Gardening

Country Gardens magazine celebrates the spirit and romance of gardening as a lifestyle, with an emphasis on a less formal, more personal aesthetic. With its simple tutorials that anyone can do to enhance their space, Easy Garden Projects appeals to a wide swath of gardeners. Whether it's a homemade faux-stone planter filled with succulents or a potting bench made from reclaimed wood, each design features a finished-project photo and step-by-step instructions to guide you on your gardening path. The look and feel of the book reflects the breezy, rustic, and organic style of the Country Gardens brand. No matter where you live and garden, Easy Garden Projects features fun ways to spend a weekend or just a few hours making something beautiful.

Chapters Include:
Garden Accents & Decor: Beautify your outdoor space with these simple designs.
Hardscapes & Growing Accessories: Build structures that serve and enhance your garden.
Inviting Wildlife: Welcome birds, bees, and butterflies to your yard.
Mini Gardens & Terrariums: Bring the garden indoors with delightful small-scale projects.
Plants & Planters: Find or create your own containers and fill them with flora.

Projects include:
Craft a Barrel-Hoop Birdfeeder from Rustic antiques
Build a Raised Vegetable Garden
Hang an Air-Plant Chandelier
Light Your Garden with Romantic Votive Displays
Pack a Cool Kokedama
Plan a Bird-Lover's Garden
Dig a Flagstone Fire Pit
Feed a Hummingbird by Hand
Decorate Stone Pavers for a Garden Path
Create a Tiny Terrarium World Under Glass
Plant a Succulent Wreath
Set Up a Cucumber Tower
Save the Monarchs and Host the Most Butterflies
Learn Bonsai Basics
Captivate the Senses with an Indoor Herb Garden

In this rich, revelatory history, Sir Roderick Floud, one of Britain's preeminent economic historians, writes that gardens have been created in Britain since Roman times but that their true growth began in the seventeenth century; by the eighteenth century, nurseries in London took up 100 acres, with ten million plants (!) that were worth more than all of the nurseries in France combined.

Floud's book takes us through more than three centuries of English history as he writes of the kings, queens, and princes whose garden obsessions changed the landscape of England itself, from Stuart, Georgian, and Victorian England to today's Windsors.

Here are William and Mary, who brought Dutch gardens and bulbs to Britain; William, who twice had his entire garden lowered in order to see the river from his apartments; and his successor, Queen Anne, who, like many others since, vowed to spend little on her gardens and instead spent millions. Floud also writes of Frederick, Prince of Wales, the founder of Kew Gardens, who spent more than $40,000 on a single twenty-five-foot tulip tree for Carlton House; Queen Victoria, who built the largest, most advanced and most efficient kitchen garden in Britain; and Prince Charles, who created and designed the gardens of Highgrove, inspired by his boyhood memories of his grandmother's gardens.

We see Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who created a magnificent garden at Blenheim Palace, only to tear it apart and build a greater one; Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, the savior of Chatsworth's 100-acre garden in the midst of its 35,000 acres; and the gardens of lesser mortals, among them Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West, both notable garden designers and writers.

We see the designers of royal estates--among them, Henry Wise, William Kent, Humphrey Repton, and the greatest of all English gardeners, "Capability" Brown, who created the 150-acre lake of Blenheim Palace, earned millions annually, and designed more than 170 parks, many still in existence today. We learn how gardening became a major catalyst for innovation (central heating came from experiments to heat greenhouses with hot-water pipes); how the new iron industry of industrializing Britain supplied a myriad of tools (mowers, pumps, and the boilers that heated the greenhouses); and, finally, Floud explores how gardening became an enormous industry as well as an art form in Britain, and by the nineteenth century was unrivaled anywhere in the world.

Using containers or pots as a base for your gardening is so versatile--try making an eye-catching design feature by growing nasturtiums in a metal bucket, or grow wild arugula on your window ledge in a kitchen colander. Growing your own crops is not only rewarding and fun, but you'll be doing your bit for the environment too, as well as being able to ensure that all your crops are produced organically, while saving money at the same time. This book is packed with tips and techniques, from companion planting to deter pests, to choosing the right container for the right crop, along with a wealth of other gardening advice. Grow Your Own Food tempts the novice gardener to get growing and the more experienced gardener to grow organically, producing crops that are a pleasure to grow, harvest, and eat.

Have fun and save money with this stone-cold, simple guide for growing marijuana at home! How to Grow Marijuana is your quick-start, blunt, and practical handbook to planting, growing, and harvesting marijuana (both indoors and out). With expert advice from master gardener Murph Wolfson, clear step-by-step instructions, and helpful tips, your cannabis garden will grow in no time!

Taking you through each step of the gardening process, How to Grow Marijuana is the one-stop manual for starting and nurturing a healthy weed garden. From instructions for casual gardeners on where and how to plant to improving your yield to harvesting and curing your bounty, this book is the easiest guide to growing weed at home.

With gorgeous full-color illustrations, ornate decorative elements, lettering in metallic ink, and engaging text, The Language of Flowers: A Fully Illustrated Compendium of Meaning, Literature, and Lore for the Modern Romantic is a treasure for flower lovers. A sumptuous, contemporary anthology of 50 of the world's most storied and popular flowers, each of its entries offers insight to the meaning associated with the flower, and is a fascinating mix of foklore, classic mythology, literature, botanical information and popular culture.

Following an introduction that provides a short history of the language of flowers, a fad which reached its peak during the reign of Queen Victoria, each uniquely illustrated and designed entry is an enjoyable read full of history and little-known facts. Here is the story of Tulipmania; how the pansy got its face, and why the most particular pollination process of a certain orchid has made the vanilla bean a very dear commodity. You'll also dicover how Christian Dior's passion for lily of the valley inspired his classic perfume Diorissimo and its extraordinary bottle; why Oscar Wilde had a penchant for wearing green carnations in his lapel; and how Greeks and Romans believed snapdragons could ward off witchcraft, so they planted them at entryways to their homes.

With more than a dozen two-page paintings evoking the romance of noteworthy Victorian gardens and symbolic bouquets, a cross-referenced index of flowers and meanings, and suggestions for further reading, this book is a must for lovers of floriology and Victoriana.

On the perimeter of Israel's Jezreel Valley, with the Carmel mountains rising up in the west, Meir Shalev has a beloved garden, "neither neatly organized nor well kept," as he cheerfully explains. Often covered in mud and scrapes, Shalev cultivates both nomadic plants and "house dwellers," using his own quirky techniques. He extolls the virtues of the lemon tree, rescues a precious variety of purple snapdragon from the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, and does battle with a saboteur mole rat. He even gives us his superior private recipe for curing olives.

Informed by Shalev's literary sensibility, his sometime riotous humor, and his deep curiosity about the land, My Wild Garden abounds with appreciation for the joy of living, quite literally, on Earth. Our borrowed time on any particular patch of it is enhanced, the author reminds us, by our honest, respectful dealings with all manner of beings who inhabit it with us.

Even beginner gardeners can select plants to create a stunning garden as unique as the Buckeye State with expert help to ensure success!

Ohio Getting Started Garden Guide is a plant selection guide, perfect for when you're choosing plants and starting a garden in a climate that can be as challenging as it is beautiful. Choose the right plants and care for them properly with help from an expert. One of the area's most highly respected and experienced plantsman, Denny McKeown, shares his deep knowledge of the region, gardens and plants in a lively, upbeat style.

The author's top picks for plants that will thrive in (or in spite of) Ohio's heat, humidity, winter cold, soil, and other unique growing conditions guarantee success for the area gardeners and home landscapers. Plants are divided into easy-to-browse chapters, including Annuals, Bulbs, Groundcovers, Ornamental Grasses, Perennials, Shrubs, Trees, Lawns, and Vines. Each plant is highlighted in its respective chapter with a large full-color photograph and tips on how, when, and where to plant.

Ohio Getting Started Garden Guide doesn't stop at plant selection. Methods for preparing soil, watering, fertilizer application, and pest management are also covered in detail. Along with the "nitty-gritty" of tending your garden, Denny shares his inspiration for garden design, offers ways to incorporate your plants into the landscape, and names some favorite cultivars or species. His sound, practical advice is clothed in beautiful descriptions of each plant that will inspire you to get your hands dirty!

Plants are our oldest source of medicine and a leading wellspring of our future cures. This book is a celebration of plants and an introduction to their healing powers. An exploration of the plant world through the eyes of master herbalist Erin Lovell Verinder, her expert advice weaves ancient traditional knowledge with a modern approach to plant medicine.

Including dozens of medicinal plants--from aloe vera to turmeric--this volume introduces readers to each plant's unique personality, story, characteristics, quirks, and strengths. Verinder explains how to use these herbs in tinctures, teas, balms, essences, lotions, and more. From gathering to storing, Plants for the People is filled with captivating visuals and informative text to give readers an understanding of plant medicines.

This herbal compendium encourages readers to explore the world of plant medicine and expand their journey to health and wellness through nature's bounty.

Small-space gardening expert Isabelle Palmer shows you how to use succulents and other plants to create trendy terrariums and gorgeous indoor garden designs, and how to grow under glass, with helpful advice and techniques, as well as handy tips for taking care of your new house plants. Display pretty cacti inside copper lanterns, grow amazing aquatic plants in a deep vase, create a stunning fireside moss and fern display, and plant some tiny jewel-like succulents inside mason jars for an easy and on-trend kitchen window scene.�Succulents and All Things Under Glass�removes the mystery of taking care of plants and gives everyone a chance to enjoy the benefits and beauty of a garden indoors.