The Complete Guide to Pruning Trees and Bushes: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back to Basic Gardening)
Author
Kim O Morgan
Publisher
Atlantic Publishing Group Inc.
4 Review Copies Left
According to the Virginia Cooperative Extension, operated by Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, there are more than 60 different kinds of shrubs in North America with varying pruning requirements, timelines, and necessities. This massive variety makes it so that anyone interested in pruning needs to be very well educated in how the process is completed, what it needed, what should be avoided, and most of all, when to plant, prune, and provide maintenance to your shrubs. This book walks every shrub enthusiast through the surprisingly complex process of pruning from the first seed in the ground to the annual progression of pruning steps that must be done in the right order to maximize the health of your shrubs. You will learn what the top reasons for taking up pruning are followed by what equipment is needed for pruning from start to finish. You will learn everything you need to know about the 10 most common pruning methods and a number of more methods that are nearly as common but equally as useful. You will learn how to apply these techniques to ornamental trees and shrubs, shade trees, pruning evergreens, pruning hedges, artistic pruning, pruning fruit trees, pruning small trees, pruning nut trees, pruning vines and ground covers, and finally pruning houseplants and bonsai plants. You will benefit from the advice gathered from interviews with top experts in the field of pruning and gardening and their insights on how pruning should be completed for reach type of plant. For anyone who interested in pruning of their plants either inside or outside, this guide will provide everything you need.
Reviews
A solid resource for beginners.
The Complete Guide to Pruning Trees and Bushes by K. O. Morgan takes a slightly different approach than many of the guides published by Atlantic Publishing Inc. The book is information dense. While most of these guides give a good overview on topics, you’ll get more details here than might be expected.
The author layers information in a way that in helpful and educational. Each chapter successfully builds on the next. While you could skip around the chapters in this book, those new to pruning their own trees and bushes would do well to read the first seven chapters in order. You will cover what you need to know about tools, techniques and safety. As a result you will be better prepared to explore the remaining chapters on pruning specific types of plants.
The remaining chapters, eight through twelve can be used based on the pruning you want to complete at a given time. You could even consider this the second section of the book. Divided into types of trees such as deciduous or fruit, these chapters can be resourced for quite awhile as you develop your landscape and garden skills.
I was surprised to learn that the author is multi-published but not in the field of gardening. Obviously a lot of research went into compiling and presenting all this information. I did, however, find a couple items lacking. Quick-reference tables are common in this type of book. This specific manual does not contain any. The addition of a zone-chart and some examples of how to use combine the information in the book with climate zones would make the book even more valuable. Be sure to locate your planting zone and incorporate it into your plans for pruning.
If you’re looking for an effective, thorough introductory book to successful pruning this is a good place to start. Likely you will want other resources as your abilities to develop. You do get a concentrated amount of useful information to begin your journey with “The Complete Guide to Pruning Tress and Bushes: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply” as your guide book.
Reviewed on 11/29/2011 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Heidi Roth
