book is a richer and fuller compendium than ever before, with more text, more illustrations and garden plans, expanded plant lists, and gardener's resources. But Barbara Damrosch's core of practical, creative ideas and friendly style remainand#8212;she is still an andquot;old-fashioned dirt gardenerandquot; at heart.

Barbara Damrosch is one of the nation's most respected garden experts and writers. She is also the author of Theme Gardens, and writes a weekly column for The Washington Postcalled A Cookand's Garden. She appeared as a regular correspondent on the PBSseries The Victory Garden, and co-hosted the series Gardening Naturallyfor The Learning Channel. She is the co-owner, with her husband, Eliot Coleman, of Four Season Farm, an experimental market garden in Harborside, Maine, that is a nationally recognized model of small-scale sustainable agriculture.