The well-tended perennial garden The essential guide to planting and pruning techniques

Noteworthy features in this expanded third edition are the addition of more than 50 entries to the plant encyclopedia and new photographs, illustrations, and design projects. Perennials considered in this book are what some gardeners call herbaceous perennials: plants with foliage that "dies back to the ground" at the end of the growing season. Shrubs, trees, and bulbs are not included. The text is divided into three sections: planting and maintenance, pruning, and an A-Z perennial encyclopedia. This last section is the largest of the three and is full of useful information presented succinctly and in readable prose. Pruning and other maintenance tips for each encyclopedia entry are followed by suggestions for related, complementary plant cultivation. The copious illustrations are beautiful and very helpful for visual identification and evaluation. DiSabato-Aust's extensive experience in horticulture informs the significant insights she presents in all parts of this edition, making this a valuable reference for any perennial plant gardener. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Leroy G. Kavaljian, California State University, Sacramento

Perennial gardens must be started with careful evaluation and consideration of the site well before picking plant colors, garden style, and other preferences. This book encourages large, lush garden beds after determining soil types, moisture conditions, sunlight and shade, wind direction, and existing vegetation and structures. Advice on watering, weeding, dividing, pruning, dead-heading, winter and spring preparation, and much more precede the plant entries, presented A-Z by scientific name, which include brief notations of color, size, location, bloom time, and hardiness. Photographs vary in size but seem to emphasize an important feature of each plant. The maintenance needs and planting and maintenance schedule sections that follow offer guidance not often found in gardening literature and are perhaps the most encouraging, though the gardener may need to adjust the schedule advice depending on where he or she lives. This third revised edition is worthy of purchase for its 50 new plants, including some native species important to pollinators and for human enjoyment.--Scarth, Linda Copyright 2017 Booklist

Preface We are thrilled to offer this information-packed, beautiful, and inspiring third edition of The Well-Tended Perennial Garden ! In an effort to stay topical in the rapidly changing world of perennial gardening, we felt an update to the original edition from 1998 (that's right--can you believe it?) and the expanded edition from 2006 was in order. Exciting changes to this edition include more than 50 new plant encyclopedia entries, dozens of new cultivars, scores of new photographs and illustrations, updates to some of my original garden design projects, and visual stories of new design projects. If you have the previous two editions of Well-Tended Perennial Garden you will also appreciate the updated Perennials by Maintenance Needs, which has been expanded in this third edition. New perennials are being introduced daily and it's hard to keep up! Our goal isn't to provide every new perennial or cultivar (these are well covered in other publications), but to address these new plants from a maintenance perspective, which is a viewpoint unique to this book. What are the care, and more specifically, pruning, needs of these plants? Which cultivars are more reliable, hardier, or long-lived performers? Which ones have I used for years that still pass the test of a great plant? Working in the horticulture industry for 4 decades now, I've seen many changes. I have always used native plants in my designs, but the emphasis on their use is even greater today. Perennials are being incorporated into rain gardens, rooftop gardens, container gardens, and mixed gardens. They are joining trees, shrubs, bulbs, annuals, and vegetables in the garden, rather than being strictly relegated to traditional perennial beds. There is the desire to grow dynamic yet low maintenance plants that are deer resistant and drought tolerant, that don't require frequent pruning or care to look their best. Many new, safe organic fertilizers and pest controls are readily available. We address these issues here. Thankfully, many of the sound horticultural practices that were discussed in the book's first edition still hold true today; you will find they remain in these pages, both in recommendations and in the examples of featured gardens. Thank you for supporting this book and its mission all these years. Besides being one of the all-time bestselling and most-sustaining gardening publications available since it was first released, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden has been one of the most rewarding and cherished aspects of my career. Today's world is hectic and filled with technology. People rarely look up from their cell phones or digital devices. We desperately need to fuel our souls, and an excellent way to do so is by connecting with plants and the earth through gardening. May this refreshed, more-relevant-than-ever guide help you navigate a joyful perennial gardening journey.   Excerpted from The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: The Essential Guide to Planting and Pruning Techniques, Third Edition by Tracy DiSabato-Aust All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.