This is a book that my family has been trying to implement where our cabin is. In the Alberta badlands its a very dry summer, and fall, and sometimes spring. We are trying some of the concepts in this book up there. It seems like a pretty well researched book and good for what we need.

As you would expect from any gardening manual, this book includes a list of plants for summer-dry climates, along with guides for when and where to plant. The book is jam-packed with color photos that will inspire you to dream big as you design your own garden. I really liked the "Some Thoughts on Design" chapters. This part of the book was filled with ideas on how to conserve and store water through improving drainage, choice of building materials and harvesting rainwater; how to deal with invasive species and pests; thoughts on reducing global warming through garden design; and how to embrace the joy and loveliness of a less-manicured - more-wild garden. It even includes a section on how to plan a garden that reduces the risk of wildfire - something that you don't generally think about when you are in the garden center picking out plants. An excellent resource for anyone hoping to design or re-design a garden in a summer-dry climate zone.

Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates by Nora Harlow, Saxon Holt is a guide for gardeners.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Timber Press, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis and Opinions:

First, this book may have been designed with California in mind, but every area of the world now has dry spells.

Second, the photos are glorious.  Needless to say they do nothing on an e-reader, but I read this on my computer, and the pictures just grabbed my attention.

There is a comprehensive plant directory which includes each plants scientific name, common name,  description, soil preference, light preference, hardiness zone, among other information.

Overall, I think this would be a great "coffee-table" book.   There is a lot of information, but it was too dedicated to California, and although a number of plants would work in my area of the world, there were so many that I have never heard of, to make the book ineffectual for me.

If you live in California and love plants....this one's for you!

This extensively researched, beautifully photographed book will be indispensable for gardeners along the west coast of the U.S. and Canada, as well as some other areas of these regions that are coast-adjacent. Specific to areas that have dry summer but wet winters, this book covers so many helpful things to know about gardening under these conditions, including a thorough guide to plants, shrubs, and trees that will do well, a guide to where to plant them (full sun, partial shade, etc), plants for special conditions, soil conditions, taking wildfires into consideration, the importance of not introducing invasive species, and so much more. I live in one of the areas covered in this book, and found so much information that will be useful, it's making me actually want to do yardwork! This is due out in January 2021, just in time to start planning for spring. Definitely recommended, and on my wish list for the new year!

#GardeninginSummerDryClimates #NetGalley

Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates is a tutorial and gardening style guide by Nora Harlow and photographed by Saxon Holt. Due out 5th Jan 2021 from Workman Publishing on their Timber Press imprint, it's 308 pages (print version) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a comprehensive, layman accessible guide to designing and cultivating a garden in summer-dry and winter-wet areas (specifically the Pacific NW and coastal areas). The author expends effort to cover both the climate, topography, the special challenges and benefits of the area as well as taking climate trends (wildfires, etc) into consideration when building a garden plan.

The book also contains a comprehensive compendium of suitable plants with each entry containing the botanical (Latin) name, common name (where applicable), size and spread, where the plants come from, USDA zone info, as well as many cultivars with photos. The photographs are clear, lush, plentiful, and really well done. Leafing through the book in midwinter is guaranteed to get any gardener's fingers itching to dig in the dirt. It's bursting with colorful plants in rude good health in beautiful display. Individual plant profiles also include information about lesser known cultivars along with good tips for culture, harvest, and use. There's quite a lot of good information here for gardeners from beginner to expert.

There's a chapter with troubleshooting ideas for special needs: small gardens, hot spots, hedges/shrubs, dry shade, etc. Each of the locations contains an alphabetical list of potential plants for each task. Plants are listed with Latin name, common name, and some include cultivars which are particularly suitable.

This would be a nice addition to the gardener's library. Worth noting for readers, this is mostly slanted toward gardeners in North America. It will translate perfectly well to the areas of the rest of the world which have similar conditions but adjustments might need to be made for readers outside these areas.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I'm used to dry summer and this was an excellent and interesting book if you have to garden and water plants every day.
It's well written and full of information.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The author, Nora Harlow, is a landscape architect and gardener with wide-ranging experience in the summer-dry climates of California.
Although I live in the UK, we have had some very dry years and I have had to water my garden frequently. Therefore, this book was of interest as I was hoping to include more plants which were drought resistant, not only to save my time, but the need to use precious water. It is a book which needs to be revisited on numerous occasions, but does gives lots of expert advise and beautiful photographs to illustrate.
A invaluable book for your gardening book shelf.

Overview:
This is an excellent reference book for any gardener who lives in a summer-dry, winter-wet climate. It's written specifically for those of us on the West Coast of the US, but is applicable to similar climates around the world, though plant availability will likely differ. It includes overviews of this climate, regional differences, design implications, and plant lists for specific design needs, but most of the book is a compendium of many plants that will work in one or more of these regions. Each entry contains a paragraph overview, plus a paragraph on any notable varieties. These entries are pretty short, but packed with information. There are pictures for most but not all species, and maybe a quarter of varieties.

Structure:
1. Gardening Where You Are - the first section of the book is an overview of the summer-dry climate. How do we define it, how does it vary across the region, how have plants adapted, etc?
2. Some Thoughts on Design - in this second section, Nora Harlow turns her eye to the concerns of and design implications for home gardeners. This section is less focused on the summer-dry climate, and instead briefly addresses water needs, fire safety, invasive plants, soil health, etc. She doesn't directly address gardening for ecosystem health and encouraging pollinators, which seems like a missed opportunity since so many gardeners want to focus on pollinators, in particular bees and butterflies.
3. Compendium
a. Pre-compendium: Harlow begins by going over what will be included in each entry of the compendium and what you might need to know about those factors. Many of them are similar to the concerns in section two, but this time she is giving you information that will help you apply the information in the compendium. For instance, in section two, she talks about how "drought-tolerant" or "low water" are not universal terms, and these plants can have drastically different water needs. In this section, she says specifically that, for instance, she uses "prefers infrequent water" as roughly once a month. She reiterates that water needs can vary between regions, but also in regions and even in different spots of the same garden; and she goes over WUCOLS codes, which she also uses in the compendium. So this is similar information - the water needs of your plants - but she is coming at it from a different direction. I think this is the best type of repetition for learning - similar materials, different frames/uses - and I really appreciated it here.
b. Here is the bulk - almost 200 pages of the book is the compendium itself. Each entry contains a paragraph overview, plus a paragraph on any notable varieties. These entries are pretty short, but packed with information. There are pictures for most but not all species, and maybe a quarter of varieties. In an ideal world, I would have loved more pictures - both close-ups of the flowers and/or leaves, as well as wider shots of the overall plant structure - but I understand there are space and budget constraints.
4. Plants for Special Places - a short section of plant lists for specific garden constraints - trees for small spaces, plants for hot spaces, plants for coastal gardens, etc.
5. What Plant Where: A Guide to Plant Selection - another short section providing an at-a-glance look at certain plant factors - deciduous vs evergreen, flowering seasons, and exposure (sun needs).

Though the bulk of the book is the plant compendium, these other sections provide a valuable primer on summer-dry climates and how they affect home gardeners. These sections are brief - you will likely need to do more research - but it's a great place to start or review.

Conclusion:
This is an excellent reference book for gardeners in this climate (in the US: Washington, Oregon, and California, from the coast to the interior valleys). There are a couple of things I would have liked to see - more discussion of pollinators/ecosystem and overall more pictures in the compendium - that would have elevated this book into must-have territory, but I would still recommend it to any summer-dry gardener, whether experienced or just getting started.

I received an early copy of this book from NetGalley for review.

As I live in a dry climate, this was definitely the book for me, and for anyone else who wants to understand the challenges and rewards of gardening under sometimes difficult conditions.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

From Vancouver to San Diego, gardeners along the Pacific Coast must select plants that work for Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates. This book can help with clear instructions and a huge (over 200 pages) compendium of suitable plants. Equally amazing is that each plant has at least one full-color photo.

For gardeners that live along the Pacific Coast, this would be an invaluable resource. But note that it doesn’t work for other areas with summer-dry climates like inland Southern California where I live. I’m taking one star off for the misleading title. 4 stars!

Thanks to Timber Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates' primary focus is on the west coast but living in the south I can say our summer and fall can be so dry it's hard to get anything to grow. So, I was able some great plants picked out to try this next season to see if they will hold up during our dry summers and fall.

All plants are in alphabetical order and the author list where the plant is originated from so for someone like me how buys only native plants I am able to do that.

A beautiful, information-rich book, GARDENING IN SUMMER-DRY CLIMATES by Nora Harlow guides the reader through the unique requirements of summer-dry gardens with their unique challenges and considerations with respect to particular landscape and gardener expectations. Lushly illustrated and extensively researched, the book inspires, informs, and motivates the reader to understand and work with their unique climate and goals to design the garden of their dreams.

This is a great resource for those that live dry climates. It focuses primarily on a specific climate that tends to have little or no rain during the summer months but wet winters, primarily the west coast.

It goes into great detail about what plants work well for this environment and provides plant profiles with garden zones, bloom times and native origin for the recommended plants. This book has no shortage of color photos which is a plus for me because i want to know what the plants look like if I am trying to plant a garden space.

Many grasses are listed and some can be very invasive so keep that in mind when making selections. I think it is a great resource for the climate it targets.

I received this book from NetGalley and Timber Press for an honest review.
#GardeninginSummerDryClimates
#NetGalley

The title threw me off a bit, as I assumed "summer dry climates" meant high-desert or arid climates, but it apparently means the summer seasons of typically wet climates like the Pacific Northwest. So, being that I live in the Rocky Mountains, this was of less use to me than I'd hoped, though it did have some lovely plant photos and I found a handful that might work for me.

This book focuses on gardening in the coastal western states (California, Oregon & Washington). This region is characterized by Mediterranean climates which typically have wet winters and dry summers. However, as the book explains, there are various differentials to this as gardening in southern California is obviously different from that in Seattle, Washington. Various factors such as micro-climates, mountain ranges, valleys and proximity to oceans affect different locales. While the dry summer/wet winter is a common factor, other characteristics (climate, sunlight levels, rainfall amounts and intensity) all present unique challenges when it comes to gardening.

The chief focus of the book is a directory of plants that do well in the region. Each entry features a brief description of the plant, how much water the plant needs during the summer months, light requirements and the USDA hardiness zone as well as the Sunset zones established by The Sunset Western Gardening Book. Water needs are addressed by codes established by WUCOLS (California Water Use Classification of Landscape Species). The codes are VL (very low), L (low), M (moderate) and H (high).

In addition to the plant directory, the book also has sections that address design, improving drainage, managing stormwater, harvesting rainwater, dealing with wildfires and invasive plants.

The book is enhanced by photographs by Saxon Holt.

This book will serve as a handy reference for Western gardeners who want to design a garden with appropriate plants or replace water-hungry plants with more resilient selections.

This is an excellent primer for folks in "summer dry" climates, a specific climate that tends to have little or no rain all summer but often very wet winters, predominantly on the west coast. It goes into great detail about the climate and what plants work, and provides plant profiles with garden zones, bloom times, where they're native to, etc. for many recommended plants. Color photos abound. Many grasses are listed and many of the plants can be invasive if not kept in check (which makes sense, as these are plants native to the area which are made to prosper there). I would have liked information about whether the plants were useful in other ways, such as good for birds and pollinators or edible landscaping. Many of those featured are excellent for one or more of these but it was never listed in the descriptions. Nonetheless, it's a great resource.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.