Did you know that banana skins, laid just below the surface of the soil, have long been said to be beneficial for roses, and that horticulturists now approve the practice? Or that mulching strawberries with pine needles will improve their flavor? Or that hollyhocks thrive on beer? Maureen and Bridget Boland have been collecting garden wisdom for many years, both from "old wives" and from books ancient and modern. In this charming little volume, they pass on the best of their store of useful and curious information. It will be seized upon with delight by all gardeners who are not afraid of finding a sprinkling of superstition mingled with much good sense.

Packed full of the age-old wisdom and expertise of generations of gardeners, who used their down-to-earth and practical experience to create beautiful, productive, and useful gardens without spending a fortune. Behind every beautiful garden is the skill and experience of the gardener who tends it. How do you know which plants will thrive in your patch, given the bewildering array on offer? How do you know what soil and location they will like? And what do you do about all those pests just waiting to tuck in, not to mention the fungal diseases that suddenly turn your rose leaves from glossy green to blotchy yellow and coat other leaves with a powdery white dust? Just how do you tackle these gardening challenges, while being eco-friendly at the same time? This is where Old Wives' Lore for Gardeners comes in. Packed within its pages is all the age-old wisdom of generations of gardeners, people who knew a thing or two about plants. They lived before the days of chemical pesticides and concocted kitchen-cupboard remedies to treat pests and diseases. They gardened organically - although they wouldn't have called it that - because there was no other choice on offer. With a wealth of savvy and cost-effective tips and advice, intriguing facts, snippets of history, and quotes, Old Wives' Lore for Gardeners is not only a fascinating read but also an invaluable guide to the gardening practices of old, which are as relevant today as they have ever been.

A treasure trove of age-old customs and time-honoured advice, as well as intriguing old wives' tales.

Gardener's Magic and Other Old Wives' Lore is the companion volume to theuch loved Old Wives' Lore for Gardeners. In it will be found, among muchlse, the magical or healing properties of certain herbs and other plants;atural ways of protecting the garden not only against pests and otherhysical troubles and the importance to gardeners of the phases of the moon.t is a book to warm the heart, cheer the soul and restore the spirit of anyardener.

Explains how to plant fruits and vegetables in harmony with the stars and planets, and discusses lawns, and pest control

Through the Garden Gate is a collection of 144 of the popular weekly articles that Elizabeth Lawrence wrote for The Charlotte Observer from 1957 to 1971. With those columns, a delightful blend of gardening lore, horticultural expertise, and personal adventures, Lawrence inspired thousands of southern gardeners. "[A] fine contribution to the green-thumb genre.--Publishers Weekly

Featuring 40 parks, squares and woodlands, posh and plain, both in Paris and surrounds, Cahill's illustrated guide will lead you off the beaten track to areas of Paris you might not otherwise encounter.

This “deep excursion into the heart of herbalism” pulls back the curtain on centuries of herbal medicine and offers an inventory of useful plants for the modern herb gardener or homesteader (Rosemary Gladstar) Traditional herbalists or wise women were not only good botanists or pharmacologists; they were also shamanic practitioners and keepers of occult knowledge about the powerful properties of plants. Traveling back to the healing arts of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners takes readers deep into this world, through the leechcraft of heathen society and witches’ herb bundles to the cloister gardens of the Middle Ages. It also examines herbal medicine today in the traditional Chinese apothecary, the Indian ayurvedic system, homeopathy, and Native American medicine. Balancing the mystical with the practical, author Wolf Storl explains how to become an herbalist, from collecting material to distilling and administering medicines. He includes authoritative advice on herb gardening, as well as a holistic inventory of plants used for purposes both benign and malign, from herbs for cooking, healing, beauty, and body care to psychedelic plants, witches’ salves for opening alternative realities, and poisonous herbs that can induce madness or cause death. Storl also describes traditional “women’s plants” and their uses: dyeing cloth, spinning and weaving, or whipping up love potions. The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners is written for professional and amateur herbalists as well as gardeners, urban homesteaders, and plantspeople interested in these rich ancient traditions.