The Complete Gardener's Almanac: A Month by Month Guide to Successful Gardening

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

This comprehensive guide to all aspects of growing things is the only
reference work most gardeners will ever need.

The book is organized by the months of the calendar year, taking the
reader through each step from planning the garden and ordering seeds
through soil preparation, planting, tending, harvesting, storing, and
enjoying plants. All types of plants are included—trees, shrubs,
vegetables, fruit and berry bushes, ornamentals, perennials and annual
flowers, herbs, houseplants, and vines. All the “must-knows” are
covered: soil types, fertilizing, winter protection, insects and
diseases, watering, mulching, pruning, etc., each related to the type
and age of plant, the season, the hardiness zone, and even garden size.

Even with all this data, Willison still makes space to discuss all
those other items related to gardening: feeding birds, lawns, sundials,
composting, forcing bulbs, drying flowers, birdbaths, flower boxes, lawn
mower maintenance, and numerous similar items.

The work’s main strengths are detail, clarity, and organization. It
contains a huge volume of information but is kept from being
overwhelming by the use of good design; generous quantities of charts,
sidebars, diagrams, and lists; a clear, clean writing style; a practical
index; and a gentle sense of humor. Other gardening books may be more
fun to read; few will be more practical to use.