2006, expanded 3rd edition. One of Whitcomb's how to grow books. Covers all factors in producing plants in the unique, man-made environment called a container, from propagating from seed or cuttings, to growth medium, nutrition, watering, weed control, and more. Chapters: 1. Propagation from Cuttings 2. Propagation from Seeds 3. Current Suggested Practices for Container Nurseries 4. The Unique Container 5. Container Designs that Work 6. Containers: Problems and Progress 7. Hybrid Systems and Large Containers 8. Growth Media 9. Plant Nutrition 10. Essential Nutrient Elements 11. Water, Water Management, and Slow Release Fertilizers 12. Other Nutrition al and Cultural Considerations 13. Heat, Cold, and Blow-Over 14. Light and Shading 15. Moving Plants in the Nursery 16. Water Quality 17. Irrigation Systems 18. Weed Control 19. Container Production Factors and Costs 20. Conducting Experiments

This manual contains a wealth of information to help you diagnose abiotic disorders in landscape plants – disorders caused by environmental, physiological or other nonbiological factors. You’ll learn how to diagnose injury symptoms from over 20 different abiotic agents including water deficit, nutrient deficiencies, salinity, pH, sunburn, air pollution, herbicide and other chemical phytotoxicities, mechanical injuries, lightning, wind, and hail. You’ll also learn how to develop a step-by-step diagnostic strategy. Included are strategies, techniques, and tools you can use in diagnosing plant problems, common injury symptoms and their abiotic causes, and plant traits that can resemble abiotic disorders. Illustrated with 319 color photographs and 38 tables, this book is a "must-have" for the library of every landscape professional.

Turn your backyard garden into a lush and colorful wonderland where every plant is presented to its fullest potential. Scott Calhoun provides more than 100 stunning garden designs that are adaptable to a range of climates, budgets, and space considerations. As you learn to use proven groupings and discover ways to make your garden glow throughout all seasons, you’re sure to find the right combination of flowers, grasses, and ground coverings to transform your property into a jaw-dropping display of color, texture, and fragrance.

When Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bates moved into a duplex in a run-down part of Holyoke, Massachusetts, the tenth-of-an-acre lot was barren ground and bad soil, peppered with broken pieces of concrete, asphalt, and brick. The two friends got to work designing what would become not just another urban farm, but a "permaculture paradise" replete with perennial broccoli, paw paws, bananas, and moringa—all told, more than two hundred low-maintenance edible plants in an innovative food forest on a small city lot. The garden—intended to function like a natural ecosystem with the plants themselves providing most of the garden's needs for fertility, pest control, and weed suppression—also features an edible water garden, a year-round unheated greenhouse, tropical crops, urban poultry, and even silkworms. In telling the story of Paradise Lot, Toensmeier explains the principles and practices of permaculture, the choice of exotic and unusual food plants, the techniques of design and cultivation, and, of course, the adventures, mistakes, and do-overs in the process. Packed full of detailed, useful information about designing a highly productive permaculture garden, Paradise Lot is also a funny and charming story of two single guys, both plant nerds, with a wild plan: to realize the garden of their dreams and meet women to share it with. Amazingly, on both counts, they succeed.

This book explores the wide-ranging realm of horticulture. Presenting lucidly written information on conventional, organic, and sustainable methods, Horticulture covers such topics as the geographical origins of plants, as well as their identificat