Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates

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.

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.

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 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.
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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.

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.

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.

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!

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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!

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.

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.