Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses

This is absolutely the best text available for the referencing of woody trees and shrubs grown in North America. This book is not meant as a guide for tree identification, so much as it's a way to look up all the significant horticultural information on almost any given species or cultivar. It's simply too lengthy a tome to incorporate many illustrations, and those present are usually small sketches of leaf characteristics. (For excellent photographs of a number of species see "Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia")This text is very easy to use and alphabetized according to botanical name, with a glossary/index in the back to provide the scientific name when only the common name of a species is known. Dirr himself also provides entertaining blurbs on what he perceives to be the plants best (or . . . less than best) assets for landscape usage, and it's always interesting to see another's opinion regarding plants that you know and love. He also gives a list of stunning specimens and their locales that he's come across in his travels, as well as the "champion" (largest known) specimens for a given species.I have used this (or previous . . . the text is updated somewhat frequently to keep pace with newer cultivars) edition of Dirr's manual for the last ten years as I worked at a major nursery (Waterloo Gardens, Inc.), and I frequently reccomended it to individuals interested in furthering their own knowledge. This text is an excellent reference for the professional nurseryman as well as the horticultural enthusiast, and the time and effort that Dirr puts into this text is equally evident and impressive.

I have a lot of reference books covering landscaping, plant propagation, identification, and disease problems. Dr. Dirr has done a fantastic job of compiling all of this information (and a few welcome opinions) for a couple thousand landscape plants into one consise work. When I have a question, this book is usually my first stop. Information on common species is very comprehensive. However lesser used landscape plants are covered in an abbreviated manner, which sometimes forces me to find other resources (which are not difficult to locate thanks to the large number of cited references).The indexes of both common and scientific names make this sizable volume easy to navigate and usable. The glossary and sections on morphology and identification are handy, espically for beginners or those of us who have been out of college for a while! Additionally, the thoughtful layout and readable type size make this manual more usable than other similar books I have encountered.Dr. Dirr has created an excellent volume which is on my short list of horticultural reference works.

About nine years ago I coughed up the (considerable) sum for the 1990 edition of this book (Dirr puts out a new edition every few years) because, upon casually perusing it, I saw that it covered some plants that I was interested in, and no other book in the store did.Well. It languished for a while, but when I started getting interested in horticultural plantings (my own and those I encountered on my walks) I started delving into it. Before too long I found a strange thing: this book seems to know everything about horticultural trees and bushes--certainly everything that I was interested in, living first in southern Wisconsin, then northern Kentucky, and finally northern Illinois.It finally dawned on me that this was the reference work I had always wanted. Even when I (very rarely!) thought it didn't cover a plant, it usually did anyway (perhaps making short shrift of it in a slightly different spot). As with any other great tool, learning to use it is an iterative process: the more you learn, the better you use it, and so learn yet more.So if you are a plant person, just buy this book, rather than half-a-dozen half-baked horticultural "theme" books. You get a great reference, and as a real bonus, you get Michael Dirr's enthusiasm and planterly asides enlivening the text. (And the paperback version is also sturdy and usable.) Put it next to your dictionary, so it's within easy reach. You'll need it.

Regardless if you live in Key West, San Diego, Seattle, International Falls or New York City, Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants will help you select, culture and successfully grow the correct plants for your area. It is the single-greatest source of information on landscape materials I have ever seen. Thousands of varieties are also listed. For pictures, check out Dirr's Hardy Trees & Shrubs, but to get educated, you've GOT to get your hands on this one!

I HAVE WORKED IN A NURSERY FOR 10 YEARS AND THIS BOOK IS USED EVERY DAY.YOU CANT BEAT IT FOR INFO ON PROPIGATION.AND WHEN A CUSTOMER NEEDS HELP ON GENERAL MANTANANCE OR HARDINESS THIS IS THE BOOK WE TURN TO.IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS GARDENER BUY THIS BOOK! AT HOME OR AT WORK DIRR WILL NEVER FAIL YOU.