Prune trees, shrubs, and other plants with the knowledge that will make your plants grow in healthy and aesthetic ways. Covering 160 plants with clear instructions and illustrations, Cass Turnbull will show you exactly how to prune any plant in your garden. This 3rd Edition of Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning covers more than twenty additional plants in three new chapters. The result is the new definitive guide for the home gardener with friendly, expert advice from Cass Turnbull, founder of Seattle’s PlantAmnesty, whose mission is “to end the senseless torture and mutilation of trees and shrubs caused by mal-pruning.”
Here are ten commandments for preventing mal-pruning and other gardening sins:
The Ten Gardener Commandments
1. Thou shalt not shear thy bush.
2. Thou shalt not top thy tree.
3. Thou shalt not plant thy sun-lover in the shade, nor thy shade-lover in the sun.
4. Thou shalt mulch.
5. Thou shalt not leave stubs.
6. Thou shalt not flush cut, neither shalt thou paint wounds.
7. Thou shalt not cover up the base of thy plant, or thy tree, or thy shrub. Neither with mulch, nor with soil, nor with any landscape material.
8. Thou shalt cut circling/girdling roots.
9. Thou shalt not compact the root zone of thy tree, nor trench near the trunk of thy tree.
10. Thou shalt not weed-whip the trunk of thy tree, nor bash it with thine mower, nor leave anything tied on thy tree or the branches of thy tree, as is done in the land of the philistines.
Product Features
- Sasquatch Books
Best book on pruning, hands down. I usually don’t take the time to review every book I buy. But I had to say something about this one. I’m a professional gardener and I find this book to be my favorite. There are more details for specific plants in other books, but none of the books I have, including the horticulture society ones, connect all the dots of essential pruning techniques in a way that’s memorable and meaningful. Some say she’s redundant and she is; but I get why she reiterates things, it’s an effective teaching…
Take it from an arborist, this book is the best! I rarely if ever review books (I need to do better) but I have to take a minute to recognize this book. I’m an ISA Certified Arborist with lots of knowledge about trees and shrubs. Cass Turnbull has created a master piece. She simplifies complex topics, writes with an upbeat, engaging style, and includes clear illustrations. Fundamentally she has an excellent grasp of plant biology, reactions to various cuts, and why/where pruning fits into the grand scheme of things.I love this…
A very nice guide to pruning and some other gardening concepts A very nice guide to pruning and some other gardening concepts. Very good information, presented in a balanced way, with an engaging voice. My one complaint is that so much of the book is taken up by comments about the ways people do things incorrectly. I get it, most people do stupid things with gardening, and more so with pruning specifically. I’m a professional gardener, and see plenty of it every day. Overall a great guide, I would recommend it for beginners looking to understand the basics…