Now you can have green grass right in your own backyard, thanks to David Mellor, master groundskeeper of Boston's Fenway Park. Everyone wants a green lawn, but how do you actually get one? Bags of fertilizer? Weed killer Sod? What about mowing? Everyone knows how to, but do you really know when to? Fenway Park's master groundskeeper David Mellor does. He's been caring for some of the nicest lawns around for years. In The Lawn Bible, Mellor offers you everything you need to know about lawn care for your part of the country, including planting, mowing, feeding, and troubleshooting, as well as tips, illustrations, and anecdotes. Whether your yard is full shade, full sun, or something in between, David Mellor will help you transform it into the greenest grass of your dreams. The Gospel of Grass, according to David: \nHow to think like a lawn How to make a lawn child-friendly and a child lawn-friendly What combination of good soil, good seed, and good sun adds up to a great lawn The mechanics and artistry of mowing How to win the war on weeds, pests, and disease\n

Create a gorgeous lawn that is free of harsh chemicals. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know to grow and maintain a thriving lawn using organic gardening methods. With expert advice on planting the best grass varieties, nourishing the soil, watering, fighting weeds, and sustainable maintenance, Paul Tukey helps you create a luscious and inviting lawn that is pesticide-free and safe for your children and pets.

Keeping your yard in prime condition isn't always easy. From too much shade to too little water, and from persistent pests to heavy usage, it seems there is always an obstacle to overcome. But with The Everything Lawn Care Book in hand, anyone can grow a gorgeous lawn! \nThe Everything Lawn Care Book shows you how to nurture and maintain your lawn based on your property's needs - and according to your lifestyle. Filled with easy-to-follow instructions and professional pointers, this book proves that you don't need a green thumb to have a green lawn. From seeding and sodding to alternative landscaping options for difficult areas, The Everything Lawn Care Book can help you perfect your lawn - no matter what condition it is in. \nYou'll learn how to: \nSelect the best grass for your climate \nSeed, establish and water your lawn \nMow and edge properly \nFertilize and winterize \nPrevent and kill weeds \nEliminate harmful bugs \nAnd much, much more! \nFilled with easy-to-follow charts, professional pointers, and a full-color insert packed with photos, this book can help anyone have the lawn of their dreams.

Comprehensive guide on lawn-care activities published by the world’s leading lawn authority.\nExplains better ways to mow, weed, fertilize, troubleshoot, and treat for pests.\nIncludes information on buying or renting lawn-care equipment and other products.

The “hands-on” lawn book that goes straight to the sourceWhat's wrong with your lawn? This waterproof book from the lawn experts at Ortho(r) can tell you, with complete information on how to identify and eliminate lawn and garden pests and diseases. Durable, wipe-clean pages let you take this guide straight to the problem area for diagnosis and treatment, and a lay-flat binding makes it easy to refer to when you're in the middle of a project.

Gardening in a northern clime has its own unique set of challenges. Yet, despite the shorter growing season, gardening remains a popular passion for millions of green thumbs in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Northern gardeners can successfully grow a wide range of beautiful ornamentals and tasty food crops.In The Northern Gardener, Mary Lahr Schier brings together a rich and varied collection of wisdom for cold-climate gardeners. The tips, tricks, and lore, presented with period illustrations and glorious photos, are gleaned in part from the pages of the journals and magazines of the 150-year-old Minnesota State Horticultural Society, including Minnesota Horticulturist magazine and its current incarnation, Northern Gardener. The increasing popularity of heirloom vegetables and plants demonstrates that the next generation of gardeners seeks the sense of accomplishment and authenticity that comes from growing plants at home. This book provides insight into gardening traditions, time-tested how-to advice for gardening in the North, and a peek into Minnesota's horticultural history.

Practical advice to plan watering zones appropriate to climates and landscape varieties.\nTips for successful installation or for planning a system with a professional.\nComplete how-to for installing sprinkler equipment from a variety of manufacturers.\nIllustrated step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting tips, and do-it-yourself hints.

“As practical as it is poetic. . . . an optimistic call to action.” —Chicago Tribune Over time, with industrialization and urban sprawl, we have driven nature out of our neighborhoods and cities. But we can invite it back by designing landscapes that look and function more like they do in the wild: robust, diverse, and visually harmonious. Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West is an inspiring call to action dedicated to the idea of a new nature—a hybrid of both the wild and the cultivated—that can flourish in our cities and suburbs. This is both a post-wild manifesto and practical guide that describes how to incorporate and layer plants into plant communities to create an environment that is reflective of natural systems and thrives within our built world.

With umbels, spires, and bright button-like dots, new perennial planting is perfect for the beginner gardener: intensely beautiful, swift to establish, simple to upkeep, beloved by bees, and incredible even in tiny spaces. This book draws on make-it-yourself, grow-it-yourself trends, and the interest in wilder, greener gardens. For a single person with only a spade, this highly practical book outlines the steps to making a garden that blooms within a matter of months; explains how to choose plants that knit happily together for sparkling displays; unlocks the secrets of new planting style for virgin gardeners; and shares tips and tricks for plants that love birds, bees, bugs, and butterflies.

Toro knows lawns, and with this book, homeowners will have Toro at their side, helping them maintain a beautiful yard through authoritative step-by-step text, 350 color photos, and 101 full-color illustrations. For more than eight decades, Toro has been intimately involved in the cultivation and maintenance of turfgrass, from both a residential and a professional standpoint. Toro has invested millions of dollars in turf-related research, educational programs, and scholarships at major universities, in addition to research into the best irrigation and lawn-maintenance systems available. Over the years, the company's innovations have helped improve golf-course playability at the majority of the over 15,000 golf courses in the United States and in many of the most prestigious golf courses throughout the world. In addition, grounds crews of more than 40 professional and commercial sports fields and grounds, including many Major League Baseball fields, NFL fields, college and university athletic departments, World Cup Soccer venues, and more, use Toro equipment.Toro's Expert Guide to Lawns reveals the pros' secrets for creating a healthier, more beautiful lawn without spending a lot of time or money and without using toxic substances. Whether readers want to start a new lawn from scratch or just fix problem areas, the secrets to success include choosing the right grasses and using an enlightened maintenance program. This groundbreaking book includes a user's guide to tools and equipment and a listing of sources for free advice and the latest research information.

Every fall, spectacular orange and black clouds of monarch butterflies fill the skies as they migrate from across North America to Central Mexico. West Coast populations make a similar though much shorter trip to coastal California. The National Wildlife Federation calls the monarch migration “one of the greatest natural phenomena in the insect world.” Not long ago, monarchs numbered in the billions, but in the last 20 years their population has dropped by 90%, due to habitat loss from pesticides, modern farming practices, urban development and other human activity. An estimated one million acres of habitat are lost each year.\nBut today, an army of citizen scientists, students and gardeners is engaged in restoring this beloved pollinator’s habitat – the wildflowers and milkweed and feeding corridors – so that one of nature’s most beautiful creatures will still be there for generations to come. And it starts in our own backyards.\n The Monarch showcases this magnificent butterfly with eye-popping photos, fun facts about a monarch’s life cycle, and things to know about the vital role that pollinators play in our ecosystem. Monarch enthusiast and nature blogger Kylee Baumle provides “action” projects for all ages, from planting milkweed and wildflowers to making butterfly watering stations…to volunteer activism.

Good Weed Bad Weed is a friendly, authoritative, easy-to-use guide to the uninvited plants in our yard: who they are, how to control them safely - and why it's a good idea to love some of them just the way they are (including a chart for how best to let our labor-intensive lawns “go native”). Weed expert Nancy Gift considers 50 of the most interesting and noteworthy weeds in our lives, with generous helpings of full-color photos, humor and some tasty weed recipes. Presented in the same format as our popular field guide to garden insects, Good Bug Bad Bug, with heavy matte-laminated pages and concealed-wire binding for handy use outside. An attractive gift book for adults and curious kids alike.

“What is a weed,” opined Emerson, “but a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered?” While that may be a worthy notion in theory, these plants of undiscovered virtue cause endless hours of toil for backyard gardeners. Wherever they take root, weeds compete for resources, and most often win. They also wreak havoc on industry—from agriculture to golf courses to civic landscape projects, vast amounts of money are spent to eradicate these virile and versatile invaders. With so much at stake, reliable information on weeds and their characteristics is crucial. Richard Dickinson and France Royer shed light on this complex world with Weeds of North America, the essential reference for all who wish to understand the science of the all-powerful weed.Encyclopedic in scope, the book is the first to cover North American weeds at every stage of growth. The book is organized by plant family, and more than five hundred species are featured. Each receives a two-page spread with images and text identification keys. Species are arranged within family alphabetically by scientific name, and entries include vital information on seed viability and germination requirements.Whether you believe, like Donald Culross Peattie, that “a weed is a plant out of place,” or align with Elizabeth Wheeler Wilcox’s “weeds are but unloved flowers,” Dickinson and Royer provide much-needed background on these intrusive organisms. In the battle with weeds, knowledge truly is power. Weeds of North America is the perfect tool for gardeners, as well as anyone working in the business of weed ecology and control.

Every year, Americans spend some $38 billion on lawn care. But you don't need to hire a crew of landscapers to have an attractive and eye-catching front yard all that's required is a lawnmower, a few inexpensive items from the hardware store, and a little creativity. Lawnscapes teaches readers how to mow artistic masterpieces directly into their lawns everything from checkerboard squares, hearts, and bull's-eyes to Christmas trees, Celtic knotwork, and much more. \nGardening expert David Parfitt includes patterns for 20 different designs, plus tips on creating your own masterpieces. Packaged with an Astroturf cover, Lawnscapes is the perfect gift for dads across America.