Garden Tools: tips, resources and reviews for gardeners

Bob Flowerdew's Complete Fruit Book (Cathie Kyle, 2001) is worth reading for the recipes and color pictures, even if you don't grow fruit. But if you do, you will find details on history, care and maintenance of the fruit garden instructive and you may be inspired to grow some of the more exotic varieties he describes. Flowerdew writes about normal fruits and nuts from apples to walnuts and everything in between, including unusual fruits like sapodillas and Cornelian cherries. Available from Flora and Fauna Books in Magnolia.

Wondering what plants will thrive in your challenging garden situation? What Plant Where by Roy Lancaster (New York: DK publishing. 1997) will help by showing you color photos and descriptions of plants organized by chapters on soil and light needs; by design features like winter interest and the color of the leaves; and by special features like fragrance and bird attracting.

American Horticultural Society Pruning and Training. Christopher Brickell, editor. New York: DK publishing. 1996
This book gives detailed instructions on how and when to prune trees, shrubs, fruit trees, vines and roses. With good basic background information on general pruning techniques, pruning guesswork is eliminated. The book also explains how to do specialized methods of training like turning your hedge into a living sculpture.

Wild Berries of the West by Betty B. Derig and Margaret C. Fuller, Missoula: Mountain Press, 2001. Plants that produce berries provide food for people and wildlife, plus something to look at in the dead of winter. Use Wild Berries of the West to expand the number of fruiting plants growing in your garden. The authors include botanical descriptions, habitat, how native people used the plants and whether the fruit is edible. They even include recipes like Mom's Serviceberry Squares.

The Organic Salad Garden by Joy Larkcom. London: Frances Lincoln, 2001. Salads with international personality are a must in any fine restaurant. With this book you can sort out the ingredients to recreate your favorite, encounter new options to seek at your local farmers market, and learn how to grow the best for yourself. Comprehensive yet user-friendly, the photographs by Roger Phillips are simply the best for telling the many look-alikes apart, and there are lots of ideas for both the home chef and gardener. A real feast!

Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden: Drought-resistant planting through the year. New York: Viking Studio, 2000.
Droughty summers are a mainstay of the Pacific Northwest and water shortages are only going to get worse. Here's a hands-on solution by one of the world's finest gardeners living in a part of England that shares our cool but dry summers. This book requires some work on the reader's part as the plant names are in Latin, but the proven design examples and plant selections are well worth the effort. Excellent photographs hold the reader's attention and clearly say dry is beautiful.

Gaia's garden : a guide to home-scale permaculture by Toby Hemenway. White River Junction, Vt. : Chelsea Green Pub. Co., c2001.
Start healing the planet right in your own backyard! Learn about the principles of ecological garden design, water conservation strategies and supporting wildlife from Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. Inspiring anecdotes make this book fun to read, while practical advise, illustrated examples and long lists of useful plants help gardeners start transforming their backyards right away.

Reviewed by Information Technology librarian Tracy Mehlin

Did you know that one English ivy plant removed from a tree in the Olympic National Park weighed an estimated 2,100 pounds? The King County Noxious Weed Control Program has a great deal of information on how to control ivy. If you would like to receive the information in other formats, call them at 206-296-0290.