About the Book
Evergreen your landscape with the beauty and benefits of conifers
Growing Conifers is a beautifully photographed, comprehensive gardening guide for selecting and cultivating conifers. Coverage includes:
Conifer taxonomy, classification, and geographic distribution
Selecting conifers for size, shape, color, and texture
Best practices for placement and planting of trees, shrubs, and groundcovers in urban and rural gardens
Growing needs and low-input maintenance
Building healthy soil, minimizing water stress, and integrated pest management
Benefits of conifers including habitat, water and air quality, carbon sequestration, aesthetics, and food.
Conifers are often overlooked in gardening and landscaping in favor of deciduous trees and shrubs. Yet conifers come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors and offer tremendous aesthetic and ecological benefits for any garden.
Growing Conifers is an essential, comprehensive resource for gardeners and landscape professionals looking to develop beautiful, sustainable landscapes.
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New Society Publishers is an activist, solutions-oriented publisher focused on publishing books to build a more just and sustainable future. They pride themselves on holding the highest environmental standards of any publisher in North America. In 2002, they committed to printing all their books (including their full color books) on uncoated 100% post-consumer recycled paper, processed chlorine-free, with low-VOC vegetable-based inks. In doing so, the Growing Conifers' print run alone saved 66 fully grown trees, 5300 gallons of water, and 28,000 lbs of greenhouse gases. When you buy New Society Publishers' books, you are part of the solution!
About the Author :
John J. Albers has over 30 years of experience growing and caring for conifers in a variety of garden situations. He is an educator for the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association (WSNLA), an ecoPRO-certified sustainable landscape professional, and a former Washington State University / Kitsap County Master Gardener. He created Albers Vista Gardens, a 4-acre property containing 1,200 different species and cultivars, including 500 different conifers representing 130 different conifer species. John is author of The Northwest Garden Manifesto and a frequent presenter to garden clubs, master gardeners, members of the nursery and landscape industry, and the general public. He lives in Bremerton, Washington.
David E. Perry is a professional photographer who has photographed for books, including The Northwest Garden Manifesto, magazines, Fortune 500 corporate annual reports, and national ad campaigns for more than 35 years. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Review :
"One of the most misunderstood aspects of garden design is the proper use of conifers. They provide strong bones to any garden and Growing Conifers provides the key information needed to select the best plants for your garden. This book not only provides fantastic photographs to help you visualize how they will fit into your space, but it also provides all the information you need to properly plant and care for the new stars in your garden. After reading this book you may just decide to create a garden dedicated to only conifers."
--Robert Pavlis, author, Soil Science for Gardeners and Building Natural Ponds
"In a world often devoid of beauty and landscapes lacking imagination, tools to correct the drab status-quo are always enthusiastically welcome. David's photography is artistry to the point of motivation and John's prose, based on decades of experience, is much more than sufficient to guide the home gardener to success, both in terms of plant selection and plant husbandry. Growing Conifers is a welcome addition to the bookshelf of any plant enthusiast and a must-add to the arsenal of those specializing in these captivating and collectable cone-bearing plants."
--David Olszyk, president, American Conifer Society
"Growing Conifers is a work of love for the subject matter, reflecting a lifetime of devotion and a deep appreciation for the role of evergreens in our natural world. I am tempted to say that it's all here - that you will never need another book on this subject. It answers all questions including many that the reader would not think to ask. You owe it to yourself to wade into Growing Conifers with purpose and with time on your hands. It is thorough and passionately written and gorgeously illustrated. I will read it again and again and make it a centerpiece of my modern gardening library. I will turn the pages, slowly, in search of inspiration for my own garden. Like the best cup of coffee or finest wine you have ever tasted, Growing Conifers is not to be rushed. That would be a waste of a most incredible book."
-- Mark Cullen, garden columnist, Toronto Star, member, Order of Canada, author, The New Canadian Garden
