Nonstop Garden

(Paperback)

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Description

With hectic lifestyles and busy schedules, people are finding it more and more appealing to enjoy their leisure time at home rather than packing their bags in search of peaceful retreats. But how can they confidently create a garden retreat By following Cohen and Benner's trusted advice and building a nonstop garden, they'll have more creative planting options, a garden that provides year-round interest, and - most importantly - a yard that requires less maintenance than a traditional perennial border. The Nonstop Garden gives gardeners all the information they need to create a productive, beautiful garden from the ground up. This easy-to-use guide is split into four main parts: the nuts and bolts of designing a mixed garden, the garden's main attractions (trees and shrubs), the garden's supporting cast (bulbs, annuals, edibles, and vines), and finishing touches (ornamentation, containers, and garden structures). The Nonstop Garden also includes ten fail-safe design plans that can be incorporated into any garden. Gardeners can choose from a native garden, a scented garden, a gold-coloured garden, a garden for wet sites, a vibrant-coloured garden, a cool-coloured garden, a winter garden, a shade garden, and a design plan for the daunting area known as the hellstrip. Building a better, smarter garden has never been so much fun.

Reviews

"Any book of gardening advice written by people more accustomed to working with soil instead of ink is worth a look. . . . Add in a bunch of handy planting plans and some smart maintenance advice, and you've got everything you need to create a four-season garden." --Fine Gardening

"This book will stir a desire to plan for year-round interest and hold your hand while you endeavor to achieve it." --Newsday

"Garden design can be intimidating, but this book is a great place to start." --Garden Gate

"That's smart gardening." --Digging

"A compact guide to seasonal plant groupings, Cohen and Benner's handbook suggests innovative changes to the humdrum yard." --American Reference Books Annual

"Clear writing and instructive photos aimed at beginning gardeners and those baffled by seasonal plant choices and arrangements." --The Seattle Times

"A born teacher, [Cohen] has put her considerable knowledge to work in this book for gardeners of many levels in many situations." --Oregonian

"Belongs in every library." --Northwest Indiana Times

"One of the leading authorities on overall gardening techniques and strategies." --Buffalo Spree

"The photos are gorgeous and creative, the designs are well-thought-out and easy to envision and understand, and Stephanie's humorous, no-nonsense approach will make you feel like a more experienced gardener has taken you by the hand and joined you in creating the garden you've always dreamed of." --North Coast Gardening

"If you're shooting for a landscape that's colorful, that changes with the seasons and that's reasonably low maintenance, here's your guide." --People Places Plant

Author Bio

Stephanie Cohen taught herbaceous plants and perennial design at Temple University for more than 20 years and is the former director of Temple's Landscape Arboretum in Ambler, Pennsylvania. She is a contributing editor for Fine Gardening and The HGTV Newsletter, serves on the advisory boards for Green Profit and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Green Scene, and writes for the Blooms of Bressingham Plant Program and for American Nurseryman. She has received awards from Temple University, the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, and the American Nursery and Landscape Association and has appeared on QVC-TV as the "Perennial Diva." In April of 2005 she became a Temple University Alumni Fellow, the most distinguished award that can be given to an alumna. The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer (Storey Publishing) received an award from Garden Writers of America; her most recent book was Fallscaping. Stephanie holds undergraduate degrees in English and horticulture and a master's degree in environmental studies. She and her husband have three children and two grandchildren. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in horticulture from The Ohio State University, Jennifer Benner spent a good amount of time getting dirt under her fingernails. She has experience in nursery production as well as garden design, installation, and maintenance. Jennifer eventually landed in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where she worked as a horticulture manager, specializing in perennial and container gardens. In 2001 she joined the staff of Fine Gardening magazine, where she spent seven years taking articles from conception to print. As an associate editor, Jennifer enjoyed working closely with gardeners from around the United States and photographing their spaces. She now spends much of her time working as a freelance writer, photographer, and horticulture consultant but can still be found playing in the dirt, cultivating her garden in northwest Connecticut with her husband, Brent. Although she lives in New England, Jennifer still considers herself a Buckeye.