Ornamental Palm Horticulture

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Comprehensive Treatise
Review: Brimming with detailed, useful information on all aspects of palm horticulture.

Rating:
Summary: More textbook than anything
Review: I found that there was a great deal of information on possible diseases and disorders of palms. However, my main disappointment was on the real lack of information on types of palm trees and the type of soil and climate needed. I would have liked to have had more information on the cold resistant palm trees. There was hardly any information on the species of palm trees. I found much more information just surfing the internet on palm trees than what I found in the book. I think that I could have made a much more interesting book if I had done a compilation of information from contributors off the internet! I either will sell the book as used or utilize it to assist in recognizing possible diseases or deficiencies. It would have been nice to have had more information on rare palm tree distributors of seed and/or plants as well.

Rating:
Summary: Ornamental Palm Horticulture - Best book of its type!
Review: The authors give good, solid often overlooked advice on growing and maintaining healthy palms. Many books assume a higher level of expertise by the purchaser. Common practices now have explainations for their useage. Wonderful pictorial section on pest, malnutrition and disease damage with clear photo's. A best buy for anyone in the industry or just a strong interest.

Rating:
Summary: Limited cultural information
Review: This book is an attempt to guide those interested in palm horticulture. However, finding that palm horticulture varies widely between the species, I found this title a disappointment. Some palms can't take iron for instance, but the authors neglect to give specific information on those species which would be helpful. The same applies to those palms that need iron. As a general guide, the book is ok, but if you really need to know how to care for your exotic and rare palms you may need advice from the local botanical garden or a nursery that specializes in growing palms to determine the nutritional requirements of a specific genus.

Rating:
Summary: More textbook than anything
Review: This is a useful book to have around when needing information on just about anything relating to palm horticulture. The only thing I was somewhat disappointed in though, was the lack of cultural information on specific palms. I was expecting something more like how best to grow this specific palm and then turn the page and go on to info. on how to grow the next one. This was more of a general and broad coverage of palms. But this might have been more my expectations were different, as the book is and will be very useful. But sometimes I just like to be able to look at a picture of a mature palm, read all the in's and outs of growing it, and dream or plan of fitting it into my landscape.

Rating:
Summary: Limited cultural information
Review: Tim Broschat and I had no intention in writing yet another book filled with photos of palm species that would instruct readers on what palms to plant. There are already many books that provide the service that two of these reviewers ask for, including one by me ("Betrock's Guide to Landscape Palms") that gives detailed horticultural information on 102 palm species. I thought we made our intent very clear in the introduction: this a book on how to deal with palms horticulturally, not a guide on which palms to choose in a landscape.

Rating:
Summary: Correcting misunderstandings about this book
Review: Tim Broschat and I had no intention in writing yet another book filled with photos of palm species that would instruct readers on what palms to plant. There are already many books that provide the service that two of these reviewers ask for, including one by me ("Betrock's Guide to Landscape Palms") that gives detailed horticultural information on 102 palm species. I thought we made our intent very clear in the introduction: this a book on how to deal with palms horticulturally, not a guide on which palms to choose in a landscape.