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Helpful gardening books

The Vegetable Gardener's Bible
by Edward C. Smith

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a patch of corn, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and beans just steps from your kitchen door? Would you like to learn how to control your zucchini plant? Ed Smith and his family have been growing a wide variety of vegetables for years and he's figured out what works. This book, filled with step-by-step info and color photos, breaks it all down for you.

How to Grow Practically Everything
by Zia Allaway and Lia Leendertz

Packed with hundreds of gardening projects, from planting herbs in pots to creating a vegetable garden to feed the family, this book gives beginners the confidence and knowledge to grow almost anything. Each project is a complete package, with step-by-step photographic details and spectacular end shots to ensure great results.

The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book
by Barbara W. Ellis

The popularity of vegetable gardening is at an all-time high. In this book, gardeners will find helpful, uncomplicated responses to questions on planning and planting a vegetable garden, improving soil, caring for crops, and organically controlling pests and diseases.

The New Low-Maintenance Garden
by Valerie Easton

Val Easton shows exactly how to have a low-maintenance garden that doesn't sacrifice style. You won't have to give up your favorite plants or settle for unattractive bark nuggets. You just have to unlearn some bad old habits and pick up some good new ones.

The Pruning Book
by Lee Reich

In this helpful guide, Lee Reich explains the timing and techniques that result in the most successful pruning for healthy growth and good form. With over 250 photographs, and 135 drawings, this essential reference walks gardeners through the process of pruning everything from ornamental trees and bushes to topiaries and bonsai.

Shade: Planting Solutions for Shady Gardens
by Keith Wiley

Keith Wiley first discusses shade, from dappled and partial and full and dense, in different situations and in every size and type of garden. He then considers the characteristics of shade-loving plants, showing how to use them with companions to create striking designs. He also looks at the practicalities of preparing, planting, and maintaining a shade garden.

Landscaping with Native Plants in the Inland Northwest
by Tonie Fitzgerald

This small booklet will help gardeners decide what native plants are right for their garden. There is information on incorporating native plants into an already existing landscape, getting rid of weeds, planting native wildflowers, and much more.

Down & Dirty:
43 fun & Funky First-time Projects & Activities to get you Gardening
by Ellen Zachos

These gardening projects teach fundamental skills and give beginners the confidence to keep learning. Taken as a group, they provide the learning blocks of a beginner's course in planting, designing, and creating. Gardening is really as easy as that. Spend a few weekends on fun projects that brighten up the home and backyard and learn basic gardening skills in the process.

Small Garden:
Ideas for Balconies, Terraces & Backyards
by John Brooks

A master of garden design gives you all you need to know to create the garden of your dreams, even if you have only a balcony, rooftop, or a small yard to plant. Using a variety of structural materials and designs with appropriate plants, a small area can be developed into an extension of your home.

Grocery Gardening:
Planting, Preparing, and Preserving Fresh Food
by Jean Ann Van Krevelen

This book includes garden planning, planting, preparing, preserving, and nutritional information for each of the more than twenty selected edibles. In addition to tips on when to harvest home grown vegetables, the authors offer advice on how to select the freshest produce at the local market, and select complementary ingredients to combine with your homegrown edibles.

Don't Throw It, Grow It!
68 Windowsill Plants from Kitchen Scraps
by Deborah Peterson and Millicent Selsa

From the common carrot to the exotic cherimoya, dozens of foods have pits, seeds, and roots waiting to be rescued from the compost bin and brought back to life on your windowsill. Planted and nurtured, the shiny pomegranate seeds left over from breakfast and the piece of neglected gingerroot in your refrigerator have potential to grow into healthy, vigorous houseplants.

Fresh Food from Small Spaces: The Square-inch Gardener's Guide to Year-round Growing, Fermenting, and Sprouting
by R.J. Ruppentual

Readers will learn how to transform their balconies and windowsills into productive vegetable gardens, their countertops and storage lockers into quality sprout and mushroom farms, and their outdoor nooks and crannies into whatever they can imagine. Free space for the city gardener might be no more than a cramped patio, balcony, rooftop, windowsill, hanging rafter, dark cabinet, garage, or storage area, but no space is too small or too dark to raise food.

Green Thumbs:
A Kid's Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening
by Laurie Carlson

Kids will be creating their own gardens in no time with a guide to indoor and outdoor gardening projects that offer a way for kids to get exercise, fresh air, and learn about nature all at the same time. This book is full of ideas for making gardening tools and materials using everyday household objects, like empty milk jugs, muffin tins, 2-liter bottles, egg cartons, and more.