Ortho's "Complete Guide to Trees and Shrubs"

Chapter 1 is titled, "The Right Plant for the Right Purpose," while Ch. 2 is "The Right Plant for the Right Place." The difference in content is between what we want and what the plants need.

Ch. 1 is all about our wants out of a landscape, and how we can use trees to get what we want. E.g., we want shade in the summer. So a list is provided for the best shade trees, while explaining why deciduous trees are better shade trees than evergreens. But we also want to keep prying eyes and high winds out of our yards, and here a hedge of evergreen trees or shrubs excels.

Trees and shrubs can be used in landscape design to form "living walls," thereby creating outdoor rooms. But you'll have to choose your own landscape style, be it a formal or informal design -- and this chapter helps you choose. Form (shape) is one of the basic elements of landscape design, and the reader is provided with examples of such tree forms as the "columnar" and the "weeping."

Ch. 2 turns to the needs of your trees and shrubs. There's an aid to understanding zone maps, so that you'll select a tree or shrub right for your region. Handy lists provide examples of trees and shrubs suited to the following conditions: shade, wet soils, dry soils, small spaces and container gardens.

Ch. 3 is on planting and care. You'll find out about, e.g., planting bare-root plants and controlling pests and diseases. But my favorite is Chapter 4, which gives us the why, how and when to prune trees and shrubs.