The New Ornamental Garden

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Description

This book takes a fresh look at garden-worthy plants for Australian conditions. It will help gardeners to reappraise their climate, select appropriate plants and modify gardening practices to create beautiful gardens featuring native and exotic plants with proven drought tolerance, reliability and minimal weed potential. The New Ornamental Garden shows how heat, cold, water availability, rainfall patterns, length of growing season, evaporation rate and humidity influence plant growth in Australia, from the wet sub-tropics to the temperate climate of southern Australia. It also discusses the influence of microclimates within a garden: dry sun, dry shade, moist sun, moist shade, seaside conditions, exposed sites, urban situations and root competition from eucalyptus and allelopaths. The main focus of the book is the plant index, which contains notes on hundreds of plant varieties and how they function in the garden. All gardeners will benefit from reading this book!

Reviews

"Author Rickard, a botanical guide for Botanical World Discoveries, has appeared in television and radio. In this color photo illustrated guide, he recommends drought-tolerant native and non-native garden plants to transform a heat-stunned Australian yard into a haven of beauty and abundance. The book goes into detail about factors that affect Australia's climate and growing season, describing how plants adapt to the continent's different climate environments. There is also an overview of the microclimates of the garden itself, from sun to shade, moist to dry. A directory of plants offers entries with information on growing season, garden uses, cultivation, varieties, and drought tolerance. Each entry is illustrated with a color photo."-- "Book News Inc." (10/1/2011 12:00:00 AM)

Author Bio

Simon Rickard is a passionate gardener and plantsman. He is best known as the former head gardener of the Digger's Club, in which role he oversaw two of Australia's best-known public gardens, Heronswood and the Garden of St Erth, until 2009. More recently Simon has been a kitchen gardener, growing bespoke produce for Annie Smithers' Bistrot in Kyneton, Victoria. Simon is a botanical guide for Botanica World Discoveries, helping to bring alive the world's most beautiful and influential gardens for Australian gardeners abroad. Simon has lectured and held masterclasses for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, the University of Melbourne and many local horticultural societies. As a garden writer he has contributed to Your Garden and ABC Organic Gardener magazines and The Digger's Club Notes. He has made several appearances on gardening radio and television, most notably on ABC television's much-loved "Gardening Australia".