This website has nothing to do with TV personality Paul James,
             The Gardener Guy of Tulsa, Oklahoma

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The Gardener's Basic Library

Books for Every Gardener

Cebenko, Jill, and Martin, Deborah, editors. Insect, Disease & Weed I.D. Guide: Find-It-Fast Organic Solutions for Your Garden. This wonderful book not only identifies problems but also provides life cycles and organic solutions. Any pest book put out by Rodale Press is also good.

Cruso, Thalassa. Making Things Grow: A Practical Guide for the Indoor Gardener. The best book I've seen about growing houseplants. Currently out of print, but worth looking for secondhand.

Disabato-Aust, Tracy. The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques. This is a must-have because it will tell you when and how to prune your perennials for better vigor-and how to get them to bloom more than once a season where possible.

Homeyer, Henry. Notes from the Garden: Reflections and Observations of an Organic Gardener. This is a month-by month guide to what I do in my own gardens, along with interviews of interesting gardeners. Selected as one of the best gardening books of 2002 by the Christian Science Monitor, so I'm not just bragging!

Homeyer, Henry. The Vermont Gardener's Companion or The New Hampshire Gardener's Companion. These are full of hands-on practical advice and information about each state's soil, climate and growing conditions. Specific chapters on veggies, annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs, lawns, invasives, pests and diseases, and resources in the state. Interviews with state experts.

Reich, Lee. The Pruning Book. This is the best book on pruning I've seen. It has lots of good illustrations, straightforward explanations, and species-specific information for trees, shrubs, and vines.

Smith, Edward. The Vegetable Gardener's Bible. This has everything you need to know to be a good organic vegetable gardener. If you wish to grow vegetables in containers, his book Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers is excellent.

References and More Technical Books

Armitage, Allan. Armitage's Garden Perennials: A Garden Encyclopedia. This species-by-species book includes a dozen different cultivars of each of the flowers illustrated with excellent photos.

Barnes and Noble Books. Botanica: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Over 10,000 Garden Plants and How to Cultivate Them. One paragraph and a photo for most common and many uncommon plants.

Cullina, William. The New England Wild Flower Society Guide to Growing and Propagating Wildflowers. For anyone who wants to grow wild flowers, with excellent photos.

Dirr, Michael. Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. The perfect companion to his book listed next, it is full of excellent photos. It's a great book to thumb through before going to the plant nursery.

Dirr, Michael. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses. This is my bible for woody plants. Dirr is the most knowledgeable author about trees. He is also highly opinionated. His book is an $80 paperback with 1,200 pages of useful information. Your local library may have it or be able to get it through inter-library loan.

Eddison, Sydney. The Gardener's Palette: Creating Color in the Garden. This explains how colors work and how to combine them. Great design tips.

Hayward, Gordon. Stone in the Garden: Inspiring Designs and Practical Projects. Hayward is a Vermont-based garden designer whose books are all excellent. This one is for anyone who needs to build a wall or a walk.

Hill, Lewis. Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden. The late Lewis Hill of Greensboro, VT wrote many excellent books, including this one on how to grow small fruits.

Hodgson, Larry. Annuals for Every Purpose: Choosing the Right Plants for Your Conditions, Your Garden, and Your Taste. There are too many annuals to know them all, but these guy seems to. A Rodale book, so it has an organic slant to flower care.

Messervy, Julie Moir. The Inward Garden: Creating a Place of Beauty and Meaning. An excellent book to help you understand what type of garden suits you best and how to create it.

Ogren, Thomas. Allergy-Free Gardening: The Revolutionary Guide to Healthy Landscaping. Useful for anyone who suffers from pollen allergies.

Phillips, Michael. The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist. Great info on how to grow apples without chemicals. He lives in Groveton, NH.

Still, Steven. Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants. More than 800 pages of text with growing tips, hardiness zones, soil preferences, and descriptions of specific cultivars. This is the book I reach for most often, though it has only forty-seven pages of small color photos-eight per page-in the back. For the serious gardener.

Tukey, Paul. The Organic Lawn Care Manual . How to have a good lawn without using chemicals.

Books go out of print pretty fast these days, so some of the books listed may not be available at your local bookstore, but most bookstores can find them for you if you ask. Good luck, and happy winter reading.