Hot, parched summers, water restrictions, sprinkler bans: how can we maintain our beloved gardens in such adverse conditions? Drought has become a serious issue, but with a little planning, gardeners can ease the problem and still achieve a fabulous display of color, form, and fragrance. These tips for the water-saving garden offer a variety of great ways to choose and use plants that thrive in an arid environment. Filled with magnificent illustrations, it details design ideas, soil-enhancing possibilities, and hints on watering wisely. Find out how to have an efficient container or kitchen garden, and which trees, shrubs, and border plants work especially well when it’s dry. A large A-to-Z of low-water plants offers all the possibilities any gardener could want. 

Celebrate the low-light areas of the garden; the trick is knowing which plants to choose, and then placing them properly for best success. Written by a renowned horticulturist and former gardener at London’s Buckingham Palace, this field guide continues the well-received Success with gardening series, and covers selecting, buying, and placing shade-tolerant plants. There are also complete instructions for pruning, feeding, managing diseases and pests, and other essential maintenance. And with an exhaustive plant directory, ideas for designing gardens to fit new or existing landscapes, tips for managing weeds and fungi, gardening successfully in damp or dry soil, as well as handling mixed-light gardening situations, this is surely an essential reference.

Waterfalls pouring from a stone wall onto rocks below. Water jets spurting over a pond. A small fountain splashing and bubbling onto a pebble base. Who can resist the calming appeal of water? You don’t have to: it’s easy to bring this dazzling feature into your garden, thanks to the sound advice and full color photographs packed into this inspirational, practical guide. It’s an invaluable reference for every aspiring water gardener, with all the construction instructions and facts on liners, pumps, filters, season-by-season maintenance, and projects. After learning how to get started, you’ll find out about extras to include, cleaning the water, adding hardy fish, keeping koi, and attracting wildlife. An illustrated A-to-Z directory of water plants rounds out the discussion.

As gardeners become increasingly concerned with both drought and water conservation, plants that love the sun are an attractive option. From white flowering hawthorns to richly scented wisteria, they come in all shapes, colors, and sizes, with endless potential for producing stunning planting schemes. You’ll find success with this vividly illustrated volume, which shows how to select the best sun-friendly varieties and plant them with confidence—whatever your experience. After explaining exactly how sunlight affects plants, it discusses creating the small amount of necessary shade; choosing and buying trees, shrubs, and flowers; preparing the soil; maintaining the plants, and solving common problems. A huge and beautiful A-Z directory covers annuals, biennials, and bedding plants; bulbous plants; perennials, climbers, conifers, and more.