This is perhaps the first book to be written in praise of weeds. According to Joseph Cocannouer, weeds perform the following valuable services among others: 1. They bring minerals and make them available to crops. 2. When used in crop rotation they crop roots to feed deeply. 3. They fiberize and condition the soil make any soil productive. 4. They are good indicators of soil condition. 5. Weeds are deep divers and feeders they enable crops to withstand drought better. 6. As companion crops they enable our domesticated plants to get unavailable food. 7. Weeds store up minerals and nutrients and keep them readily available. 8. Weeds make good eating. No, Professor Cocannouer does not believe that weeds should be allowed to go rampant and take over our farms and gardens. The function of this book is to demonstrate how the controlled use of weeds can be sound ecology, good conservation and a boon to the average farmer or gardener. (From the Introduction) Get Your Copy Today!

This is the first book to be written in praise of weeds. According to Joseph Cocannouer, weeds perform the following valuable services among others: 1. They bring minerals and make them available to crops. 2. When used in crop rotation they crop roots to feed deeply. 3. They fiberize and condition the soil make any soil productive. 4. They are good indicators of soil condition. 5. Weeds are deep divers and feeders they enable crops to withstand drought better. 6. As companion crops they enable our domesticated plants to get unavailable food. 7. Weeds store up minerals and nutrients and keep them readily available. 8. Weeds make good eating. No, Professor Cocannouer does not believe that weeds should be allowed to go rampant and take over our farms and gardens. The function of this book is to demonstrate how the controlled use of weeds can be sound ecology, good conservation and a boon to the average farmer or gardener. (From the Introduction) Get Your Copy Today!

Wild about Weeds is the must-have guide for modern gardeners that explains how to tame and nurture the most challenging of plants. Not all weeds are ugly uncontrollable brutes. Yes, they can be difficult and intimidating, but by learning how to grow weeds in unexpected ways you will become a better gardener with a more interesting garden. This book profiles over 50 weeds and shows you surprising ways to grow them, no matter what your garden type: from borders to boxes, sunny to shady, poor soil to rich, tropical to formal, Japanese-style to prairies. With interviews, tips and advice from celebrated gardeners, learn how to let weeds flourish without taking control. Gardening Book of the Year 2019 - The Times Best Gardening Reads of 2019 - Daily Mail Best Gardening Books of the Year - Gardens Illustrated Top Garden Books of 2019 - The English Garden "This well-argued advocacy for rebel plants shows why we should all be growing a few in our gardens." Gardens Illustrated "In this excellent guide, garden designer Wallington rehabilitates the lowly weed...Wallington's humor ("part of me - the rebellious, weed-like part! - likes weeds purely because people tell me not to") and passion for his subject shine through on every page. This new spin on an old subject will encourage both new and seasoned gardeners to look at what's already growing in their garden (and what could be) with fresh eyes." Publishers Weekly "A lovely, practical gardening book that celebrates the beauty and ecological value of the gorgeous plants that we have been silly enough to overlook. Gardens with native 'weeds' are quintessentially English, tangled and tousled, and self-deprecating. Yet they burst with life, for these are plants that have evolved alongside our pollinators such as bees, and other insects that offer themselves to birds. Wild about Weeds sensibly distinguishes between the under-appreciated plants that conjure life into our gardens, and those potentially invasive species that are undesirable for good reason." Jonathan Drori CBE, author of Around the World in 80 Trees

“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a calling. Her unique approach, which she calls “horticultural how-to and woo-woo,” is a blend of vital information you need to memorize and intuitive steps you must simply feel and surrender to. In A Way to Garden, Roach imparts decades of garden wisdom on seasonal gardening, ornamental plants, vegetable gardening, design, gardening for wildlife, organic practices, and much more. She also challenges gardeners to think beyond their garden borders and to consider the ways gardening can enrich the world. Brimming with beautiful photographs of Roach’s own garden, A Way to Garden is practical, inspiring, and a must-have for every passionate gardener.

This wonderful little book covers everything you need to know about the types of plants known as weeds. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer discusses the different varieties of weeds, how they grow and what they can tell us about soil health. The process of combatting weeds is discussed in principle as well as in practice, so that it can be applied to any situation. First written in the 1950s, this is still one of the best overviews of the subject available.

American Horticultural Society Book Award Winner: “An essential reference for all who wish to understand the science of the all-powerful weed.” —Better Homes and Gardens “What is a weed,” opined Emerson, “but a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered?” While that may be a worthy notion in theory, these plants of undiscovered virtue cause endless hours of toil for backyard gardeners. Wherever they take root, weeds compete for resources, and most often win. They also wreak havoc on industry—from agriculture to golf courses to civic landscape projects, vast amounts of money are spent to eradicate these virile and versatile invaders. With so much at stake, reliable information on weeds and their characteristics is crucial. Richard Dickinson and France Royer shed light on this complex world with Weeds of North America. Organized by plant family, this encyclopedic volume features over five hundred species in two-page spreads with images and text identification keys. Species are arranged within family alphabetically by scientific name, and entries include vital information on seed viability and germination requirements. No matter what your philosophy on weeds, this guide provides much-needed background on these intrusive organisms. In the battle with weeds, knowledge truly is power, and Weeds of North America is perfect for gardeners, botanists, nature lovers, or anyone working in the business of weed ecology and control. “Royer’s photographs are almost perversely alluring. . . . How can you not be ensnared by a book populated by prostrate pigweed, tansy ragwort and dog-strangling vine?” —New York Times Book Review

Work in partnership with nature to nurture your soil for healthy plants and bumper crops - without back-breaking effort! Have you ever wondered how to transform a weedy plot into a thriving vegetable garden? Well now you can! By following the simple steps set out in No Dig, in just a few short hours you can revolutionize your vegetable patch with plants already in the ground from day one! Charles Dowding is on a mission to teach that there is no need to dig over the soil, but by minimizing intervention you are actively boosting soil productivity. In fact, The less you dig, the more you preserve soil structure and nurture the fungal mycelium vital to the health of all plants. This is the essence of the No Dig system that Charles Dowding has perfected over a lifetime growing vegetables. So put your gardening gloves on and get ready to discover: - Guides and calendars of when to sow, grow, and harvest. - Inspiring information and first-hand guidance from the author - “Delve deeper” features look in-depth at the No Dig system and the facts and research that back it up. - The essential role of compost and how to make your own at home. - The importance of soil management, soil ecology, and soil health. Now one of the hottest topics in environmental science, this "wood-wide web" has informed Charles's practice for decades, and he's proven it isn't just trees that benefit - every gardener can harness the power of the wood-wide web. Featuring newly- commissioned step-by-step photography of all stages of growing vegetables and herbs, and all elements of No Dig growing, shot at Charles’s beautiful market garden in Somerset, you too will be able to grow more veg with less time and effort, and in harmony with nature - so join the No Dig revolution today! A must-have volume for followers of Charles Dowding who fervently believe in his approach to low input, high yield gardening, as well as gardeners who want to garden more lightly on the earth, with environmentally friendly techniques like organic and No Dig.

“An excellent account” of Britain’s tradition of parceling out land for the public to grow food on, and the colorful history behind it (The Independent). This lively book tells the story of the private garden plots known as allotments—from their origin in the seventeenth century, when new enclosures that deprived the peasantry of access to common lands were fiercely protested, to the victory gardens of the world wars, and into the present day, when they serve less as a means of survival than as a respite from the modern world. While delving into the effects of the Napoleonic Wars, the Corn Laws, and the utopian dissenters known as the Diggers, the author reveals the multiple roles of allotments—and champions their history in the hope of protecting them for the future. “Foley’s book reminds us that the right to share the earth has always been an asymmetric struggle.” —The Guardian “Fascinating and handsomely illustrated.” —Daily Mail “Well-told . . . . [a] gallop through the history of useful rather than ornamental crops.” —Spectator Australia

Named a Best Book of the Year for the Know-It-All by The Globe and Mail In this richly illustrated volume, a leading neurobiologist presents fascinating stories of plant migration that reveal unexpected connections between nature and culture. When we talk about migrations, we should study plants to understand that these phenomena are unstoppable. In the many different ways plants move, we can see the incessant action and drive to spread life that has led plants to colonize every possible environment on earth. The history of this relentless expansion is unknown to most people, but we can begin our exploration with these surprising tales, engagingly told by Stefano Mancuso. Generation after generation, using spores, seeds, or any other means available, plants move in the world to conquer new spaces. They release huge quantities of spores that can be transported thousands of miles. The number and variety of tools through which seeds spread is astonishing: we have seeds dispersed by wind, by rolling on the ground, by animals, by water, or by a simple fall from the plant, which can happen thanks to propulsive mechanisms, the swaying of the mother plant, the drying of the fruit, and much more. In this accessible, absorbing overview, Mancuso considers how plants convince animals to transport them around the world, and how some plants need particular animals to spread; how they have been able to grow in places so inaccessible and inhospitable as to remain isolated; how they resisted the atomic bomb and the Chernobyl disaster; how they are able to bring life to sterile islands; how they can travel through the ages, as they sail around the world.