Western Garden Book (Sunset Western Garden Book) | 
|  | | | Title: | Western Garden Book (Sunset Western Garden Book) | | Author: | Kathleen Norris Brenzel (Editor) | | Publisher: | Sunset Books | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | February, 2007 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0376039167 / 9780376039163 | | List Price: | $34.95 | | You Save: | $11.88 | | Amazon Price: | $23.07 | |
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
Gardeners throughout the region will be welcoming a thoroughly updated and fresh- looking 8th edition of the bible of Western gardening. With a new, easy-to-read design, more plant photography, larger illustrations, and more than 8,000 plant listings500 of them newits THE essential book for gardeners in the Western states. What plants to grow, how to nurture them, and where they do the very bestits all here. Youll also find updated information on the Western climate zones, 30 Plant Selection Guides, plus a Practical Guide to Gardening with basic advice on plant care and essential gardening techniques. New plant lists reflect current trends, such as Mediterranean gardening and easy-care plants for beginners. For more than 70 years, Sunset has been the source for no-nonsense gardening advice, easy-to-follow diagrams, and encyclopedic knowledge of plant varieties. In this edition, we introduce an exciting new feature: gardening tips from well-known plant experts throughout the West. The Western Garden Book has never been better!
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Customer Reviews:
• The Gardener's "bible" 02 June, 2008
This book has been a mainstay of gardening information for many years. There have been positive changes/updates through the years and it is a great reference.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A21M7778CRA61P
• Great Resource! 14 May, 2008
I love this book! Being new to gardening and the area that I live it is a great resource for what and when to plant!
- Reviewed by customer ID: AZWGHA0EALG6P
• Wonderful Reference Manual 16 May, 2008
I am loving this book....is there anything it doesn't cover? I think if I can grow it hear in the west it will be in this book. Great addition to my library!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2VNZTGZFRRXY8
• List Of The Cons (cause There's A Lot) 03 June, 2008
My latest obsessive interest is gardening, specifically vegetable & fruit gardening. So I've been in info-gathering mode: going to the library to scope out books, obsessively cross-referencing blurbs about the same plant across 5-10 books at a time, being some of the things I've done. So I'm drowning in a sea of gardening books as I write this.
This is a book that I would not buy for substantive gardening because it does not measure up to what else is available. Many of the blurbs are less substantive than a seed envelope. I looked at it because of Amazon's high ratings, but here's why I think this book is an unwise investment for that purpose:
1) It's hard to read. For most of the plants listed, the header is accompanied by a single tiny (~1inch size) representative pastel-colored illustration followed by 1-10 short paragraphs of generic text. I'm only in my 20s and I feel like I have to crack out reading glasses.
2) The meat of the book is like a dictionary, alphabetically listed by scientific name or common name. To find something, you have to thumb through pages of tiny print with nothing to grab your attention. It's boring, having neither anecdotes (if you like those) nor the utility of bullets. Too bad Sunset magazine didn't include some of their big, eye-popping, full-page colorful photo spreads.
3) And like a dictionary, the blurbs are short and generic. For all the bountiful garden greens available in California & along the west coast, there is a 7 paragraph generic description of "lettuce". The strains are mentioned not to describe their look or taste, but to just list their names so they've been covered. Some of the fruits and trees are accompanined by tables, so their descriptions are better.
4) This book tries to have the scope of American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening while being the local expert, but falls very very short because it is not detailed enough and also passes the buck. True, there's a huge list of plants, but it's more like a cheap catalog with generic, cursory tips and zero visual stimulation. The worst is the passing of the responsibility. For example: (a small blurb on tomato problems) "If certain diseases or nematodes cause trouble locally, you may be able to grow varieties that resist one or more problems. Keys to resistance you may see on plant labels or in catalog descriptions..." Thanks. My all-in-one West Coast compendium tells me to look for local info in other resources.
5) With such generic, short descriptions, you'd think there'd be plenty of space on the page. But the margins are about 1/2 inch, so if you plan on jotting down notes, crack out your reading glasses.
6) There's almost zero visualization because not only are there so few pictures, a lot of times the strains are not even described, merely mentioned by name only. There is a short chapter in the beginning with 1-2inch color photos, but it is organized by scientific name. It wasn't useful because I didn't know the scientific names of strains I was trying to learn about. The seed catalogs that I've gotten from online companies do a much better job.
7) Because I was impressed by how bad I thought this book was (given it's high ratings), I checked the library for older editions to see how it had "improved" over time. Unfortunately, they only had the 7th ed and it was same as the 8th, minus different cover art.
For better, encyclopedia-like gardening books that have gorgeous color photos and insightful, detailed writing, try:
American Horticultural Society A to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants and The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers (American Horticultural Society Practical Guides) and American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening
-- has it all including photos and sequential drawings when plants need specific instructions. Fat, heavy books (You may pull a muscle, but together, these are the books that comprise a full reference.)
New Illustrated Guide to Gardening
-- succeeds where Western Garden fails; big coffee-table photos with substantive, practical writing; not as heavy cause it doesn't list everything like the book above, but it comes close
The Random House Book of Vegetables (Random House Garden)
-- I put this one in because in an ideal world, I want to see pictures of the varieties alongside good text in an all-inclusive gardening compendium. If anyone knows of any current book like this, please let me know! Thanks!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3IYV2Z9IGLODH
• Sunset Western Garden Book 30 May, 2008
I love this book....it's been years...and I mean years since we bought a new one....such an improvement from the old one...great pictures...easy to find what you're looking for....love it...love it..love it!!!
- Reviewed by customer ID: AUT7WM7YM2IQ8
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