Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

I have been an avid gardner since I was a child. My garden library has grown to several hundred volumes by now, but "The Manual" is heads above all the rest. I purchased my first copy of Dr. Dirr's Manual about 10 years ago. It quickly became my favorite reference and was rarely on the bookshelf, most often it lives on my bedside table.

When the lastest edition came out I bought a hardback copy. Quite and investment, but well worth it. I had literally worn my old paperback copy out.

Dr. Dirr offers by far the most complete description of the largest number of shrubs, trees, and vines that I have ever seen in a single volume. The advice on culture and propagtion are particularly detailed and helpful, but his writing style is what really makes this book unique. At first glance The Manual appears to be a whopping and potentially dry tome, (there are no photos, but it is filled with excellent line drawings by Bonnie Dirr. I understand that a photo CD is available to accompany the Manual, but have not seen one) - but read just a few pages and you will be hooked by Dirr's style. This book reads more like a collection of humorous essays than a standard reference manual. Michael Dirr puts much of himself and his personal experience with many of these plants into every page.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the Manual is the number of cultivars Dr. Dirr lists and provides descriptions for under each species. You are almost sure to find a description of any variety that your local garden center carries. With each new edition Dr. Dirr does a masterful job of keeping up with all the new cultivars cropping up in our catalogs and garden centers.

The result is not only the most informative book of it's kind on the market, but a delightful read for cold winter nights. It has become the benchmark by which I judge other garden books, and probably will be for many years to come.

In spite of all the accolades heaped upon this directory of woody cultivars it is not without a downside. The sturdy size and thick paper which make it stand up to horticulturally engaged hands make for a clumsy book at home or in the library. Not much thought was given to lay-out and typography, with the wrong font chosen for this lay-out. The style of writing is rather dry and a little wordy. The nurseryman's indifference to spelling shines through often enough to make me ache for a corrector's pencil.

The cover claims "Identification" as a primary function of the book, but all the 'Manual' has to offer here is looking up a supposed identity and making a comparison. Pictorial support is quite limited (usually one line-drawing per species, mostly of a single leaf).

What this book does offer is the chance to quickly look up an unfamiliar cultivar, and this is why reviewers call it a "Bible". Any use beyond that will be a bonus.

Whether you're a plant collector or an avid gardener, or both as I am, this book is worth its weight in gold (and it weighs a lot). Dirr's work is indispensable. I like to collect plants, including rare and unusual plants and I like to start woody plants from seed. This manual takes the mystery out of guessing what the plants' needs are and exactly what conditions are required for sowing seeds. I even find myself reading about some old favorites (like American Elm, Sugar Maple, Red Oak, etc.) and learning new things. I've only had this manual for a few weeks and I've already got many pages marked with "stickies" and highlighted many passages and even made notes in the margins. You don't even miss the pictures.
by Marcel Beauchamp, Ottawa Ontario Canada (USDA zone 4)

Dirr has the final word on all woody plants. You would be hardpressed to find any tree or shrub commonly used (and not so commonly used) today that is not listed in this incredible encyclopedia. I saved my copy from when it was a textbook in my Woody Lanscape Plants class in college, and have since updated to the latest version to use in practice 15 years later. A truly unbeleivable wealth of knowledge.

This manual contains a wealth of information on the identification, cultural requirements, propragation methods, and place of origin for a wide variety of trees and woody shrubs. I keep my copy in my car, take it wherever I go, and refer to it on a regular basis.
Yes, it is a thick book. No, it is not without its own quirks. However, I recommend it highly over any other woody manual available.
I have only one quibble. I wish Michael Dirr would hurry up and write a similarly in-depth manual on herbaceous plants.

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.

This was a textbook for a class while persuing my Horticulture degree. This is a definate must have for anyone who is serious about woody plant ID and/or plant knowledge. This book coupled with the pictoral book are invaluable to any landscape or gardening enthusiast as well as the BIBLE to the industry worker!

Good manual for landscape horticulture.

This is the bible for woody landscape plants which include trees and shrubs. For folks who want to learn more about the plants that make up the "bones", or foundation, of a garden, the book is indispensible. Dirr's approach to writing about the plants he so obviously loves is to let the love, and yes, the dislike, for these plants shine through in his descriptions. In other words, although written by an academician, this is not an academic tome. He tells you what he likes/dislikes about a plant in no uncertain terms. The other great aspect of the book is the descriptions of the numerous cultivars for a given plant. The only thing I find missing is a section on where to find/buy the various plants that he writes about. Be advised there are no photos of the plants. If there were, the book would be a steal.