Growing Shrubs and Small Trees in Cold Climates

by Nancy Rose, Don Selinger, John Whitman

An all-in-one guide designed for northern-tier gardens from coast to coast Growing Shrubs and Trees in Cold Climates provides northern-tier gardeners from coast to coast with an incredible range of choices, no matter what their skill level. Part I profiles 50 plant groups best suited to gardens in zones 1 to 5. Each plant has been tested for hardiness over a period of at least 10 years--and has proved hardy to no less than -30 degrees F. Readers will easily be able to select shrubs and trees that produce wonderful fragrant flowers and those that bloom more than once in the spring and summer seasons. Part 2 covers the basics of growing shrubs and small trees, with special attention on solving problems that occur in cooler climates.

448 pages, Hardcover

First published December 11, 2000

Reviews

[Pam]

This coffee table sized book is an encyclopedia of shrubs and small trees for cold climates. It has an excellent several page write-up on each family of plants which includes a great diversity of information including how they grow, where to plant, landscape use, how to plant, transplanting, care, fertilizing, pruning, disease and insect problems, propagation, and even special uses like using them for cut flowers. It also gives a brief description of various varieties. I especially liked that the authors included the plants tolerance for road salt and wind. The landscape use section is excellent as it suggests plant combinations that work well. The primary downsides of the book is that despite its size there are hardy shrubs that aren't mentioned. Also I was disappointed that the authors barely made mention of the invasiveness of some of the plants and how our landscape choices are negatively affecting wild areas.

[Steven McKay]

This is a well-written, useful book. My only beef is that it relies heavily on lists of cultivars, and is thus quickly becoming out of date.

[Laura]

Good for landscaping plans.