Book Reviews

Review of Kiss My Aster by Amanda Thomsen (With Giveaway!)

June 13, 2013 26 comments
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***Giveaway! Leave a comment to win your very own copy of Kiss My Aster!*** Every so often, a book comes along which challenges the limits of the media and shows how much is still possible with old-fashioned paper and ink. Amanda Thomsen’s new book Kiss My Aster: A Graphic Guide to Creating a Fantastic Yard [...]

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Succulents Simplified by Debra Lee Baldwin: Designer DIY With the Succulent Queen

May 24, 2013 2 comments
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If you’ve been around the world of horticulture for any time, you’re probably familiar with Debra Lee Baldwin’s work with succulents. Her first two books, Designing with Succulents and Succulent Container Gardens, are still the most thoughtful, in-depth guides to those topics available. However, both of those books have so much information that you could [...]

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The Latest Gardening Apps for iPhone and Android

May 8, 2013 11 comments
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Since I joined the modern world in getting a smart phone last year, I’ve been on the lookout for great gardening apps that can help me explain landscape design ideas to clients, get plant ideas on the go, or just give me a productive way of killing time when I’m stuck in line at the [...]

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Book Review of Lawn Gone: Attractive Alternatives to Lawn

March 4, 2013 187 comments
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While I love having a minimalist patch of organic lawn in my backyard for the cats and chickens to run around on, as a landscape designer I am thoroughly “over” using lawn as the default option. It takes more maintenance, fertilizer, and water than just about anything else in the landscape, yet it gives nothing [...]

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Why Grow That When You Can Grow This?: The Book

December 8, 2012 46 comments
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 “Let’s face it: the garden is a popularity contest. High school is a metaphor for life, and gardening is no exception. Step into our gardens and we find the prom queen and the star quarterback, the cheerleader and the rebel who cut class. Popular plants rule today’s landscapes the same way popular kids rule the [...]

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Cool Fall Reads: New Books, Old Faves, And Some Great Deals

November 12, 2012 1 comment
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The chilly air, fall wind, and damp everything have harshed my gardening mellow over the last few weeks. Luckily, the downturn in weather has coincided with a rush of new books and some great deals on old favorites, so I can enjoy a connection with the outdoors without actually having to, you know, go outside. [...]

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The Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook

May 9, 2012 36 comments
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A month ago when I visited San Francisco, Sunset Publishing invited me (and a number of other garden writers) over to breakfast. Never one to turn down either free food or a garden tour, I accepted with glee, and ate as much of their fresh, delicious food as I could fit in. (The plate shown [...]

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The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour

May 4, 2012 2 comments
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While I’ve been a professional gardener for, gosh, 16 years, one area of gardening that I have never felt very confident is in vegetable gardening. When I bought my own home a few years back, I finally began growing vegetables on my own plot of land. Though growing a few lettuce, zucchini or kale plants [...]

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Fruit Trees in Small Spaces by Colby Eierman

April 11, 2012 70 comments
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There’s nothing quite like breaking into a fresh jar of yellow plum-infused liqueur or pear gin at the start of winter. It’s like a bottled bit of summer sunshine. And ever since we’ve figured out precisely what to do with all of the fruit and vegetables I’ve been growing, my nursery trips have been most [...]

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Blog Party for Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom

April 4, 2012 84 comments
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The last time I reviewed Jessi Bloom’s new book, I focused on the text. Let me tell you, even with only three chickens, I needed the advice, and I could not wait for this book to come out. But in my eagerness to absorb everything that Jessi knows about gardening with chickens, I may have [...]

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