Hands on Gardener : Pruning

THE HANDS-ON GARDENER

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR SIMPLE TO ADVANCED PRUNING.

Espousing a new philosophy of pruning that's based on plant anatomy and growth, this fully illustrated handbook offers a simple, practical approach for succeeding at one of the most unnecessarily intimidating garden tasks. Including:

A Pruner's Lexicon

Stems and trunks, shoots and laterals. Tip buds, dormant buds, leaf vs. flower buds. Suckers, watersprouts, and sports.

When to Prune

Year-round schedule for the modern gardener. Deducing the age of a shoot, branch, or limb. Fall pruning of herbaceous perennials.

The Tools of the Craft and How to Use Them

Clippers, loppers, and the folding handsaw. Orchard ladders. Sharpening and maintenance.

The Methods of Pruning

Simple techniques: pinching back, shearing, disbudding, deadheading. The anatomy of a proper cut. The danger of flush cuts. Notching and ringing.

Robert Kourik is the author of Bob's Honest-to-Goodness Newsletter, devoted to environmentally responsible practices. He has also written on gardening for a range of magazines, and has authored or co-authored seven books on gardening.

Pruning takes a two-part approach to demystifying a task that fills many gardeners with trepidation. Illustrations.160 pp. 25,000 print.

Robert Kourik has authored or co-authored seven books on gardening and publishes his own gardening newsletter. He lives in California.