GARDENER'S READING ROOM
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The Gardener’s Bookshelf

Stand in the book section at Sky Nursery and it is easy to get overwhelmed. You can find books on almost any gardening subject. I am willing to bet that someone, somewhere, has written a book entitled Gardening on February 29th or possibly Color Coordinating your Garden with your Fall Wardrobe.

Several times a week I am asked what’s the best book for pruning or plant identification or some other subject. I am also approached by new gardeners who want to know the best general source for information. So, here are my choices for a basic library for gardeners.

Everyone needs a basic plant identification book. For the home gardener the Sunset Western Garden Book (Sunset, © 2007) is still at the top of the list as a basic plant information guide. The one thing to bear in mind is that Sunset uses its own unique set of climate zones that can be confusing when you see tags in the nursery (which use the industry standard of USDA zone codes).

As you expand your gardening interests, you can find a plethora of plant specific books. For starters Sunset, Ortho, and the Creative Homeowners series all have titles dealing with almost any specific garden topic. Timber Press, a Northwest publishing house, has a large array of topic specific gardening books. One that should be part of the gardener’s bookshelf is Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon (Timber Press, © 2005). This small, clearly written book will give you the basics of how plants grow.

Every gardener has questions about how to prune. Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning (Sasquatch Books, © 2006) is one of the best pruning books ever written. Cass gives you all the information you could ever want about how and when to prune. Her style is witty and just plain fun to read.

When you are trying to figure out what the heck is going on in your yard, the Ortho Home Gardener’s Problem Solver (Meredith Books, © 2004) is a great tool. Written by the folks at Ortho, it can help you to diagnose many of the more common pest and disease problems. Bear in mind, however, that Ortho is a chemical company. This is why I recommend using this book more for figuring out what is wrong and less for figuring out what to do about it.

The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide (Seattle Tilth, © 2005) is a great basic guide for the vegetable gardener. It will give you great organic advice in a format that takes you through the gardening year month by month.

The Northwest Gardener’s Resource Directory (Sasquatch Books©, 2002) is great for the gardener who wants to get out and about. It is full of places to go in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, including nurseries, public gardens, and arboretums. It is also a great source for where to go to get information. It has wonderful lists of garden clubs, horticultural libraries, and even internet sites.

For those of us who like to get out into mountains and woods, Lone Pine Publishing has a great series of field guides. They are printed on rugged stock that can withstand the elements. Two of my favorites are Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast and Birds of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

These are my choices for the basic gardener’s bookshelf. All are available in the book section at Sky Nursery.

By Charlie Shull
Skylights Spring 2008, Vol 23, No. 1

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