Your Florida Landscape: A Complete Guide to Planting and Maintenance : Trees, Palms, Shrubs, Ground Covers and Vines

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference
Review: Although not the most interesting "read", this is a great reference book for gardening in South Florida. Straight forward without too much fluff. The section on pest control is a little heavy on identifying pests and little light on how to control them but the rest of the book is very clear on the basics. Probably not the best book for an advanced gardener but I highly recommend it for the novice like me who wants the nitty gritty on how to get going in Florida but doesn't care about a fancy looking book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference
Review: Although not the most interesting "read", this is a great reference book for gardening in South Florida. Straight forward without too much fluff. The section on pest control is a little heavy on identifying pests and little light on how to control them but the rest of the book is very clear on the basics. Probably not the best book for an advanced gardener but I highly recommend it for the novice like me who wants the nitty gritty on how to get going in Florida but doesn't care about a fancy looking book.

Rating:
Summary: Very good reference for selecting bedding plants in Florida
Review: I thought this was an excellent reference for selecting Florida bedding plants. I wanted a book that had lots of pictures of various plants and told me when and where to plant them. This book does that. It is limited on pest control, but has a good basic section on digging and prepping your bedding areas. It would be a great reference to take with you to the nursery when you are trying to decide which plants to purchase for your beds. It has more color photos for identification of bedding plants than most of the Florida gardening books out there.

Rating:
Summary: Very good reference for selecting bedding plants in Florida
Review: I thought this was an excellent reference for selecting Florida bedding plants. I wanted a book that had lots of pictures of various plants and told me when and where to plant them. This book does that. It is limited on pest control, but has a good basic section on digging and prepping your bedding areas. It would be a great reference to take with you to the nursery when you are trying to decide which plants to purchase for your beds. It has more color photos for identification of bedding plants than most of the Florida gardening books out there.

Rating:
Summary: Poor
Review: I was so dispappointed in the presentation made in this book that I sent it back. The cover and even title give the impression that the book will include photgraphic and descriptive information regarding landscaping. What actually comes across is a very boring, poorly presented reference type of book that simply seems like an elaborate dictionary on various landscape terminology. The photographic connections were especially done poorly; all pictures relating to topics were simply united together in a large section at the back of the book. When a reference is made by an author regarding a specific subject, it is certainly best understood and appreciated by the reader when both are on the same page. It was also misleading in their title reference to Florida plants, shrubs, etc., that there would be direct inclusion of information of those subjects, but all that comes across is very general information relating to the words themselves. I have been working on my own Florida yard area now for over 5 years, enjoying what I have been learning by simple hands-on techniqe and questions to my neighbors. None of my own 26 personal plants were even directly mentioned in the book. Again, possibly some of the topics regarding pests or plant diseases might have been appreciated if the information would have been on the same pages as the related photographs--needing to turn clear to the the back of the book every time was a frustrating way to try and understand the connections.

Rating:
Summary: Poor
Review: I was so dispappointed in the presentation made in this book that I sent it back. The cover and even title give the impression that the book will include photgraphic and descriptive information regarding landscaping. What actually comes across is a very boring, poorly presented reference type of book that simply seems like an elaborate dictionary on various landscape terminology. The photographic connections were especially done poorly; all pictures relating to topics were simply united together in a large section at the back of the book. When a reference is made by an author regarding a specific subject, it is certainly best understood and appreciated by the reader when both are on the same page. It was also misleading in their title reference to Florida plants, shrubs, etc., that there would be direct inclusion of information of those subjects, but all that comes across is very general information relating to the words themselves. I have been working on my own Florida yard area now for over 5 years, enjoying what I have been learning by simple hands-on techniqe and questions to my neighbors. None of my own 26 personal plants were even directly mentioned in the book. Again, possibly some of the topics regarding pests or plant diseases might have been appreciated if the information would have been on the same pages as the related photographs--needing to turn clear to the the back of the book every time was a frustrating way to try and understand the connections.