Microscopic organisms are as important to plant growth as water and light. Microbe Science for Gardeners highlights the essential role of microbes in plant biosystems and health, provides practical how-to gardening advice for enhancing plant microbiomes and preventing disease, and debunks common gardening myths.
Robert Pavlis has been an avid gardener for over four decades. He is the owner and developer of Aspen Grove Gardens, a 6-acre botanical garden that features over 3,000 varieties of plants. Specializing in soil science, he has been an instructor for Landscape Ontario and is a garden blogger, writer, and chemist. The author of Building Natural Ponds, Pavlis is a well-known speaker whose audiences include Master Gardener groups, horticultural societies, orchid societies, and garden shows such as Canada Blooms and the FarmSmart conference. He teaches gardening fundamentals at the University of Guelph and garden design for the City of Guelph, Ontario, where he currently resides.
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Robert Pavilis does an excellent job explaining the science of microbial life in terms that don’t require a PhD to understand yet are complex enough to honor the intelligence of the reader. I really appreciated all the side bars to understand which common gardening practices are based on myth and which are really useful. His final chapters give really practical applications for any gardener!
Theresa O’Connell –
I recieved this as an ARC from New Society Publishers. Thank you.
This is a book I wished existed when I was a kid. It would have made the 4-H years even more exciting. Aside from benefiting 4-H garden programs, it can assist people who are starting to garden and have questions about soil.
The information is presented in a concise and humourous way. It took me back to the days when I helped teach in a Biology classroom. If you never studied Biology in school, or have not come to that course of study yet, if you are a young person, it provides you with some groundwork that will help you with reading different parts of the book.
What I enjoyed most was the author’s debunking of certain gardening myths. You will need to read the book to find out which ones.
I look forward to reading some of the author’s other works.
Donna Hickling –
I received this book as an ARC from New Society Publishers. Thank you – I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while. I learned a lot about the organisms that inhabit the soil, how they work alone, how they exchange needed nutrients with plants, and how they exchange nutrients with other microbes. A lot of detail with excellent examples. I’d recommend this book to any gardener who wants to go beyond the simple ‘if it’s on the internet, it must work’. Would like more details of how microbes work with organic practices – will read the next revision too.
Juanita Wierzba –
From the owner of the Garden Fundamentals YouTube channel – Robert Pavlis, another great book in the Garden Science collection.
Understanding the science behind (or in this case beneath) what goes on in your garden is a fundamental tool for success.
Unveiling the secret life of microbes and their value in the garden, explained in detail but for every gardener to understand, this book is a must for your library and you will refer to it along with all the other books in the series time and time again through your garden journey.