The New Western Garden Book: The Ultimate Gardening Guide (Sunset Western Garden Book)
As surely as gardens change with the seasons, gardening is ever changing. New plants, techniques, materials, and lifestyles are constantly broadening the choices you have and reshaping the way you garden in the West. In response to this natural evolution, the editors of Sunset-the West’s most trusted source of gardening information for more than 80 years-have completely redesigned and updated The Western Garden Book in this new 2012 Ninth Edition. Following the best-selling success of the previo
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Moleskine Passions Gardening Journal – Black (5 x 8.25) (Passion Book Series)
Collect and organize your passion for gardening: – 5 themed sections to fill in – 5 tabbed sections to personalize – plants and pots information, hardiness zones, garden log, design grids, plant care records and more – 202 adhesive labels for personalizing your journal
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This new edition is SO worth it – beautiful photos, sustainable angles, and an emphasis on regional and contemporary design,
If you’re a gardener on the West Coast, you already know this book is a must-have. The only real question is, will you upgrade to the new edition? You may be wondering how different it could be from the old version. Well, for one, it has photos in the encyclopedia. Yep, the charming but often-frustrating illustrations have been replaced with vivid, beautiful photographs. And thank god, they put back the plant index, which was missing in the last edition.
The Plant Finder lists in the front have been revamped, with the old sections on broad categories of plants such as “annuals, “vines” and “ferns” replaced with more useful sections on “ornamental edibles”, “plants that attract beneficial insects”, “sculptural plants”, “plants for moon gardens” and more. Altogether a solid improvement, given the Plant Finder lists are already broken down by type of plant. Having “trees” listed separately was kind of overkill given that you’d be better served by going to the section that most matches your garden, such as “plants for shade”, and looking for tree ideas there.
Even better is the thematic direction they’re taking. There’s a definitely move towards clever sustainability and a contemporary style. While I buy the book for the Plant Finder lists and encyclopedia, I confess that the new emphasis on gorgeous design had me sitting down to read more carefully. The sections in the back about different ways to use both small and large succulent plants had me jotting down ideas. I just wish the book had a “pin it” button so I could add the pics to my Pinterest boards!
My very favorite aspect of the new book is their serious discussion of regional design. A garden should have a sense of place and reflect the region it grows in. Not only does using native plants and materials in the landscape reduce cost, maintenance, and the carbon footprint of trucking foreign plants from three states away, but it just feels right. When your garden has a lovely view of the redwoods yet reflects none of the beauty of the forest, you’re missing the chance to connect your own garden to something greater than yourself.
The fact that the new Sunset is discussing this and giving tools and tips for achieving a landscape that feels connected to your surroundings – well, it fills my soul. This is important stuff.
OK, I should probably stop raving on it now as you’re either convinced you need one, or you’re a lost cause. But I will say one last thing. The actual format of the book makes it a lot easier to read. The cover bends flat and the book sits open, so you can read while eating breakfast, which is a huge selling point for a large book like this.
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|Happy I updated from the eighth edition,
I was hesitant to purchase the new edition since my old one still has its binding on it. I am very happy I did. It says there are over 500 new plants. I really like the new section in the back of the book “Gardening, Start to Finish” it includes Plan, Dig, Plant, Containers, and a large section called Grow, it is broken down into sections like; trees, veggies, herbs, vines, natives, succulents, etc.
In the old edition, in the beginning there is a section called “A Guide to Plant Selection” (includes special effects, special situation, and basic landscaping) it is now called “Plant finder”. The main difference is the new edition no longer has a symbol for the amount of water each plants uses, however, that information is still listed in the “encyclopedia” section.
Buy it, you will be happy you did, it is the best gardening book you can own!
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|Really disappointing,
I usually buy each new edition of this book when it comes out. But this edition really missed the boat. The value of the book was that if you buy a plant that is new to you, you could find it in the book because the plants are cross referenced by common names – they redirect one to the proper name. In the new book this is missing. There is no way to find a plant unless you know the proper name in advance. For a lot of the plants I buy, I don’t know the proper name, and I’ve been gardening for more than 50 years.
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|Beautiful Journal, just wish it was a bit bigger….,
Anything you can think of pertaining to gardening you can write about, log, plan a garden grid, draw/paste pics of what your growing etc you can do with this journal! There are several “blank” tabbed sections in the back that you can make whatever subject you want…and the include stickers in a hidden folder on the inside back cover! Definately going to help keep me organized with all the herbs I just planted and all the veggies and whatever else I decide to plant in the spring. You can go to their website and print out more pages that you can tape/paste/glue inside your journal too, which is really cool. Overall, very happy with this, beautifully made, good quality…just wish it was a bit bigger so I can have more room to write more stuff per page….
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|Beautiful garden journal – can’t wait to use,
I have never had a proper gardening journal before, and I can see why these moleskin ones are the kings of notebooks, as they really are a work of art, and so therefore have that special factor, as if I am going to write something really important.
In the past I have used notebooks or art books which are a lot larger than this, and I have to say when I got the moleskin one, I thought it was a little too beautiful for my dirty gardening and I’m not entirely sure where to begin, however, as we are not quite in spring here in the southern hemisphere, I still have plenty of time (although I must mark down the date I moved the compost heap and planted the garlic!) The fact is though, that I’m a bit fearful of ruining the beauty of the notebook with my scruffy garden writing, and I don’t want to be so precious about it, particularly as I usually write in my scrappy old garden notebooks of the past when I’ve just come in from the garden, usually before I’ve washed up, so ewwwwwwww! Imagine how they look! But I also draw, and make charts, and colour code stuff, like my crop rotation chart, seed list etc.
I really like the stickers that come with the moleskin one, and the concertina pocket in the back cover and the workmanship is beyond compare! How wonderful. And now that I look at it, once I get beyond the beauty of the notebook versus the dirtiness of my garden writing habits of the past, I can see that it is going to be amazing, as I will be able to put my harvest records all in the same place, drawings of things in the blank page section, there is a great resource at the front with the climate details of all areas, including my spot in the South Island of little old New Zealand, so that alone impresses me. Then there are tabs for plant info; pots, tools etc (handy to keep track of or put a wishlist there); design (grid pages of course); visits (in case I go to other gardens, and the book is small and neat enough to carry anywhere); and garden log, which is the main part I’ll be using. But wait, there’s more! There are more tabbed sections, and blank pages, and all the pages are numbered so you can easily cross-reference other parts of the notebook, and there’s an index at the back!!! Could it be any more perfect! And to keep everything in place, of course the notebook has an elastic band thing around it. And to add even more luxury, there are three bookmark ribbons. Now that I’ve reviewed it, I’m wondering what’s taken me so long to put the garlic in (in the plant section and the log, where I will mention the number of the plant section page) and the compost heap change (I can draw where it is in the design section, and write it in the log, again putting the page where I have drawn it in the design section.)
I am so pleased that I have got this just before the gardening season starts, and I actually think for the first time ever I have a garden journal that I can actually carry around in my bag, and really keep on hand. At this time of year, end of winter, I can be writing my seed list (which I already have colour-coded by root, fruit, leaf or legume plant type in a box and I can use one of the blank tabs for seeds and colour-code them there for each category) and maybe planning which seedlings I will start of first, and perhaps some dates for direct sowing of other seeds.
What fun! The Moleskin Garden Journal is inspiring and useful and beautiful too! Roll on spring!
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|Just Beautiful!,
I love the versatility of this journal. I was looking for a place to keep all the information about my orchard, vegetable garden, and flowers. I love the ability to sketch and notate specifics. I am going to be giving this as a gift to a few Master Gardener friends or mine for Christmas. Love, love, love!
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