Roots Demystified:Change your gardening habits to help roots thrive |
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Roots Demystified is the only book in print for gardeners with such an extensive variety of root illustrations. There are twenty-five meticulous drawings produced by horticultural researchers who actually dug, troweled, dusted, mapped, and drew their way through entire growing root systems, down to the tiniest root. The resulting illustrations are a revelation of the beauty contained in the actual patterns, and habits of rooting plants. Guidelines also provide a home gardener with tips for the practical use of the new information. The vegetable root drawings were done by Dr. Weaver in the 1930s in Nebraska who actually dug, troweled, dusted, mapped, and drew his way through entire growing root systems, down to the tiniest root. I often wonder if he was married and who could put up with such a compulsive guy. No idea. Did you know? • About 90% of a tree’s roots are to be found in the top 18 inches of the soil. • At the end of its first year’s growth, an apple tree can incorporate as many as 17,000,000 root hairs with a total length of well over a mile! • The glorious magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), can grow roots 3.77 times wider than the dripline. • A measly turnip can produce roots that explore 100 cubic feet of soil (enough “dirt” to fill 20-25 wheelbarrows), and the roots of the lowly lima-bean bush as much as 200 to 225 cubic feet. There’s plenty more inside. Dig in! The book has a total of 70 B&W illustrations. The book is 168 pages of text, illustrations, appendices, bibliography, and index. The cover is full color and the inside B&W. Available now. Visit the Media Center for lots of information about Robert Kourik
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More rave reviews: |
As a guide to the function and importance of roots, the text of this book explains biological terminology in language that is easy to comprehend for even the most novice gardener. The author’s goals are to present the most recent researchers’ facts about root growth, clarifying misconceptions, and to provide practical information that assists the reader in becoming a better gardener. He relates the role that roots play in the successful culture of all plant life and how their growth affects soil and other components below its surface. Illustrated with tables and detailed drawings reflecting [the] habit of root growth, this book is highly recommended for its excellent presentation of basic information, useful to gardeners.
Robert Kourik has done it again. He’s produced a garden book with a critical and unique focus: roots. After all, it is the mostly invisible roots that largely determine a plant’s success or failure. All the key plant groups are coveredlawns, trees & shrubs, vegetables, fruits, and so onbut from the perspective of what researchers have learned about their roots. This book will make anyone a better gardener. Michael MacCaskey, Garden Editor/Writer, Burlington, Vermont
I saw my first root drawing in 1974, when I took a soils class while a student at the University of California at Berkeley. But, it didn’t really hit home with me until looking at a root drawing in 1982 while reading John Jeavons’ book, How To Grow More Vegetables. Robert has done an excellent job compiling all the research that has been done in the past twenty years to flesh out our knowledge of what plant roots do and how they grow. He has made very complicated information easily accessible and given practical information for gardeners to use in growing better plants. Kate Burroughs, Co-owner, Harmony Farm Supply, Sebastopol, CA
Kourik’s book about the significance of roots comes from many years of physical labor in the fields, not in a classroom. Join that demanding and exhausting physical labor to his ability to combine observation and analysis and words, and you have a book more valuable to gardeners and diners and readers than any such book on the market, past or current. And the illustrations? As my teenage great grandson says: “I mean, like, they’re mind-blowing, man!” Chester Aaron, Garlic Farmer/Author, Occidental, CA
I thought Robert Kourik had written the most useful book on ecological gardening when he wrote, …Your Edible LandscapeNaturally. Apparently, he had only scratched the surface. Now he’s written a new book, Roots Demystified/Change Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive. Robert has a rare gift for rendering complex scientific studies into a compost of humorous, fascinating environmental wisdom and easy-to-apply, in-the-dirt, hands-on knowledge. After you read Roots Demystified, every tree you plant will dig in and thrive for you. What Alex Haley taught us about how to value and nurture our metaphorical family tree, Robert has done for our actual family treethe one in our backyard. Sam Benowitz, Owner, Raintree Nursery, Morton, WA
Roots is an amazing look into the underground world of plants. After showing us a world that we knew little about Robert gives us practical ways to apply this knowledge to our daily horticultural activities. Tom Bressan. Owner, The Urban Farmer Store, San Francisco, CA |
Buy at the Source, so writers can keep on writing! |
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