Essential Gardening Books
Which are your essential gardening books? We all need good garden reference books, no matter our experience as gardeners and if you are like me you have lots of them; for reference, landscape design ideas or when searching for solutions to specific problems. However, if you are moving to a remote location, desert island or planning a lunar colony, or if you just want to become a better gardener, there are two essential gardening books everyone should have. I couldn't live without these two. Let me know if you agree. 
Essential Gardening Books #1: The Sunset Western Garden Book
If you live in the West, were stranded on a desert island or on the moon and you could only have one book, this is it. The Sunset Western Garden Book contains everything you need to be a successful gardener. The more modern editions have loads of information for organic gardening and drought tolerant plantings. We use it when researching plants for specific landscape designs. How big will a particular tree grow? How much shade will it tolerate, etc. We have a 1967 First Edition which is still the one Chris uses.
Essential Gardening Books #2: Rodale's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening
The Rodale Institute has been the definitive source for organic gardening know-how since 1947. Rodale's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening has everything you could possibly need from crop rotation to greenhouse gardening to sustainable and drought-tolerant landscape design. There is even a section on the Top Ten Garden Insect Pests in America and what to do about each. Learn how to prune berries and graft fruit trees. Similar to the Sunset Western Garden Book, but with organic solutions to every garden problem. So, hopefully you can take two books to your island exile or lunar escapade because I couldn't live without either of these books.With rain on the horizon, there will hopefully be opportunity for catching up on some reading. This is a good time to do some planning for spring. These two books will get you going in the right direction. Make a list of everything you want to accomplish in your garden; whether it be landscape design ideas or just general spruce up. And if you need some help, call for a FREE Home Garden Consultation with Chris and myself. We'd love to meet you.Fill your garden with joy!