Decoding Gardening Advice

by Jeff Gillman

Other authorsMeleah Maynard

Paper Book, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

635

Genres

Collection

Read

Publication

Portland, Or. : Timber Press, 2012.

Description

Provides information and expertise on a variety of basic gardening questions, covering such topics as soil, water, pests, mulch, flowers, trees, vegetables, and lawn care.

User reviews

LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey

Occasionally useful, somewhat fluffy. The concept sounds good, but the implementation faltered from time to time. Each section states a common(?) bit of gardening advice - from "put eggshells in the soil around tomatoes" to "plant in the dark of the moon" - and discusses what parts are good advice,

possibly useful in certain circumstances (with a very little discussion of what sort of circumstances) and what are bad ideas, or at least not good ones (that is, what is more effort than the result is worth or what might actually damage your plants or soil). The explanations give at least a quick skim of _why_ something might be good advice (eggshells contain calcium, which wards off the common problem of blossom end rot in tomatoes) or bad advice. I got a few bits of advice that were new to me, a few that I'd heard and was pleased to find out the why behind them, and an awful lot of stuff labeled bad advice that I couldn't imagine anyone believing. For the useful bits, it was good, but it took some digging to get the useful bits out.

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LibraryThing member EmmaBleu

If you're a scientific-minded gardener who enjoys knowing not only if advice you hear is true or not, but also why, this is the reference for you! Decoding Gardening Advice explores all sorts of well-intentioned tips--till your vegetable garden every year, use gravel or rocks at the bottom of

containers to improve drainage, release ladybugs into your garden to help control pests, add phosphorus to increase bloom and stimulate rooting, do not divide shrubs, leave grass clippings on the lawn after mowing, etc.--and reveals the science that proves whether the advice is good, debatable, or just plain wrong. And even if you're not particularly the analytical sort, this handy, engagingly written guide will help all your horticultural efforts yield the best possible results!

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