The Pruner's Bible: A Step-By-Step Guide to Pruning Every Plant in Your Garden

This is a great book on pruning. It tells you everything you need to know about pruning, by plant, which is a great idea. Look up the plant you want to prune, and it tells you how. Simply, clearly, completely.

I bought this book because I am new to gardening, and the house we bought has a number of shrubs that appear to need some tender loving care. I chose this book because of its clear illustrations and instructions on what time of year to prune different things. I like it, and I like the confidence it's given me to prune in an appropriate manner. But I wish it had a larger basic guidelines section. The book is very specific about types of plants, but of course can't list them all, so I find myself stymied when I have a plant that is not in the book -- they're so specific, so my thinking goes that it must matter how I do this, but there are no easy-to-follow general guidelines for "if your plant is not here" situations. I am happy to have this book in my gardening book collection, but next spring I will look for an additional book that has more information about the plants specifically in my yard.

This guide to pruning in your home garden is good for beginner and advanced gardener alike. It starts with the basics of why, when, with what tools and how to prune. But the reason I bought it (along with copies for my friends) was that it has for almost every type of plant or tree, a two-page color spread that has a picture of a beautifully pruned specimen (to inspire you toward your goal) and an illustrated diagram of the plant with markings as to where to prune it, along with of course an explanatory but simple narative. I looked at many of the available books on this subject and this is the one to buy. Happy prunning!