Here are some gardening books to help you dream about summer on these cold and wet winter days. In Harmony Sustainable Landscapes

Here are some gardening books to help you dream about summer on these cold and wet winter days.

On these cold, wet winter days, it’s nice to curl up with a good book. If you’d like to dream about having a fabulous landscape and garden this year, you may want to choose one of these books for your next read.

Pacific Northwest Month-by-Month Gardening calls itself “the definitive guide to successful gardening year-round in the Pacific Northwest.” It contains critical gardening when-to’s and how-to’s, along with illustrated step-by-step instructions that will keep your garden thriving all year round.

Authors Christina Pfeiffer and Mary Robson are Pacific Northwest gardening experts who have written extensively on the subject. Pacific Northwest Month-by-Month Gardening combines their shared knowledge.

Northwest Home Landscaping, 3rd Edition, by Roger Holmes and Don Marshall, provides inspiring ideas for making your home landscape more attractive and functional. The 48 featured designs are created by landscape professionals from the region and use more than 200 dependable plants that thrive in the northwest.

The book also included detailed instructions for projects such as paths, patios, ponds, and arbors. It contains over 420 full-color photos and paintings and easy, step-by-step instructions.

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening, 35th Anniversary Edition. Now in its seventh edition, this complete guide to organic vegetable, herb and flower gardening addresses issues of soil, seeds, compost and watering.

Authors are Steve Solomon, who founded the Territorial Seed Company and was an early proponent of organic gardening, and Marina McShane.

Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest, 3rd edition, by Arthur R. Kruckeberg and Linda Chalker-Scott. The Pacific Northwest abounds with native plants that bring beauty to the home garden while offering food and shelter to birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife.

This book is the classic resource for learning how to best use this stunning array. It includes 948 color photos.

Rain Gardens for the Pacific Northwest: Design and Build Your Own, by Zsofia Pastor. Rain pounds this Pacific Northwest and carries pollutants into streams, lakes and Puget Sound. This book  shows you how to trap and filter dirty water safely in your yard―and how to do that with a beautiful addition to your home.

Pasztor shares what she’s learned over the years experimenting with rain gardens in the challenging clay and hardpan soils of the region.

Perennials for the Pacific Northwest: 500 Best Plants for Flower Gardens, by Marty Wingate. This is the A-List of flowering plants recommended for Pacific Northwest gardens. It has been updated to include the current crop of available perennials.

Wingate explains how to choose the right plants and how to best take care of them. It features full descriptions of 500 plants and photos of selected plants from the lists.

Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning, 3rd Edition: What, When, Where, and How to Prune for a More Beautiful Garden. Prune trees, shrubs, and other plants with the knowledge that will make your plants grow in healthy and aesthetic ways. Covering 160 plants with clear instructions and illustrations, Cass Turnbull will show you exactly how to prune any plant in your garden.

This definitive guide for the home gardener has friendly, expert advice from Turnbull, founder of Seattle’s PlantAmnesty, whose mission is “to end the senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs caused by mal-pruning.”

The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour: The Best Gardens to Visit in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. There is a wealth of top-notch public gardens in the Pacific Northwest. Veteran travel writer Donald Olson highlights 60 of the most outstanding options. He provides all the information you need to make the most of your visit.

“Your must-visit list of Northwest gardens is finally organized and illustrated.” —Sunset

Enjoy your winter reading, and contact us if we can help make your dreams a reality, with landscape design, pruning or natural shrub, tree and lawn care. 

 

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