Price : $17.74

Product Description

In this book, renowned garden designer Motomi Oguchi offers the reader a step-by-step, practical approach to creating Japanese gardens, drawn from a wealth of experience that covers thirty years and encompasses the design of more than 400 gardens. The author uses real examples from gardens he has designed, constructed, and photographed to illustrate his key points, approaching each work from the perspective of the home or building owner.
Oguchi begins with front gardens, as these are usually what one encounters first when entering a home. Typically, these front plantings are not defined Japanese garden types but rather, physical areas. He then moves on to tsubo niwa (courtyard gardens) and kare sansui (dry gardens) that might be found in the middle or rear of a building, or any available small space. Next, he introduces tea and tree gardens, which are more likely to be sections of a larger garden; and highlights specific characteristics and conditions of interior gardens.
Within each chapter are general layouts and methods of developing the various gardens, which precede specific, step-by-step instructions. The author also offers practical and affordable variations on more ambitious designs and shows how they can be adapted to the readers home or building. In addition, Oguchi emphasizes the importance of proper maintenance and offers suggestions for special touches and restoration.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-01-29
Love this great book! Motomi Oguchi’s first in English!
I have it displayed like a coffee table book, and relish over as a tresure I can disappear away into… Our tropically themed yard that has unparralled panoramic views offering one perfection longings of West, North and East will be comlimented and made more elegant with some Japanese themes running the spine of our yard… Japanese rock walkways, lit gracefully with stone lanturns… Something permanent in this ever un-permanent world. Yes, the true escape is home…
Love the details in this book and strict attention to tradition.
Lot’s of photo’s!!!
"Domo", Motomi Oguchi for your wonderful agricultural gifts…
I will be checking out Joseph Cali’s new books, also.

Review date : 2008-01-24
Although this is a nice book, it is not as good as the reviews led me to believe. The attractive photos focus on primarily a few gardens that the author himself has made. In at least a couple of cases, the gardens were built where cars had been parked. I kept wondering where the cars went. I am sure the owners did not get rid of them.
The book has been praised for telling readers how to build elements of the gardens. This is true for a few fences and such in the featured gardens. However, I am sure other books in my collection have more information about building more things.

Review date : 2007-12-19
This is an excellent book for those of us wishing to create their own Japanese style garden. There are numerous explanations and detailed instructions for creating various elements that are not described in most books on this subject. I can’t wait for Spring to begin.

Price : $9.78

Product Description

Everything you need to know about growing your favorite herbs using safe, natural, all-organic methods!

Practical tips and advice on all aspects of successful herb growing.

A wealth of great ideas and helpful how-to on using herbs in cooking, crafts, cosmetics, health care, insect repellents, and more.

Illustrated herb directory featuring all the most popular herbs– from aloe to yarrow– each with complete information on growing, care, harvesting, and uses.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-09-10
The book describes how to grow, harvest and uses of each herb in the book and it covers all the main herbs and more. Excellent descriptions as well as illustrations on how to do everything so even for the unexperienced grower it would be easy to learn. Very happy with my new book.

Review date : 2008-08-31
While the book doesn’t cover as many herbs as I had hoped, it gets to all the major ones. More importantly, the information provided is thorough and presented in a non-overwhelming, easy-to-read way. Each page tells the reader how easy the plant is to grow, whether it can be grown in a container, what zone it grows best in, how to harvest, propagate, and store the herb, and all sorts of other pertinent info.

The first portion of the book covers planning one’s garden, planting techniques and gives instructions for several methods for using herbs (flavored oils, teas, etc.). There are plenty of useful charts throughout which make this a great quick reference guide.

The author safely shies away from giving too much information on medicinal uses for the herbs, so those looking for information and instructions regarding herbal remedies should definitely purchase another book in addition to this one.

Review date : 2007-12-17
A very useful book for the home gardener. A quick guide for growing, harvesting and using herbs.

Review date : 2007-06-09
This is a relatively small book at about 150 pages, but it manages to pack in a lot of information very concisely. It’s beautifully illustrated with color photographs and drawings.

The first 2/3 of the book includes general herb gardening background and use of herbs tips: how to choose plants, pick the location, general design principles, planting instructions (including some nice tips on extending the growing season), propagation, harvesting, drying, pests and diseases, etc.

It also includes suggestions for common culinary uses, such as salads, herbal vinegars, flavored oils, teas, jellies, honeys, and breads. These are not an extensive set of recipes, but more like master recipes with some suggestions for how you can mix them up with variations.

The book also includes suggestions and recipes for health and beauty products (again, not an extensive collection). This section includes potpourri, sachets, bouquets, dried arrangements and insect repellents.

The last 1/3 of the book has individual pages on about 50 different herbs. These individual pages tell you a description, how to grow, harvesting instructions, suggested uses, tips, cultivars, and also includes a quick key on the level of care required (using a 4 glove rating system), if it attracts beneficial insects, whether or not it is ornamental, whether or not it can be grown in a container, how much yield you can expect to get and how easy it is to grow.

The back of the book contains a few pages of resources for laboratories, vendors, herb associations and other books or literary resources.

There are lots of charts and sidebars and overall I found this book to be very useful and easy to access. It doesn’t have the level of information needed to make this anything other than a quick reference book though.

Review date : 2007-01-24
I adore this book! Wow! It has all the things I wanted!
- it’s organic
- it very thorougly covers many herbs in different formats, so you know everything from what bugs they attract or repel, how tall they grow, and what zone they can be grown in
- common uses for them: I discovered many herbs I thought were inedible plants that are indeed herbs
- easy to use tables

I wasn’t too hip on all the cosmetic and craft uses - I’d rather eat them, but they’re short and may come in handy. I know the rest of the book sure will!

Price : $22.01

Product Description

A Backyard-Gardeners Guide to Growing a Bountiful, Great-Tasting Harvest

The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener features:

• A full-color encyclopedia of over 100 vegetables and herbs with detailed, expert advice on growing them successfully from planting to harvest
• Planting and growing techniques that keep maintenance to a minimum
• Entries on how to grow unusual edibles, such as refreshing mesclun for salads, colorful edible flowers, spicy mustards, and more
• Descriptions and photos of a host of succulent vegetables, both hybrids and heirlooms, from common to exotic
• Complete information on improving even the poorest garden soil using safe, organic techniques, plus practical advice on making compost
• Recommendations on garden tools you need–and those you dont
• Information on controlling pests and diseases organically, without resorting to poisonous sprays
• Spectacular full-color photographs of vegetables and herbs, food gardens, and edible landscapes, plus 30 black-and-white line drawings

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-12-04
BURPEE THE COMPLEGE VEGETABLE AND HERB GARDENER is an excellent desk reference for the beginning vegetable and herb gardener. It’s a bit large to actually tote into the garden, but after a day of gardening this is a welcome reference to prepare for tomorrow.
* An encyclopedia of vegetables and herbs with growing advice and photos.
* Planting and growing techniques.
* Basic organic gardening techniques and tool recommendations.
* Soil building techniques and organic pest and disease control tips.
These are the highlights of this guide.
If you are looking for a carry-into-the-garden guide, the pocket-sized The Veggie Gardener’s Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You’ll Ever Face Answers to Every Question You’ll Ever Ask (Answer Book (Storey)) is very useful and for the intermediate an experienced vegetable gardener a must-have carry-along guide is The Kitchen Garden Grower’s Guide: A practical vegetable and herb garden encyclopedia.

Review date : 2008-07-06
I absolutely love this book. I first found it at the local library and Had to Have It! I find two drawbacks and they are that the ‘pests’ and diseases aren’t defined enough for the novice gardener. The ‘pests’ are pictured in black and white while the diseases are written only. This is a great gift for a new gardener.

Review date : 2008-04-07
This book is ideal for someone starting their first garden who wants to use all organic methods. It goes through setting up your garden beds, making your own compost, and in the back it goes over every kind of vegetable and herb you could possibly want! The burpees seeds and plants are excellent too! I bought some Burpees seeds from Lowes and they were growing after only 5 days!

Review date : 2007-06-09
This book is great if you’re a beginner gardener, and want just one book to sit down and read that covers all aspects of gardening. You’ll want to go on an buy other books that go into more detail on specific topics, but this is a great place to start, and one to keep on the shelf.
It is presented as a gardening book should be - a large hardcover with lots of glossy colour photographs.
Chapters are:
1) Growing you own
2) Getting Started
3) Garden Tools & Equipment
4) Improving the soil
5) Laying out the Garden
6) Planting the Garden
7) Caring for the Garden
Coping with Garden Problems

Review date : 2007-03-09
I am so impressed with this big, beautiful book! The photos are inspiring, and the technical aspects are thoroughly covered. I love the historic background of each vegetable and herb.
I think there is literally everything I ever needed to know about vegetable gardening from seed germination, through care and feeding, to harvest. Detailed charts outline fertilizer, pests, water, soil conditions, and planting and harvest times.

I keep it on my coffee table and flip through it daily just to enjoy the photos and learn some new fact.

You will not be disappointed with this book!