|
The Organic Lawn Care Manual: A Natural, Low-Maintenance System for a Beautiful, Safe Lawn |  | Author: Paul Tukey
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $8.49
as of 7/29/2010 18:22 PDT details
You Save: $11.46 (57%)
New (30) Used (24) from $8.49
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 67500
Media: Paperback
Edition: illustrated edition
Pages: 271
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 1580176496
Dewey Decimal Number: 635.9647
EAN: 9781580176491
ASIN: 1580176496
Publication Date: January 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9781580176491 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Extend an organic lifestyle beyond the front door! Get your lawn off drugs with The Organic Lawn Care Manual, Storey's comprehensive guide for creating a lush green lawn without chemicals and pesticides. Paul Tukey takes the mystery out of making a healthy and inviting outdoor play area for kids, pets, and the whole family.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 Inspiring book, but not a how-to for amateur gardeners June 2, 2010
Kate McMurry (United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a full-color, glossy-paged book filled with scores of illustrative drawings and photos. It has a table of contents and an index, so it is easy to search for specific topics. The writing is clear and easy to understand, and the material covered is very educational regarding everything in general someone completely ignorant about the in's and out's of having an organic yard might want to know. It describes how and why chemicals hurt the health of your lawn, your pets and your family. It explains the science of healthy soil, provides information on various types of grass, and offers suggestions on how best to nourish and maintain a lawn undamaged by bugs and weeds without using chemicals. It also suggests methods of landscaping that avoid using grass and are very low maintenance. However, here is the kicker for those of us who are part of a homeowners association which requires particular types of grass, shrubs and trees and specific approaches to landscaping--the only way we can implement the vast majority of the suggestions included in this book would be to convince our homeowners association to change its rules. Unfortunately for me, the odds are very low that I would succeed at that endeavor.
Another issue I personally have with the book is that it serves me poorly as a rank beginner at gardening. The sum total of my gardening skills consists of being an excellent weeder--I thought I knew how to water, but this book says it's a far bigger production than I ever imagined, and my confidence in that area is now officially shot! In my almost complete ignorance of the practical details of lawn care, I found this book utterly intimidating, other than the part of the book dedicated to selling the audience on how great it is to go organic. I was already convinced of that before I picked up the book. It was the main reason I was interested in reading it. What I was hoping for were simple steps anyone could take (even me!) to go green. Unfortunately, I came away from reading this book feeling as if I would need to be a soil scientist with a strong back, tons of time, and lots of expensive equipment to ever succeed at an organic lawn going from the starting point of a lawn whose grass is such a mess that 1/3 of it had to be resodded. The book educated me just enough about organic lawn possibilities, though, that I felt I really wanted one badly. So my next step was to try and find an organic lawn-care service in my geographic area that could implement whatever might be possible of the book's suggestions within the rules of my homeowners association. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any such business anywhere near me which was willing to take on my lawn.
For a person in my position, then, buying and reading this book is like owning a lavishly illustrated travel book filled with exotic locales I have no means to ever visit.
 Did not send defective product May 10, 2010
Kenneth Clark (Stratham, NH)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I did not get the book as the seller informed me that the book they had was not in the condition they advertised. I rejected their offer.
Great for people new to lawns or to organic care May 2, 2010
Abigail Welborn (Seattle)
When we bought a house, we had to decide: lawn service or DIY? We opted for the latter (partially because my husband likes his Honda mower so much :) ), but we hadn't the first idea how to go about taking care of our lawn. We just knew we didn't want to spray it with chemicals all the time, what with all the dogs, cats and kids in the neighborhood.
Though this book is chock full of good information, the author doesn't assume any previous experience with lawn care, which I really appreciate. He takes you step-by-step along the process, whether you're starting from scratch or gradually transitioning to organic, and gives easy to understand instructions about how to test the soil (an essential first step), what kind of grass to plant, and what time of year to do all the recommended maintenance.
I enjoyed it enough that I just sat down to read. He's got lots of little side-bars and quick stories throughout, which actually helps me focus better. Others mentioned that there aren't a lot of specific "My lawn has this problem, what do I do?" answers, and that's probably true. His answer is generally going to be, okay, find out why that is. If you have moss, is your lawn too acidic? That's helpful but not quick. However, a trip to your local home store can answer a lot of those specific questions. (The Home Depot near us is filled with friendly, helpful employees, so I hope you find the same.)
Good Basic Info April 30, 2010
BlindSquirl (Southwest Michigan, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Paul Tukey does a good job introducing you to an all or even a partially natural method of lawncare. The fact that he's realistic enough to give you the option of switching from a chemical based method to an all organic one in one fell swoop or doing it gradually is nice. I especially found tha natural alternatives he lists to chemically based fertilizers to be very valuable. I've already incorporated some of his ideas into my composting and have built a big enough pile to supply all of my compost needs pretty cheaply. As of late April, my compost pile has reached 140 degrees.
Inspirational! March 27, 2010
No Ordinary Tomato (New Jersey, the Garden State)
My husband purchased "The Organic Lawn Care Manual" about 2 years ago. Out of curiousity, I thumbed through it and found it highly compelling. Paul Tukey's advice just makes good sense - for the earth and for ourselves. And it's easy to follow. We immediately adopted the all organic routine, tested our soil and amended it based on the results, applied corn gluten for weed control, and even started making compost. Our lawn looks great, not in a 1950's suburban perfect sort of way, but real and healthy. What's more though - the book inspired me to start advocating for natural lawn and garden care practices. I signed up as a member at [...], joined the Million Acre Challenge, and even did a speech on organic gardening at my local Toastmasters club. I'm not exaggerating by saying that this book inspired me to make many positive changes in my life and my community. If you care about the environment, it's a must read!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
|
| Tips for choosing the right books | Gardening books are a great source for inspiration and knowledge and a good book will often send you out to your garden with the desire to make it better. There are books that you would always want to keep within your reach for reference and advice.
The best way to choose a good book is to read what other readers have to say about it or the reviews of gardening professionals. If the reviews are good it means your chances to be disappointed are small.
Obviously you need to get your hands dirty in your garden but first you should find a good book that will show you how to do it from A-Z. Designing a garden is an ongoing process but if you are persistent and follow the instructions and advice of a good gardening book you are on the right track. Start with defining the subject you wish to know more about – garden design, organic gardening, gardening for beginners etc. Conduct a search and browse through the list of books that come up in your search. If you are a beginner try to pick a book that is written in a straight forward language without too much technical details. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words (especially when it comes to garden design books) so you should take it into your considerations when searching for your book. Good Luck! |
|
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. GardeningBooksPlace.com - Online Gardening, Landscaping & Horticulture Book Store & Reviews.
Landscaping Books - Gardening Books - Landscape Design Books - Garden Design Books - Garden Design Ideas
- Sitemap
| |
