Wayside Gardens: Top 10 Home and Garden Books For Every Gardener and Designer

My husband and I have been gardening together for over thirty years. He has a degree in horticulture and I have a degree in library science. So, when we combine our love of books and gardening, we end up with a vast gardening resource library.I want to share my favorites and think they will become your favorites as well. Below I've listed my top 10 favorite home and garden books that I believe beginners and professional designers alike should consider purchasing for your own home reference library.Top 10 Home and Garden Books For Every Beginner and Designer1. The Well Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques by Tracy DiSabato-Aust is a classic. Tracy is well known in the gardening world for her 20 plus years experience in maintaining gardens and in this book she tells you exactly how to prune perennials. Also, In the very first chapter, she speaks of designing a garden with its maintenance in mind. Her advice is to ask yourself "Who's going to maintain this garden, me or a professional crew?" Great question!2. Landscaping With Perennials by Emily Brown is another favorite of ours. Advice on garden layouts for slopes, shade, bogs, parking strips, creating cutting gardens, island beds, or a fairytale woodland garden is all here. Included are line drawings, photographs, plant lists and more. A real delight to read.3. Gardening With Color by Mary Keen. A garden designer and consultant herself, Mary has filled this book with gorgeous full page photos. Excellent advice on designing with the six color categories for gardens including: blues, reds, greens, grays and white, and yellows makes this book another great choice for your library.4. Armitage's Garden Annuals: A Color Encyclopedia by Allan Armitage helps the gardener select proven specimen annuals that are interesting, important, and often overlooked. Armitage is a horticulturalist, teacher, and respected expert in his field and this plant reference guide is a perfect companion to his earlier Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hard Perennials. Attractive and easy to use with inspiring pictures.5. Designing the New Kitchen Garden: An American Potager Handbook by Jennifer R. Bartley was published in 2006 but I'm just now finding out about it. This lovely book describes how to create a garden that is not only beautiful and well laid out, but is also productive. Who wouldn't want a kitchen garden, or potoager, as part of their landscape? If you love growing your own fresh fruits and veggies, learn how to do it in style!6. All New Square Foot Gardener by Mel Bartholomew is my new favorite gardening book. This method has been around for 25 years so you know it works. I was skeptical at first. How can you "grow more in less space" like he says in 4'x4' square boxes? Pictures with detailed instruction explains how to build these raised beds for your garden or deck. Great for everyone as well as kids and wheelchair bound gardeners. Learn more at www.squarefootgardening.com 7. The Complete Compost Gardening Guide by Barbara Pleasant and Deborah Martin helps gardeners to not become compost failures. Unique, easy to implement techniques using heaps, bins, or enclosed composters make composting easier to create and tend.8. Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Practical Techniques by Alan Toogood. The title says it all. Learn how to get free plants and save yourself a ton of money...maybe even start a business. Very good pictures with directions. You'll learn a lot from this book.9. Gardening With Grass by Michael King and Piet Oudolf shows how to use ornamental grasses to transform a ho-hum garden into a stunning garden. They even list perennials, by color and height, that grow well with particular variety of grasses. Planting grasses are highly recommended to extend your summer garden into fall.10. The Way We Garden Now by Katherine Whiteside is a nice book if you are feeling overwhelmed by your garden. This book lets you pick-and-choose from ten easy, manageable projects like adding edibles, planting bulbs, dealing with hedges, putting up deer fencing and even container gardening. Fun and engaging to read.Any one of the books listed above will give you a great deal of insight on how to have an awe inspiring garden that will make your garden a paradise for you and your family. That's why the are my top 10 books on home and garden that every gardener and designer should consider having on their bookshelf.Permission is granted to reprint this article, unedited, provided proper attribution is made and the signature line -- the above resource paragraph - is kept intact. [EXTRACT] My husband and I have been together in the garden of more than thirty years. Has a degree in horticulture and I have a degree in library sciences. Therefore, when we combine our passion for reading and gardening, we have a great gardening resource library.I want to share my favorite and I think will become your favorites too. Below I have listed my 10 favorite books at home and the garden I think the novice and professional designers alike should consider buying your own home, library.Top reference 10 Books Home & Garden for all beginners and Designer1 . The landscaped garden perennials: planting and pruning techniques by Tracy DiSabato-Aust is a classic. Tracy is well known in the world of gardening for his 20 years of experience in landscape maintenance as well and in this book that tells you exactly how to prune perennials. Moreover, in the first chapter, we talk about designing a garden maintenance in mind. His advice is to ask yourself "Who is going to keep this garden, me or a professional?" Very good question! 2. Gardening with Perennials by Emily Brown is another of our favorites. Advice on the outstanding garden designs, shade, wetlands, parking strips, creating cutting gardens, island beds, or a garden fairy of the forest is all here. It includes drawings, photographs, plant lists and more. A real treat for read.3. Gardening with color Mary Keen. A garden designer and consultant herself, Mary is filled with magnificent book full-page photos. Excellent advice on the design of the six categories of color to the gardens, including: blues, reds, greens, grays and whites and yellows makes this book another great option for library.4. Armitage Annual Garden: A Color Encyclopedia by Allan Armitage helps select the annual gardener proved shows that are interesting, important, and often forgotten. Armitage is a horticulturalist, teacher and respected expert in his field and this reference guide is a perfect companion plant for manual before annuals, biennials and perennials half drive. Attractive and easy to use pictures.5 inspiration. The design of the Huerta Nueva: An American Potager Handbook by Jennifer R. Bartley was published in 2006, but I'm just finding information about him. This beautiful book describes how to create a garden that is not only beautiful and well designed, but also productive. Who would not want a garden, or potoager, as part of your landscape? If you like growing your own fruits and vegetables, learn to do it in style! 6. Every gardener Mel Bartholomew square foot for my new favorite gardening book. This method has been around for 25 years so we know works. I was skeptical at first. How can "produce more in less space," as he says in square boxes 4'x4 '? The pictures with detailed instructions explaining how to build these raised beds for your garden or terrace. Good for all as well as children and wheelchair gardeners. Learn more at www.squarefootgardening.com 7. The Complete Guide by Barbara garden compost nice and Deborah Martin helps gardeners errors do not become compost. Unique, easy to implement techniques that use batteries, closed containers or composting composting make it easier to create and tend.8. Plant Propagation: The plant by plant fully illustrated Manual of Practical Techniques Alan Toogood. The title says it all. Learn how to get free plants and save a ton of money ... maybe even start a business. Very good pictures with directions. You'll learn a lot from this book.9. With the herb garden by Piet Oudolf and Michael King shows how to use ornamental grasses to transform a boring yard into a beautiful garden. Even the list of perennials for color and height, which grow very well with the particular variety of herbs. Herbs are great for planting your garden expand fall.10 summer. The way Katherine Whiteside garden now is a good book if you feel overwhelmed by your garden. This book allows you to pick and choose ten projects easy and manageable as the addition of food products, planting bulbs, which is coverage, the deer fencing and even gardening. Fun and engaging to read. Any one of the books mentioned above will give you a great deal of information about how to have a stunning garden that will make your garden a haven for you and your family. That's why we are 10 books in my house and garden that every gardener and designer should consider having on their bookshelf.Permission is granted to reprint this article, unedited, provided proper attribution is made and the signature line - the above resources - remains intact.