Book Review: Ortho's Home Gardener's Problem Solver

Hands down THE BEST pictorial reference guide for all of your gardening problems! Organized by plant type and with a section for common bugs. Simply flip to the page(s) of your affected plant and scan the list of possible problems, each description containing close-up photography and problem analysis and possible solutions.

Publisher: Ortho Books (March 1, 2001)
ISBN-10: 0897214706
ISBN-13: 978-0897214704
Paperback: 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly...

 

For years, gardeners and nursery folks have turned to The Ortho Problem Solver for advice in diagnosing and combating plant ailments. Now a new smaller yet comprehensive version of that ponderous reference tool is available for the home gardener. This book, with its multiple detailed charts and illustrations, shows gardeners how to diagnose problems and cope with or eliminate them, then recommends what long-term changes gardeners can make in how they care for a particular plant to prevent a recurrence. Not surprisingly, among the most commonly recommended solutions are chemical ones, specifically the use of Ortho products, whereas organic and nontoxic treatment methods are conspicuously absent.

 

This well-organized, clearly presented tome includes every conceivable problem affecting all types of indoor and outdoor specific to diverse geographic regions plants, with similar symptoms grouped together for ease of use. Of particular interest, enabling gardeners to plant wisely, are the various appendixes, including those that list which plants are most susceptible to specific diseases and which are most resistant to such problems. (Mar. 1) Forecast: Devoted gardeners who have relied on Ortho books in the past will find this new one extremely useful. Organic gardeners, however, will probably pass this one over, for it promotes only chemically based pest control.