The Victory Garden Companion

by Michael Weishan, Laurie Donnelly

The nation's oldest and most popular gardening program, The Victory Garden , is proud to present The Victory Garden Companion , an indispensable guide that offers the best in gardening expertise in a straightforward and friendly manner, inviting gardeners of all levels to dig in and get their hands in the soil. Moreover, host Michael Weishan shows budding landscapers how to garden well, providing the technical and aesthetic fundamentals essential to creating a comfortable, beautiful, and rewarding garden. With more than 250 lavish illustrations, troubleshooting tips, and informative charts of tried and true species of plants and flowers, The Victory Garden Companion is also an invaluable resource that gardening enthusiasts will turn to again and again throughout the year. Perfect for both serious landscapers and those who want to focus on smaller projects, The Victory Garden Companion is a must-have for novices and experienced gardeners alike.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature

312 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Michael Weishan first began gardening at the age of five. Originally intending to follow his grandfather into the State Department (hence his Harvard training in Classics and Romance Languages), Michael ultimately chose to pursue a different path – combining avocation with vocation in the field of landscape design.

After founding his own design/build firm Michael Weishan & Associates in 1986 – a practice he still actively heads – Michael began to share his gardening expertise through writing, first in his own quarterly newsletter, Traditional Gardening, and then for Old House Journal. From there, Michael went on to publish his first book, The New Traditional Garden, (Ballantine 1999) which has been widely credited with introducing the joys of old-house gardening to North America. A contributor to numerous national magazines and periodicals over the last decade, Michael is the former Gardening Editor of both Country Living and New Old House magazines. He has authored two other books: From a Victorian Garden (Viking 2004), and the Victory Garden Companion, published by HarperCollins in 2006.

In the field of electronic media, Michael is a veteran of National Public Radio where he hosted his own program, The Cultivated Gardener for several years before he debuted as the host of The Victory Garden on PBS in 2001. There he shared his design tips, expert advice, and trademark sense of humor with gardeners of all levels for six years. Michael has appeared frequently on various other national programs as well, including spots on the CBS Early Show, and NBC’s Today Show.

Michael lives west of Boston in an 1852 farmhouse surrounded by three acres of gardens, pastures and woodland.

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a beautiful book and well written, the sections succinct and interesting. My favorite is the vegetable gardening section, from which I have been inspired to change my south lawn into an all vegetable garden! Including herbs and cutting flowers and etc. It will take a while to get it going, but I have all winter to prepare for next spring (however, right now the lawn is covered with pine bush branches ready to be hauled off to the dump).

I have visions of plants dancing around in my head. It will be amazing, I tell you. Hopefully, I'm not too ambitious; I don't want to overwhelm myself, but there's something so satisfying about tending a flourishing garden.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent advice alongside gardens to drool over. If the library sells this you'll have to fight me for it.

[Alice Delaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be mostly eye candy, providing "inspiration" but not a lot of practical information. I mean, yes, the gardens of Colonial Williamsburg are lovely, but that is never going to be what my yard looks like. I was pleasantly surprised! There is quite a bit of detailed information in there regarding border plantings and vegetable gardens. I especially liked the suggestions beginning page 201 and the idea of orgainzing your seeds by the month in which they should be started. (Brilliant! Why hadn't I thought of that before?!) I've made some notes but as the book is due tomorrow, I'm resolved to just check it out again in the future.

[Chriss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some good charts of plants. Also, a chart about American historical architecture and the garden trends from that era. Some good pond information, too.

[Anne Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not applicable to southern gardens.