Recently, a friend of mine asked me a few questions about a new shrub she had purchased on a whim. I answered as best I could and then said I’d go home and “see what Dirr” had to say about it. The ensuing conversation went something like this:
The Manual of Woody Landscape Plants is “the bible” for any gardener who’s interested in trees and shrubs.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
Dirr’s Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates contains lots of color photos and is great for gardeners in zones 7 to 11.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
Quince is just one of the many woody plants covered in Michael Dirr’s resources.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
Betsy: What’s a dur?
Me: Not what. Who. Michael Dirr was a professor at the University of Georgia, and he wrote the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Stipes Publishing, LLC). Everyone considers it the bible of woody plants.
Betsy: And what’s a woody plant again?
Me: Trees and shrubs.
Betsy: Ohhh. So Dirr wrote a good book on trees and shrubs?
Me: Yes. It has great valuable information, like hardiness, mature plant size, how fast it grows and lots more. One of the best things is it’s got a cultivar listing, so you can find an upright maple or a fast-growing magnolia, for instance. Dirr compiled the information based on his years of teaching. The nice thing about the book is it has information for ornamentals.
Betsy: And an ornamental is…
Me: Any plant grown for its beauty. So just about everything in your yard is an ornamental.
Betsy: Right. Okay. But if this book talks about lots of trees and shrubs, I bet it’s really big.
Me: True. There are almost 1,200 pages. But it’s not a book you read from cover to cover. Well, most people don’t, anyway…
Betsy: Are the pictures good?
Me: That’s the biggest downfall of the book. There are no color pictures.
Betsy: (Gasp!)
Me: I know…I know. There’s a CD of color pictures you can buy, or you might consider buying another book by him, called Dirr’s Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates (Timber Press, Inc.). That’s full of gorgeous pictures and contains some of the same information as the Manual. It’s a great book, too.
Betsy: So which one should I buy, the Manual or the one for warm climates?
Me: If you live in a warmer part of the country [zones 7 to 11], and you don’t know your woody plants very well, get Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates. If you know something about trees and shrubs already but want more in-depth information, get the Manual.
Betsy: Thanks! I’ll check them out.
That’s about the best recommendation I could give for any book! So if you want to add a new reference or two to your gardening library, be sure to look into Michael Dirr’s works. His books are tried-and-true, and they make a great one-stop resource for all kinds of plants from around the country!
