Specialized Books

Really Small Gardens.

This is the Royal Horticultural Society's "practical guide to gardening in a truly small space" and it is a very comprehensive guide to planning a small garden. The author has covered all the planning bases in a down-to-earth, practical style.

Written by a garden designer whose tiny gardens have won awards at the famed Chelsea Flower Show in England, this book has a wealth of ideas for gardens, courtyards, rooftops and alleyways - all presented with the eye of the artist.

She spends time helping the reader deal with the elements of a small garden that a reader might be stuck with. She offers ideas for gardens that might be too shady, too hot, too exposed, cursed with clay soil, overlooked by a hideous brick wall, or containing ugly sheds, manhole covers and electricity meters. Not only are the ideas suggested, but at the back there is a how-to-do-it section to help you make the vision a reality. I found this very valuable. It's all very well saying "Hide an ugly brick wall with a trellis covered with vines", but how do you get a trellis to stand up against a brick wall? This book explains it.

Then having dealt with the problems, she moves along to the possibilities. These is so much you have to choose when you plan any garden, and a tiny space takes more planning than most. Would you like formal or informal? Crammed with plants or restrained? Would you like to "borrow" the surrounding scenery or exclude it at all costs? Jill Billlington will take you through the planning for the garden of your dreams.
Lest you thought that gardening was a pastime for gentle souls, in the chapter titled "Illusion" the author has included sections on concealing, exploiting and trickery. It sounds more like Las Vegas than Chelsea Flower Show. But this is where she gets down and dirty with concrete ideas for hiding anything you don't want to see and drawing to everyone's attention the best aspects of your garden.

The book has a directory of what the author calls "tried, tested and dependable" plants for small spaces. This includes some small trees, both deciduous and evergreen (if you should have enough space), as well as shrubs, perennials, climbers, bulbs and annuals. It ends with plans for different shapes and styles of garden and hints about how to shape plants growing beside walls and how to go about making structures such as arches and trellises to support them.

This is a book for anyone planning a small garden. The author's artistic approach is a revelation to gardeners like me who are not very artistic, and will be welcomed by those who are artistic and will enjoy the practical approach of a kindred spirit.

This is an intelligently written and photographed primarily European garden book (some American exceptions) but the typeface is so small, it makes enjoying this book extremely difficult. Shame on the publisher.

If you are looking for a good book to help you cope with problems shade can create in a garden, keep looking.

Despite the title, this is not so much about shade as a general gardening book (including sections on installing an irrigation system and building a garden structure) filled with pep talks about how nice shade can be. It keeps coming back to the theme of color in the shade as it skims over design basics (color wheels and graph paper) and gardening basics (planting and pruning, etc.).

The book presents nice ideas about different types of shade gardens, but says nothing about how to create them. It recommends creating a design on paper or on computer, but says nothing about what a good design entails. And the majority of plants listed in the Encyclopedia of Shade Plants prefer "Light to moderate shade", also known as morning sun. I saw nothing to help me with replacing the English ivy under the deck, also known as deep shade.

Given the title, this should be a book which treats one subject, shade, in depth. Instead, it covers a wide range of gardening basics cursorily, with repeated encouragement to enjoy your (lightly) shady garden.

Many people associate the coziness of gardens with "cool, comfortable, shady garden nooks surrounded by deep-green foliage and brilliant flowers sprinkled with light . . . ." If so, this book is for you.

I located this book when my wife began asking me what else we could plant to add color to our yard. I found that everything I said began with, "You have to consider how much sun is available." Because we live in a heavily treed part of New England, no parts of our yard receive full sun except in winter when nothing is growing. During the growing season, we have from 2 hours of sun a day to no sun as our range. This is great for coolness, but limits the flower choices quite a lot.

Growing up in a family that did gardening for a living, the degree of shade that plants like is something that I am acutely aware of. On the other hand, I am less sure around the kind of soil moisture and acidity that are desirable. This book was extremely valuable for its encyclopedia of 100 of the most common shade plants. Each listing describes the type of shade, soil, moisture, and care that is best for the plant. For the purposes of this book, shade is considered any area that has less than six hours of direct sunlight a day.

If you live in sunny areas, the book also has many valuable ideas for creating shade with screens. There is also an excellent section on how to use sprinkling systems to add moisture.

Regardless of where you live in North America, you can use this book because it describes whether each of the plants will do well in your climate zone. If you live in the desert, there are also good ideas for using cacti.

The book also gives you a process for evaluating your potential garden sites, adapting them to your desires, planning your garden, and planting and caring for the trees, shrubs, flowers, ferns, and ground cover you choose.

So whether you are thinking about impatiens, clivia, hydrangeas, daylilies, forget-me-nots, fuschias or pansies, this book will help you with annuals and perennials. Also, don't forget to think about azaleas, camellias, wisteria and foxglove. If you're not sure what all of these plants are, the many beautiful photographs in the book will fill you in.

After you finish thinking about the wonderful choices for your shady areas, I suggest that you think about what you would like to do there. What else do you need to make it perfect? Would a bench suit? Or would a garden swing be better? Or, if you have lots of room, what about a gazebo? Is there room for a bird bath or hummingbird feeder?

Help nature weave her magic enchantment into your life!

The ruling by the RCA (90 Rabbi's of the Rabbinical Council of America) as to the need to distance oneself from those heretic believers (that the Rebbis is Messiah or loftier than that) in Judaism, should give all frum people pause. There is no need or advantage to being proclaimed the Messiah. Who cares. If he proves to be the Messiah, all well and good. If not, life goes on. It just causes those who believe in him to sin (by doing so). So wake up, Lubabs. Time for some serious reflection and introspection. Also, the Rebbi never clearly said that he wants to be praised, lauded and remembered as the Messiah. As such, a Meshichist is desecrating his name and soul, Rachmona Litzlan!!!

If you are looking at the this book, it is clear that the entire framework is of some interest to you. In order to provide yourself with balance on this issue you MUST read the response to this book entitled:

"The Messiah Problem; Berger, The Angel and the Scandal of Reckless Indiscrimination" by Chaim Rapoport, published 2002.

You will only be getting a very dark half of the picture if you just read Berger's book. And it will become clear to you that Berger lacks any real appreciation for the revolution of Jews that return to Judasim daily because of the work of people who actually believe, in a real and tangible way, that there is One G-d running this world and that G-d is accessible to all... To people like Berger, the world is a place of divisiveness and darkenss. Perhaps he needs a little prayer and some love... We should all gather and sympathize with his clear state of spritual lack... For he clearly will never have 0.5% of the impact of the Lubavitcher Rebbe... and that eats him up alive.

This book is a poor excuse for something coming from a supposed academic scholar. The author constantly refers to unnamed sources and the like as well as mind reading for his proof. Not at all scholarly, just a bunch of myths.

In response to Levi Perlman...The Rebbe, OBM (ZT''L) is
NOT MOSHIACH!!!

Learn the Halacha First. The Rambam is the only and final authority on the Halacha of Moshiach. Even the Rebbe said it himself in a sicho. Although Berger's book has a bad tone to it, he does make one valid point: Moshiach coming from the dead is a Christian concept, which in reality, it is! In no Jewish sources can you find the "second coming" and therefore, Moshiach cannot come from the dead and get a second chance. That is what the Rambam says and that is Halacha. Further that is what the the Ramban argued in his famous debate in Barcelona. Have you ignored this bit of history as well? Turn away from your beliefs, for they are border-line heresy and idolatrous. You are making an all out war against the Rebbe, OBM (ZT''L), ruining his good name, his work, and Chabad in general. You should stop all instances of yechi, etc, immediately!!! If you want to have more info please go to www.moshiachtalk.com or www.chassidusunlimited.com. The first is by a Litvish guy (Yechi Chabadniks will ignore this one) but the latter is by a Lubavitcher himself! Go there and study for yourself. If anyone wants to have a dialogue, please email me at: alex@shekhtman.com.

All the Best,
--Alex

p.s. May Hashem send the Real Moshiach and Redemption, speedily in our days, Amen!

Rabbi Berger wrote a thoughtful analysis on a hype which has developed over the last 10 years. He also shows what is mostly kept underground and which is, nevertheless, of great importance for Jews elsewhere, especially in smaller communities, where Chabadniks are often the ones in charge. Although admittedly, I at first thought :"this can't be true"when reading the book for the first time, experience has shown and is still showing that it IS true.

I myself have just got into precision shooting and was interested for many years on the "mystic" topic of the Sniper. So for someone that did not have experience as a Sniper, I found this book a great educational tool. It gave me a real feel for what it would be like and what it would take. Now maybe for someone with years of experience, this book would seem basic and trivial. But for most reader's that have not been in the Military or Law Enforcement, this book gives a well rounded view and description on what it IS to be a Sniper. So if you are a novice like me and want to learn or are just curious on what it takes to be a Sniper then this book is for you. Because when you are finished the book you will find yourself wanting to read it again...and to me that what it takes to be a good book.

This is one book you should probably just skip. The Auther has a problem with correct, as well as, accepted terminology. The book does not flow from page to page, you end up flipping back to the previous page to see if you skipped something. Information given on some picture captions is just plain wrong, and information given as fact is often the Author's opinion. The Author spends most of the book quoting other people, most notably Adrian Gilbert. If you want a good book to read, skip the quotes and just get Adrian Gilbert's book.

As per my subject...Great photos, but the commentary leaves a lot
to be desired. In my humble opinion, this book should be passed up, and the money saved put into a better book.

This book is one of the best sniper books ever written. Me being a former sniper has found this book to be extremely accurate. This book flows very well also. I would highly recommend buying this book.

Design, editing and content are sloppy. (I have the St. Martin's Press edition, ISBN: 0-312-26098-9.) The insertion of quotations and insets is clumsy; as a result, the text doesn't flow smoothly from one page to the next. Also, sentences are repeated and sometimes cut off altogether (see the end of page 16 and the beginning of page 17; the sentence at the end of page 17 is incomplete as is the final one on page 124.) Perhaps the British edition by Spellmount Ltd. is free of these flaws, but I haven't seen it. Some of the insets containing specifications of sniping rifles are not even accompanied by a diagram of the firearm -- a major omission in my view. Since I know nothing about this topic, I can't suggest an alternative publication, but I'm in no doubt that this one just doesn't pass muster.

The book is well illustrated and carefully explains the prunning process for hundreds of plants, trees, etc..

I ordered this book for my boyfriend, who owns a tree service. He loves the book and has learned a great deal of new information from it! It is a great reference to use on the job! Thanks!

I was given this book as a gift and found it completely and utterly useless. It's just a book full of words of little instruction. Nothing detailed or specific. No helpfull drawings or pictures. A total disappointment.

I'd thought I might be able to learn how to trim our own shrubbery after scanning this book. Instead, the book instills an edifying sense of the many ways things can go wrong, yet does not provide sufficient information for someone to take this book into the field and avoid making mistakes. It appears that tree surgeons and other professional groundskeepers can use this guide to value, but it would not provide sufficient information for a newcomer to know what and how to proceed with trimming their bushes.

I've purchased most of this series of books since I design Hacienda style homes and these make good reference. The problem is that they are starting to repeat themselves and this one actually is a step down offering nothing new and most of the images look tired and uninspired. If you are looking to design only a hacienda courtyard this might be good, but I think "In a Mexican Garden" by Melba Levick and Gina Hyams is a lot more lively and has spawned more imagination for my clients (and myself).

Although there are plenty of photographs, they were of the same few properties over and over. I had expected more variety.

This book is the bible for Interior Designers who wish to follow through with interior spaces and make the patios and gardens beckon their clients to enjoy equally their outside spaces. This book is a must in every designers library.

I was extremely disappointed in this book...the calendar (the majority of the book) covers '01-'03....so, I returned it.
the rest of the very basic info can be found online: [...]
I am upset by the fact that the expired calendar is not mentioned, making the description misleading...
I guess I have to make sure to check publishing dates in the future.

This small book is a lovely guide for people who want to start their own garden that grows by the light of the moon. You even get a free package of seeds with the book!

I highly recommend this book to all gardeners and flower lovers who want to be unique and try something different!

This book was just "alright"
I love the idea of the book. It did have some interesting facts, but being a short book to begin with I was disappointed to find that more than half of the book was a lunar planting calender that goes from 2000-2003. Hello, it's 2006. Being that the calender was more than half of the book I think that some sort of perpetual calender would have been more appropriate.

I think that you might find more of what you are looking for in another book.

When I get a new book, it is like Christmas morning. I cannot wait for the kids to go to bed to dive into the book. I was disappointed that I read the entire book in about 1/2 hour.

It is more like a magazine article.

This is a useful book for a very specialised application of bonsai landscaping. If you have every other book on bonsai, then this will complete your collection, though you may not practice what you read because of the specialised and complex application.

The writer presents 18 miniature landscapes which, she says, "represent a very personal synthesis of the bonsai and penjing traditions". These landscape are made up of the usual tiny trees, moss and gravel, but they also contain intricate rocky "outcrops" which form the basis of the entire landscape. Her creations combine the delicacy of the tiny landscape with the ruggedness of rock and tree to unique effect.

The writer gives detailed instructions for making each of the landscapes, including - I kid you not - how to make all the rocky outcrops yourself. Given patience, skill and delicacy of touch almost anyone could follow these instructions and make a very attractive table top landscape.

The writer was born in Singapore and studied art in England. She is a judge in the bonsai category at the Chelsea Flower Show in London. She approaches her miniature landscapes from the point of view of a painter, and she incorporates the Chinese principles of Tao and the balance of yin and yang to create harmony in these beautiful miniature worlds.

It was the book I was looking for. Contains a significant amount of helpful information. In particular, the information on which items complement eachother in the growing cycle. I would definately recommend it for the home gardener.

Zone 5 is not cold climate gardening! Book is a waste for those who truly live in cold climates.

I am sure there is a big creationalist Vs Darwinist debate in the US and will probably reach us in the UK soon (when the media gets bored with red amber green terrorist threats and look for something else to make pointless debates about) and the late Martin Lings is (to some extent) in the creationalist camp but his books are just becoming the same old thing over and over again.

In this book again, like the 11th hour we have quotes from scientists speaking out against dawinism, how science has overtook religion, reason over spirituality and while there may be some points of interest here they are overshaddowed by a debate (creation Vs Darwinism) that the majority of the population frankly doesnt care about.


How darwinists will shout about the desruction of science by fundamentalists how creationists will shout about the lack of faith destroying society (as though through history we have never had high and low points of religious devotion)

Simple fact of the matter is while both groups attack one another the vast majority of people abandon religion for football, sports, clubbing and generally anything else which is more inclusive than "My Gods better than your God, then and us" religion. Nobody sits around reading origin of the species so why does Mr Lings waste his time on this crusade against it when most people know of it, have heard of it but care little about it?

Both camps have failed because they have tried to impliment an absolute truth to a society that has so much and so many options to chose from and is tired of being condencended by both groups thinking they are stupid enough to blindly follow one or the other and need to be 're-educated' especially when the so called 'educators' are no better than the students.

Its pointless looking at history through rose tinted glasses seeing it as 'though terrible things did indeed happen in the past, society was centred on religion and had a better world view' because otherwise there will be no concept of just why religion has been so roundly rejected in our modern age (and it should be pointed out that this is not the first time in history, from almost every society we can read how from time to time religious devotion fell away amongst its followers) At the time of the Turkish republic there were over 100 Zawiyas and Tekkes in Istanbul yet almost nothing exists of that society less than a century later. People didnt just lose faith overnight.

While the book covers religious societies across the world (especially the Indian traditions (which Guenon was interested in) and the Native American one (which Schuon studied)) The conclusions are poor, you may as well just read a book by Guenon or Schuon and save yourself the bother.

A better effort is needed otherwise this debate will be nothing more than a fringe argument that every now and again will get a bit of time on sky news or al-jazeera when there is nothing else to report.