Trees is a fully illustrated guide to more than 600 trees. The text sparkles with fact and folklore, illuminating the subject with authority and enthusiasm. Fully updated, it includes all the newest tree varieties and cultivars. The book first looks at the structure and life cycle of trees; their role in the ecosystem, planting and pruning; and, the use of trees in garden design. The core of the book is a complete record of coniferous and deciduous trees, grouped by family, in which an authoritative main text is complemented by a comprehensive index of trees, listing and illustrating alphabetically every important family, species and variety by their horticultural name. Finally, a reference section includes a guide to choosing trees for the garden and an A-Z listing of the most important and popular species and varieties of trees.
Introduction by Hugh Johnson THE WORLD OF TREES How a Tree Grows How a Tree Works The Leaves The Flowers The Fruit History in a Tree Roots and the Soil How Trees are Named Trees and the Weather Zones of Hardiness The Advance of Spring Forestry Trees Throughout History Collectors and Creators Propagation Choosing the Species Planning for Planting Trees for Shade, Shelter and Seclusion Planting Trees Maintenance Pruning and other Arts The Conifers The Ginkgos The Araucarias Pines of North America Pines of Asia Pines of Europe Silver Firs of North America Silver Firs of Europe and Asia The Douglas Fir Spruces of North America Spruces of Europe and Asia The Hemlocks The True CedarS The Larches The Plum Yews and Podocarps The True Cypresses The False Cypresses The Junipers The Incense Cedars The Thujas The Yews The Sequoias Asian Cypresses The Dwarf Conifers The Palms Broadleaves The Tulip Tree and Magnolias The Bays and Laurels The Eucalypts The Willows The Poplars, Cottonwoods and Aspens Antipodeans The Legumes Roses, Shadblows, Mespilus and Cotoneasters The Hawthorns The Quinces, Medlars and Apples Pear Trees, Whitebeams and Mountain Ashes The Rowans Flowering Cherries Japan's Flowering Cherries Peaches, Plums and Laurels Planes Elms Elms of Europe and America Celtis, Zelkova Figs and Mulberries Beeches Southern Beeches Oaks Oaks of Europe and Asia Oaks of North America The Chestnuts The Birches Alders Hornbeams and Hazels Walnuts Hickories and Wingnuts Limes and Lindens or Basswoods Horse Chestnuts and Buckeyes Maples of North America Maples of the East Maples of Europe Cashews and Sumachs Trees of Heaven and Cedrelas Citrus Trees Dogwood, Davidia and Nyssa Dove Trees and Black Gums The Tea Family Persimmons, Silverbells and Snowbells Heather and Strawberry Trees Rhododendrons The Ashes of North America Olives and Fringe-Trees Empress Trees and Indian Beans Hollies Holly and Box The Elders A Guide to Choosing Trees Index of Trees General Index Acknowledgements
Hugh Johnson is the world's pre-eminent writer on wine, but he is also arguably the world's leading popular writer on trees and gardening, and in 2007, he was awarded the OBE for services to winemaking and horticulture. Sales of Hugh's books now exceed 14 million. Perhaps known best to millions through his internationally bestselling wine books, Trees shows a different facet of Hugh's expertise. He has published several books on gardening - notably The Gardener's Companion. By 1979, with the challenge of restoring the fine but neglected gardens he acquired on his move to Saling Hall in Essex, he wrote The Principles of Gardening, (translated into six languages; sales 250,000 copies). The garden and arboretum at Saling Hall have since gained an international reputation and The Principles was rewritten and reissued in 1996 as Hugh Johnson's Gardening Companion (In the USA the original title is unchanged).