THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210074
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT STIFFLER, GARDENING COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Long : 164 lines
WHO WOULD BELIEVE you can become a better gardener by lying on the beach? It's true. Reading new gardening books while relaxing on the beach is one of the best ways to spend summer.
I read so many product bulletins and university releases each week that the only time I can ever read a book is on the beach. I usually finish a book or two per week read while loafing in the sun. I suggest you try it. Your garden will sit up and take notice next spring.
More garden books have reached my desk in the last six months than at any time in 20 years. Here's a smattering of information about some of them.
Everyone's into book publishing, and established gardening supply companies are jumping on the bandwagon. Park Seed released a couple of books a few years back but then went back to concentrating on seeds. Burpee also started a series in 1993 and has published two or three titles each year. The Burpee books are available at garden centers for $18 to $30. The latest is ``Peter Schneider on Roses'' (Macmillan Publishing Co., $18 hardback). Schneider has grown more than 1,400 rose varieties and helps compile and edit the annual directory of all roses known to be in commerce.
A recent entry into the book business is Scotts, the fertilizer and grass seed people in Marysville, Ohio. Scotts' books ($14.95) are in question-and-answer format, but be prepared for many of the answers to recommend Scotts products. Each book contains 50 full-color landscape solutions, done by the folks at Better Homes and Gardens. They're available where Scotts fertilizer is sold.
Ames Garden Tools has teamed with Cypress Gardens resort in Florida to publish a series of books that cover a wide range of gardening topics. The books cost $16.95 apiece and are sold in garden centers.
Better Homes & Gardens has its own series of new books, called ``BH&G Step By Step Successful Gardening'' (Meredith Books, $16.95 apiece). The series includes books on perennials, low-maintenance gardens, annuals, vegetables, trees and shrubs and ornamental grasses. Another new book from Meredith is Better Homes & Gardens ``Gardening Weekends'' ($24.95). It's written for those who garden only on weekends. The last in Meredith's new releases is ``BH&G Complete Guide to Flower Gardening'' ($29.95). All are available in garden centers or can be ordered through bookstores.
For those who want to garden organically, ``Let's Get Growing'' by Crow Miller (Rodale Press, $23.95 hardback) gathers 20 years of organic gardening experience in one book. Miller is founder of the Spring Meadow School of Organic Farming and Gardening on Long Island.
For gardeners short on space, ``Movable Harvests'' by Chuck and Barbara Crandall (Chapters Publishing, $19.95 paperback) offers bucketfuls of advice. The authors say anything that grows in a garden will grow in a container. They have been ``bucket farmers'' for 20 years and tell how to grow lettuce, asparagus, apples, pears and raspberries, among other things, in containers. Order direct by sending a check for $23.95, including shipping, to Chapters, 2031 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, Vt. 05482. Call (800) 892-0220.
A Well-Watered Garden'' by Harriet Crosby (Thomas Nelson Publishers, $14.95 paperback) comes with this statement from the publisher: ``This is not a gardening book, rather it is a gardener's book, designed for anyone who wants a visual display of God at work in their life via the birth, death and renewal that is inherent in the gardening process.'' You can order it by calling (800) 251-4000, Ext. 1113.
Barbara Pleasant is an experienced, knowledgeable gardener and writer, living in Huntsville, Ala. She writes often in Organic Gardening magazine and has recently released ``Earth Safe Remedies for Plant Diseases,'' (Storey Communications, $12.95). The book has no fancy color photos, just a lot of sensible advice on how to control diseases without using chemicals. To order, call (800) 441-5700, Dept. YP.
If you're a do-it-yourselfer and want to build something with stone in your garden, pick up a copy of ``Step-by-Step Outdoor Stonework'' by Mike Lawrence (Storey Communications, $21.40 paperback). Lawrence tells how to build retaining walls, arches, patios, garden paths, steps and in-ground garden ponds. This is the fifth title from Storey on working with stone. To order, call (800) 441-5700, Dept. YP.
Storey Communications has three other new gardening books: ``Contained Gardens, Creative Designs and Projects'' by Susan Berry and Steve Bradley ($25 hardcover); ``Dirt-Cheap Gardening'' by Master Gardener Rhonda Massingham Hart ($9.95 paperback); and ``The Gardener's Complete Q&A,'' by the Storey staff ($39.95 hardcover). The titles are self-explanatory. Storey likes to sell its books direct. Use a credit card and call (800) 441-5700, Dept. YP.
Reading ``The City Gardener's Handbook'' by Linda Yang (Random House, $18 paperback) is like having a friendly neighbor helping you create your small garden. Yang, who writes for the New York Times and is on the board of the Herb Society of America, provides encyclopedic information in a warm manner.
Marianne Binetti of the Bellevue, Wash., Journal-American says this of Yang's work: ``This book is the perfect gift for the retired couple moving to a smaller space or the first-time homeowner with a small yard and blooming enthusiasm.''
The Natural Habitat Garden'' by Ken Druse (Clarkson Potter Publishers, $40 hardback) is a natural gardening book, beautifully illustrated. It's message is: ``Grow only the plants that naturally occur in your own region, giving back to nature some of what has been lost in the onward march of our concrete civilization.''
Especially for Southern gardeners is ``Common Sense Vegetable Gardening for the South'' by Bill Adams and Thomas LeRoy (Taylor Publishing Co., $21.95 hardback). Adams is a widely read extension agent in Texas. ``Rediscover the great taste of home-grown vegetables,'' the authors write, and they take a common-sense approach, so you can grow good vegetables with minimal effort. This book, however, lacks an index, sometimes an indicator of a book's usefulness.
Another release just for the Southern gardener is ``The Southern Heirloom Garden'' by William C. Welch and Greg Grant (Taylor Publishing Co., $29.95 hardback). It spotlights unusual plants in a lavishly illustrated volume. Included is a list of sources for ordering heirloom plants.
There never seem to be too many books on herbs. ``At Home with Herbs'' by Jane Newdick (Storey Communications, $21.95 hardback) provides ideas for using herbs in cooking, crafts, decorating and cosmetics. It's a selection of Better Homes & Gardens Book Club, Guild America and Rodale Book Club. To order, call (800) 441-5700, Dept. YP.
It's not true that the only good bug is a dead bug, writes Allison Mia Stracher, author of ``Good Bugs for Your Garden'' (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $10.95 hardcover). Stracher says that making a garden a haven for good bugs can drastically reduce the bad bugs that plague your plants. The average square yard in a garden contains 1,000 insects, including beetles, worms, spiders and flies, which are pollinators, soil builders and predators of plant-eating insects, she notes. Stracher's book shows how to identify the ``good guys'' with one good bug to a page.
It's always smart to try to save on energy costs and ``Energy-Efficient and Environmental Landscaping'' (Appropriate Solutions Press, $19.95 paperback) is devoted to that effort. Authors Marc Schiler, professor of architecture at the University of Southern California, and Ann Simon Moffat, a scientific writer who contributes to the Sunday Times of London and The New York Times, say you can cut your utility bills up to 30 percent with proper landscaping. Several reviewers have named it ``the best on this topic.'' You can order direct by sending a check for $22 to Dover Road, Box 39, South Newfane, Vt. 05351 . Fax or phone (802) 348-7441.
One of the most beautiful new books in years is Nancy Goslee Power's ``The Gardens of California'' (Crown Publishing, $50 hardback). It may be no more than a coffee table decoration for gardeners in this area, but House Beautiful magazine calls it ``one of the best gardening books in years.''
If your peach trees aren't as healthy as you'd like and you need the secret to growing big fruit, you may want a new book titled ``The BackYard Orchardist'' by Stella Otto (Chelsea Green Publishing Co., $14.95 paperback). It's a complete guide to growing fruit trees in the home garden. Otto operates an orchard and farm market and is a horticultural instructor. The book can be ordered by any bookstore or call (800) 639-4099. Fax (603) 448-2576.
Finally the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which publish the best booklets for the least amount of money, has just released ``Butterfly Gardens.'' The small book covers 20 of the most commonly found butterfly species in the United States and the best plants to attract them. You can buy direct with a credit card for $10.70, including shipping and handling, by calling (718) 622-4433, Ext. 274. In a bookstore, cost is $6.95.
Author Ethne Clarke demonstrates that herbs are not only useful but are among the most beautiful plants we can grow in her book ``Herb Garden Design'' (Macmillan Publishing Co., $25 hardback). The book shows how herbs can be decorative and useful in creating visual effects.
Do you want your garden to be open and airy or private and intimate? Do you need a safe play area for young children, a swimming and recreation area or a garden requiring very limited upkeep? Robin Williams, a noted British landscape expert, provides solutions in a new book he edited titled ``Reader's Digest Garden Design'' (Reader's Digest, $32.95 hardback). Illustrated with hundreds of color photos, this book makes professional techniques accessible, according to the publisher. Order the book by calling (800) 846-2100 or check local bookstores.
Most of these books are available in bookstores or can be ordered. One of the best sources is the Garden Shop at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Call 441-5933. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
by CNB