The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques

Description

Tracy DiSabato-Aust has devoted years to studying how to plan and care for perennials so that a garden can be a real showplace with a minimum of maintenance. The first key to success lies in good site planning and plant selection that emphasizes each plant's strengths. But what is most important is learning how and when to prune and shape perennials to produce more flowers, encourage lush new growth, discourage pests, stagger bloom times, and maintain vigorous health. Amazingly, this is the first book that has covered this essential topic in detail, although books on pruning woody plants abound. Deadheading, pinching, cutting back, thinning, disbudding, and deadleafing are among the techniques in the gardener's arsenal that are thoroughly explained and illustrated. There is also an extensive encyclopedia of important perennial species and cultivars that clearly explains the pruning and maintenance needs of each plant. Wonderfully useful appendices offer a month-by-month planting and maintenance schedule for the typical perennial garden and lists of plants with specific pruning requirements.

"The Well-Tended Perennial Garden champions the shift toward plant-rich gardens, but it seemed at first glance a book for compulsive tidiers, and I worried the book would send people rushing back to the modernist garden. As I thumbed through the pages, however, I was pleased to find a wealth of practical information to allow a lazy gardener such as myself to have it all, and still find time for an outdoor cocktail party or two."The Well-Tended Perennial Garden remains an indispensable guide to the dos and don'ts of keeping an herbaceous collection in tip-top shape. A must-have for garden lovers everywhere. For amateur and professional gardeners alike. Serious gardeners and plant lovers will be enthralled. I'll definitely find room on my overstuffed shelf for this one. An excellent guide. -- Marty Hair "Detroit Free Press" (06/11/2004) This is the book of the year for anyone who gardens with perennials. This whole book is great. -- Jennifer Brennan "Weedpatch Gazette" (02/01/1998) Excellent reference. -- Donna Williamson "HortResources Newsletter" (01/21/2004) A useful and easily referenced guide. -- Lynn Harnett "Portsmouth Herald" (04/26/1998) It is a book to read now.Good information, great detail. -- Judy Glattstein "Home Monthly" (03/01/1998) I've never seen a book quite like this . . . Highly recommended. -- Ann Milovsoroff "Pappus" (06/22/2001) The book dishes out large amounts of practical advice. -- Stephen Pategas "Ornamental Outlook" (06/27/2000) A wonderful book for the perennial gardener. -- Catherine Wallberg "Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops" (03/22/2000) Wonderful for specific care instructions for most perennials. -- Karen Russ "Albany Democrat-Herald" (10/12/2004) The Well-Tended Perennial Garden should be part of every perennial library. -- Bill Funkhouser "Perennial Notes" (09/27/2000) Finally a book that focuses on the nitty-gritty of caring for perennial flowers. -- George Weigel "Harrisburg Patriot-News" (12/13/1998) [Tracy] explains the tricks that make the difference between a garden that looks good for a few days and one that delights the eye for months. A 'must' for novice gardeners and offers a wealth of useful, practical, and occasionally inspiring insights for professional gardeners as well. This book will show both amateur and professional gardeners how to give their perennials the kind of care that will allow them to look their best. A god-send. It's one of the most informative and most-often used garden books I own. -- Ethel Fried "Manchester (CT) Journal Inquirer" (06/27/2003) The best book on planting and pruning techniques I've found in 22 years of buying and reading garden books. -- A. Carman Clark "Camden Herald" (03/13/2003) An excellent reference, a must for any serious perennial gardener, this is the first book to really address in detail the care and maintenance of perennials. The classic has sold more than 100,000 copies and continues to rank high on Timber's bestseller list. -- Dorothea Smith "Westchester Journal News" (12/11/2003) "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques," by Tracy DiSabato-Aust, is the perfect resource for learning when and how to prune perennials. This excellent resource offers extensive in-depth instructions on pruning, dividing, deadheading, pinching, and other maintenance techniques for specific perennials. Well organized and packed with useful information and excellent advice, it covers a broad spectrum of perennials. -- Honey Sharp Lippmann "Berkshire Homestyle" (01/27/2003) It is the most comprehensive coverage of plants' needs I have ever found.I can't find anything to fault in this splendid book. -- Jean S. Wexler "Vineyard Gazette" (05/22/1998) "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" covers everything to create your own successful perennial Mecca . . . I recommend this book. -- Deborah Mills "Ventura County Star" (06/03/2001) Whether you are a first-time caretaker of perennials or have been using these plants for years, her book is sure to be of interest. -- Madeleine Wilde "Kirkland Courier" (08/01/1998) Tracy DiSabato-Aust wrote one of the most meticulous books on caring for perennials in the late '90s and it's been a classic ever since. -- Karen Hugg "Northwest Garden News" (11/08/2004) The guesswork is gone! DiSabato-Aust gives us a guide to the picture perfect garden like those featured in magazines. And the author makes us feel it is well withing the realm of pssibility. This is the best book ever on the maintenance of perennials, with detailed discussions of deadheading, pinching, disbudding and pruning. -- John Van de Water "Newark Star-Ledger" (04/05/1998) Not only are the instructions easy to follow, but the reasoning behind them is clearly explained with the use of colour plates and simple diagrams. -- Judith Dadswell "Hardy Plant" (02/01/1998) If you're into perennials, you need Tracy DiSabato-Aust's book, especially for her lists of hundreds of flowers grouped by their maintenance needs. -- John Van de Water "Newark Star-Ledger" (06/14/2000) This is a book that takes you step by step through your favorite perennials, detailing what you need to do to have them in peak performance all season. -- Natalie Walsh "Schenectady Daily Gazette" (01/23/2001) "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" by Tracy DiSabato-Aust is one of the best books on the subject of perennials available today... an incredibly useful work. -- Lynette Walther "Palatka Daily News" (03/08/2000) A convenient reference for gardeners of all abilities. She ... provides a formula that should not fail to make a gardener happy. -- Myrna Dowsett "Association of Professional Landscape Designers Newsletter" (02/01/1998) If you're interested in perennials . . . this is the only gardening book you really need . . . This book makes sense out of the whole confusing world of making plants not only survive, but give you their best performance. A book destined to become as indispensable in the garden as the trowel. This is a book to help professional and amateur gardeners create the garden of their dreams. -- Natalie Walsh "Schenectady Daily Gazette" (07/22/1999) I was convinced my library was complete - until I opened this book and began to read . . . This well-used book will have a permanent spot on my bookshelf for many years to come. -- Marilyn Dube "Hobby Greenhouse" (07/03/2000) [This book] takes the guesswork out of how to plant and care for perennials so your garden does not end up looking like a mess but becomes 'a showcase with a minimum of maintenance'. -- Steve Whysall "Vancouver Sun" (11/29/2002) I learned a lot about deadheading from the book...also features excellent diagrams that illustrate how to maintain floppy perennials so they develop a shorter, bushier growth habit. -- Kathy Van Mullekom "Daily Press" (08/08/2004) In spite of the fact that this book is chock full of important information, it is an easy read with its chatty style and humorous comments: in fact, it's just like listening to Tracy speak. This book is certainly at the top of my list. A 'must have' gardening resource. . . . This book contains information on maintenance of perennial plants, especially on pruning and deadheading, not found anywhere else. -- Winston Dunwell "University of Kentucky HortMemo" (03/31/2003) "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" will be a boon for the serious flower gardener, and offers valuable information to anyone interested in creating and keeping a healthy, beautiful garden. -- Charles King "Castro Valley Forum" (05/13/1998) I bought [this book] as soon as it came out and have found it invaluable. It is well written and contains sound information about the cultural requirements of the plants, maintenance and how to prepare the beds. -- Pete Prown "Green Scene" (12/10/2001) [The book] has plant by plant maintenance tips, a whole section of lists that help you know which plants get what care, and a load of great perennial growing advice. You're perennials will thank you. -- George Weigel "Harrisburg Patriot-News" (11/08/1998) [DiSabato-Aust's book] has become a standby for perennial gardeners. Her conversational writing style introduces techniques in a user-friendly fashion and she almost answers your questions before you can ask them. -- Lillie Dorchak "Hunterdon County Democrat" (12/20/2001) Both her academic and hands-on approaches to gardening offer the reader rare insights into proven pruning and propagation techniques for garden perennials...A valuable addition to the library of serious perennial gardeners. -- Don Burns "San Mateo County Times" (11/28/1998) Perennial gardeners will benefit from "The Well Tended Perennial Garden" by Tracy Di-Sabato Aust. Line drawings, 131 color photographs and excellent descriptions tell how to pinch, cut back, thin and deadhead to remove old flowers. -- Kathy Van Mullekom "Daily Press" (12/10/1998) Most impressive is the extensive encyclopedia of perennials which, drawing principally on her own field experiences, focuses on pruning and maintenance practices.Beth Ann Daye's line drawings and the author's color photos enhance the clarity of the text and make this book invaluable for both home gardeners and professionals. ["The Well Tended Perennial Garden"] is undoubtedly the most detailed treatise I've read on the subject of perennial care...[Ms. DiSabato-Aust's] advice comes from her heart...and hands. She is an avid gardener herself and there is no second-hand information here. -- Jimmy Williams "Paris (TN) Post Intelligencer" (10/01/1998) It is the go-to book for gardeners who want to know planting and pruning techniques for perennials. . . . DiSabato-Aust shines when she talks about how to pull theories together to create a design by giving dozens of real-life vignettes or examples of how to apply the information. -- Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp "Indianapolis Star" (03/29/2003) Garden books that describe beautiful plants are thick on the ground, but the majority of them have far too little to say about care of these beauties once you've acquired them. I turn to DiSabato-Aust's really practical reference over and over again when I have a question about whether to cut back in spring or fall, whether a plant can be pinched, and so on. -- Linda Hillegass "Spring Affair News" (03/22/2005) Takes the guesswork out of the question "How do I take care of these perennials?" This is the first book written of its kind that not only tells, but shows us how pruning, pinching and general maintenance not only gives gardeners a longer bloom season for most plants but how to exert control over individual flowering seasons. And consequently more control over designs. -- Georgene Bramlage "Suite101.com" (07/15/2003) "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" champions the shift toward plant-rich gardens, but it seemed at first glance a book for compulsive tidiers, and I worried the book would send people rushing back to the modernist garden. As I thumbed through the pages, however, I was pleased to find a wealth of practical information to allow a lazy gardener such as myself to have it all, and still find time for an outdoor cocktail party or two."The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" remains an indispensable guide to the dos and don'ts of keeping an herbaceous collection in tip-top shape. -- C. Colston Burrell "Horticulture" (02/01/2000) Hands-on advice that gardeners of all experience levels will find valuable. -- Karan Davis Cutler "Organic Gardening" (02/19/1999) This book is chock full of important information, (and) it is an easy read with its chatty style and humorous comments.This book is certainly at the top of my list. Her writing style is conversational, and it is uncanny how she has anticipated each question that occurs to you.My shelves are heavy with books about perennials but none containing as much practical advice useful for the home gardener as well as the professional installer of borders. This is not just another pretty picture book on perennial flowers, although the author's photos are superb. What you will find is a twofer, i.e., a comprehensive guide to growing perennials and a really good encyclopedia on perennials.And...It is truly a bargain considering how much good information is packed into one book. Perennials require work. Tracy DiSabato Aust is one of the first perennial experts to focus a book on the hard work but in a way that gives the work a clear purpose, even an esthetic goal.This book should be in the collection of every gardener who wants the perennial garden to look its very best...from week to week, season to season, and year to year. -- David W. Kramer "Plant Science Bulletin" (02/01/1998)