Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Complete Guide to Natural and Chemical-Free Gardening

This is the book I pull off my bookshelf the most for my garden! It has everything - vegetables, flowers, lawns, herbs, trees, shrubs, fruits, as well as gardening basics like garden design, water storage, soil care, encouraging wildlife - I mean everything. It is quite a thick book, and very rich in pictures. At the back of the book, it has a short section on every vegetable I've ever tried to look up, as well as the most common diseases and pests that affect plants. I've looked up information like when to harvest garlic, how to harvest/store garlic, how to build trellises for plant supports in the garden, what ornamental shrubs are good for birds, which shrubs will grow in dry soil, how to propagate woody stemmed plants, what kind of mulches are good for vegetables, when to prune plants - all kinds of stuff.That being said - this is an Encyclopedia. It's a good place to go for basic knowledge and quick reference, but for the nitty gritty details you may need in depth books on a specific topic. For instance, if you are just doing compost for your garden, this will get you started. It will tell you how compost works, how to make a composter, and what kinds of stuff you can put in your compost. However, if you want to know EVERYTHING about compost, like how to make it happen super fast, or what microorganisms specifically are doing the composting - you'll want a book on compost. Similarly with seed starting - it's a very good, basic overview of how to start seeds. It will get you started in the vegetable garden. But for strange wildflowers that take XYZ temperature for XYZ duration, you're going to need a book on wildflowers.This is still the first book I go to whenever I have a question. And so far it has had a great deal of the answers - all with pretty pictures! I am buying the newest version of this for my library, so they can be up to date, and everyone can use it!

This 2002/ 2005 edition is far better than the newer 2009 edition. It's organized in a way that is easy to follow and instructional, with lots of photos to identify plants pests, and help in building and construction of compost bins, etc.

You'll find it in this book of Organic gardening.

Lost my old resource in a move - beautiful book to inspire!

I love this book! It has been very helpful for my gardening and fruit trees.

If you're trying to understand what "Sustainable Ecology is about" read this book, and apply to your love for "Horticulture", and it will open up the lovely world of ecology as your personal life and living.

very good book. such widespread information about everything from fruits and vegetables, as well as problems with the plants. excellent pictures throughout the book.

Great resource, very helpful scientific information!

Easily one of the best gardening books to own.

A great book - covers all aspects of organic gardening - v useful

I love gardening and this book has to be in your libary ,well written and illustrated no need for chemicals

Not Sure how I ended up getting this! I even read the previous post.This is the U.S version!Crap