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Penn State Extension: Master Gardener Manual
Revised in full color and with nearly 400 photographs, this 800-page hardback book provides basic horticultural knowledge in botany; plant propagation; soil health and fertilizer management; plant pathology and diseases; entomology; integrated pest management; lawn care; vegetable gardening; indoor, herbaceous, woody, and native plants; tree fruit and small fruit; weeds and invasive species; and pruning. Composting, landscape design, garden wildlife, and gardening equipment are also discussed.
808 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2016
11 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 6, 2024
Book #15 of 2023. "Master Gardener Manual" by PennState Extension. 4/5 rating.
This was the accompanying textbook for my Master Gardener's class in Vermont.
The amount of information in this book is absolutely overwhelming. It is a true guidebook with information about a wide-array of topics about gardening: from soil health, to tree care, integrated pest management, and many more.
I think that this book does a great job of making the information readily available. Obviously you're not reading a novel, it's still a textbook, but they do a great job of not throwing in jargon that they don't define and I felt like even as an absolute novice, I was able to grasp the majority of the topics. (Though in the most cursory way because of the sheer breadth of material covered.)
If you're looking to get a good overview of some of the science behind your garden and plants and animals in general, I thought that this book did a great job of laying out a good amount of this. I definitely will be referring to it EXTENSIVELY in the future for a variety of topics about gardening. Just realize that each chapter I read probably took a minimum of an hour to get through, and many took much longer than that!
This was the accompanying textbook for my Master Gardener's class in Vermont.
The amount of information in this book is absolutely overwhelming. It is a true guidebook with information about a wide-array of topics about gardening: from soil health, to tree care, integrated pest management, and many more.
I think that this book does a great job of making the information readily available. Obviously you're not reading a novel, it's still a textbook, but they do a great job of not throwing in jargon that they don't define and I felt like even as an absolute novice, I was able to grasp the majority of the topics. (Though in the most cursory way because of the sheer breadth of material covered.)
If you're looking to get a good overview of some of the science behind your garden and plants and animals in general, I thought that this book did a great job of laying out a good amount of this. I definitely will be referring to it EXTENSIVELY in the future for a variety of topics about gardening. Just realize that each chapter I read probably took a minimum of an hour to get through, and many took much longer than that!
March 17, 2023
Some information could be more efficiently organized. IT’s organized for a classroom setting, but can make it harder to find all the information about a topic in one place later. Overall, great and highly recommended.
March 17, 2025
A door stopper of a textbook, brimming with information for gardeners of every level. I know I’ll be referring to this book for years to come.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews