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Perfect starter If you have never done any kind of gardening before, buy this book before you ever touch your ground. Not only is it helpful as a reference book, but the information is presented in a way that makes it a good read and fun to learn. If you have a garden, this is a must have. There might be better books on specific plants or topics, but there is no better all around gardening book. Notice copyright date Based on the very positive reviews, I purchased this book, and started reading. I thought it a little odd that she mentioned mailorder companies 'beginning to use plastic', and I was taken aback in the section about mulches that the now ubiquitous bags of cedar mulch were not even mentioned. That's when I checked the copyright date. While much of the information is timeless, and the writing style is certainly entertaining, there are some dated items. My gardening bible...........;-) When I moved into my house 8 years ago, I could barely tell a rosebush from a weed. With the help of this wonderful little book, I now have a garden I can be proud of. My wife teases me that this is my "gardening bible" because I'm always referring to it. I would highly recommend this book! :-) Loved this book! This book is a great reference, but I found it so interesting, I read it cover to cover. Loved it! It is organized in sections, like: trees, fruits, vegetables, etc. Then the tree section for instance is broken down into types: dogwood, magnolia, etc. Every type has an illustration and describes the requirements of the plants (food, light, soil, zone tolerance, pests, etc.) I am a novice gardener, but I feel that after reading this book I have a very good grasp on how to take care of plants in my new house. The authors writing is never boring, always pleasant and a few times even cracked me up. She never tells you "you should do this" but gives you a tremendous amount of well-rounded information to make good judgements yourself. I know I'm gushing, but if you are are new to gardening, I honestly cannot imagine a book that could help you more. I feel that the book is complete and I don't feel the need to buy any other books right now to compensate. By the way, there are never any advertisements for specific products like fertilizers in the book. I would tell you if there was anything irritating like that. I keep the book in my gardening shed so that if I can't remember something, it's close by to refer to. I am actually writing this review because I was looking to purchase this for someone from Amazon as a gift. I had thought of loaning it to them but I just can't be without it for a month. Cultivate this Book; See what Grows Barbara Damrosch has written the tour de force in practical gardening handbooks for the novice and green-thumbed alike. What is truly impressive in the book is how Damrosch manages to cover so much gardening acreage in one mid-sized book. There are chapters on landscape planning, plant care, gear, buying tips, annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, fruits, bulbs, roses, lawns and ground covers, vines, shrubs, trees, wildflowers, and even house plants. Whew...that was a list. Though it would seem with such an exhaustive table of contents that maybe the gardening reader would get to know far too little about a lot, such is not the case. Once you are done reading trees per say, you feel like you got a fairly thorough branching of the woody subject. Though, if you are solely interested in vegetable gardening let's say, there are more detailed and exhaustive books out there, but chances are someday you will tire of rhubarbs and radishes and get the thorny point to plant a rose or two, you will find on that piercing day that you pine to have bought Damrosch's green bible. I reach for this book time and time again with dirt-caked hands. Before you sow and grow, be well-read and what a better place to start than Damrosch's "Garden Primer." See also:
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