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Beer for Books

January 17, 2012

News from the Library

BEER FOR BOOKS

@Grow! A Garden Festival        May 4 - 6, 2012

Beer, wine and used book sales benefit the Arboretum Library

Let the Festivities Begin: Friday, May 4  – 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday, May 5 & 6  – 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

(Book sale begins at 8:00 a.m., for Arboretum members, and 9:00 a.m., for the public, both days.)

View of pergola in Henry Soto Water Conservation Garden

Throughout the weekend, the Beer for Books beer & wine garden will feature a pleasant retreat from the hubbub of the festival in the shade and beauty of the Henry Soto Water Conservation Garden. The Arboretum Library will sell used garden and plant books and magazines at reasonable prices. The customer can partake of the beer and wine in the Water Conservation Garden and browse the used book sale or enjoy a stroll throughout the Festival area with your libation to enhance your enjoyment of the art in the garden, the music and the marketplace and plant vendors.

Wurstkuche logo

Wurstküche, an exotic sausage grill in the LA Downtown Arts District and Venice Beach, is providing two kinds of ice-cold, imported beers on tap for Beer for Books.

Phantom Rivers Logo

Boutique Phantom Rivers Wine will be pouring its wines throughout the weekend, sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Edward Watson and National Radiologic Physics. Phantom Rivers Wine is a recent gold medal winner in the Los Angeles International Wine Competition and The Central Coast Wine Competition. You will have an opportunity to meet winery owners Steve and Sue Mathis and learn about their wine club membership opportunities. Phantom Rivers Wine buys grapes from a select group of vineyards located in the maritime valleys of the central coast.  The “Phantom Rivers” are the fogs that flow in and out of the valleys and nurture the grapes to give them distinctive flavors and complexities.  Master Wine Maker, John Thunen, PhD., turns the grapes into the award-winning wine.

 

Part of the children's book collection at the Arboretum Library

The Arboretum Library contains over 20,000 books on plants and plant-related material, about 1000 magazine titles and other materials related to information on plants and local history related to the historic properties at the Arboretum.  The Library is open, free, to the public 6 days a week and materials circulate to Arboretum Foundation members.  A Librarian and a Botanical Information Consultant are available to help with all questions; walk-ins, email, phone, etc.  The materials help customers understand and love plants and cover a broad range of interests including gardening, botany, cookery, medicine, art, literature, etc.  Here are wishlists of the children’s books needing purchasing; as well as ones for the main collection. 

Cover of Swirl by Swirl Cover of Grandpa Green Cover of The Honeybee Man Attracting Native Pollinators cover
Cover of Wildflower Wonders Cover of the Artful Garden

Resources on Pruning in the Arboretum Library, December 2011

December 09, 2011

News from the Library

With the recent windstorm in the San Gabriel Valley, I wanted to highlight Arboretum Library resources on pruning. Here is a link to a search of all the library items on the subject.  The covers below, though, are a grouping of items that show the range of important books and magazines.   

Alex Shigo Tree Pruning cover

Tree pruning : a worldwide photo guide by Alex L. Shigo. Durham, N.H. : Shigo and Trees, c1989. Call no. SB125 .S555t

Alex Shigo, http://www.shigoandtrees.com, was the one person who really changed how people thought about pruning in the 20th century.  Most of his career was spent as a plant pathologist for the United States Forest Service where he studied tree decay and from that he proposed a whole new way to prune.  His books are self-published, but almost have a cult status.  Here is a link to the rest of his books in the Arboretum Library.

 

 

Cover of George Brown pruning book

George L. Brown’s book, The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers, (2nd ed. revised by Tony Kirkham, Portland, OR : Timber Press, c2004, call. no. SB125 .B76 2004) is a current example of a standard, definitive book on pruning.  The principles of pruning are current and that is where much can be learned.  George Brown and now Tony Kirkham have spent their lives studying pruning.  The challenge for Southern California gardeners is that many of our popular plants are not included in the encyclopedia section where recommendations on individual kinds of plants are given.  

 

Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning cover

Cass Turnbull’s book gets closer to home. (Cass Turbull's Guide to Pruning, Seattle, WA : Sasquatch Books, c2006, call no. SB125 .T87 2006) She is based in Seattle and is a one woman crusade against bad pruning.  She started an entire organization, PlantAmnesty (www.plantamnesty.org) devoted to appropriate pruning.  The plants get slightly more appropriate too.

 

 

 

Roy Hudson's Sunset Pruning Handbook cover

Roy Hudson’s book was the first pruning book put in my hands by the librarian at Strybing Arboretum (now San Francisco Botanical Garden).  She knew Roy Hudson.  He was the Supervisor of Maintenance in Golden Gate Park.  She knew his hands-on-experience in a California setting.  This book from 1952 is still quite viable as a resource.  Sunset pruning handbook by Roy L. Hudson, illustrated by Robert Blanchard, Menlo Park, Calif., Lane Pub. Co. c1952. call no. SB125 .H83 1952

 

 

 

 

Cover of How to Prune Fruit Trees

Cover of How to Prune Western ShrubsHow to Prune Fruit Trees by R. Sanford Martin ; illustrated by the author. Hollywood : Murray & Gee, 1944. call no. SB125 .M37 1944

How to Prune Western Shrubs by R. Sanford Martin ; illustrated by the author. 5th ed. [Hollywood?] : R. Sanford Martin, 1945, c1944. call no. SB125 .M37Ho 1945

R. Sanford Martin is Southern California’s own.  That means the books are about pruning in Southern California on plants that grow here.  They were written in the 1930 and 40s and are still useful today because of the local information.  Our Botanical Information Consultant, Frank McDonough, says the fruit tree book is the “best ever” on the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

Cover of Arboriculture & Urban Forestry

Cover of Arborist NewsThe International Society of Arboriculture’s (http://www.isa-arbor.com) mission is “Through research, technology, and education, the International Society of Arboriculture promotes the professional practice of arboriculture and fosters a greater worldwide awareness of the benefits of trees.”  Their publications are directed at professionals, but just by browsing their newsletter and scientific journal a non-professional can quickly learn the issues and read fascinating insights about trees and their care.  Here is an example of an article I’ve selected through the years as relevant to southern California tree issues. “Effects of tree stabilization systems on tree health and implications for planting specifications”  by Kendra J. Labrosse, Robert C. Corry, and Youbin Zheng.  Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, v. 37, no. 5 (Sept. 2011),  p. 219-225.

 

 

 

 

And then as a librarian, I am always on the lookout for relevant items no matter where they are.  Here is an article from the American Journal of Botany on how wind effects trees. http://www.amjbot.org/content/93/10/1522.full.pdf

The Arboretum Library is open to the public and circulates to Arboretum members.  The Library website: http://www.arboretum.org/index.php/explore/library/ 

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