The Backyard Berry Book: A Hands-On Guide to Growing Berries, Brambles, and Vine Fruit in the Home Garden

THIS IS A GREAT REFERENCE BOOK AND I DON'T PLANT ANY BERRIES UNTIL I HAVE REVIEWED THE PERTINENT INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK. FOR SOME REASON BERRY PLANTING SEEMS TO BE SO PARTICULAR AND ITS EASY TO GET CONFUSED WHAT NEEDS WHAT. THE BOOK IS SIMPLE AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND. IT DOES NOT HAVE COLOR PHOTOS OF ANY KIND, WHICH I WISH IT DID. I ALSO THINK IT COULD BE A LITTLE LONGER AND MORE IN DEPTH, BUT THERE ARENT MANY BOOKS DEDICATED SOLEY TO BERRIES SO THIS IS THE BEST ONE OUT THERE.

As an experienced veggie gardener, just getting into berries, I was worried this book would be too beginner-orriented. In fact when it first arrived, I leafed through it and thought it was! I set it aside and didn't open it for another few weeks. But once I had really started to read this book, I found that it is plenty informative for an intermediate gardener. Otto gives loads of detail for each crop that I hadn't found elsewhere. I am very satisfied!

This is a handy little book. I read it once a few years ago and learned a lot. More importantly, I keep returning to it when I have questions about some of the plants in my backyard: grapes, blueberries, and cane berries. Ms. Otto has been there and really knows her subject well. The book is comprehensive and covers what you really need to know: planting, care requirements, pruning and training, and harvesting. If you're looking for a flashy, full-color book, this is not it, but for some down home wisdom with lots of diagrams, etc., this book contains what you need.

I purchased this book, the third copy I've bought so far, as a holiday present for my brother. He has found it to be as helpful as I have. It is a very basic book about how to grow about any berry plant. It is written for a home grower, not a botanist or commercial grower, and is full of useful information. Photos would be nice, but would probably increase the cost of the book putting it out of reach of more people.

I was getting into growing some food for my family, and one big request was for blue berries. This bood does a great job helping describe the types of berries on the market as well as how to plant. The artwork inside is line art, so don't expect any photo's of berries, brambles and the like.

This book offers rather generic information on growing a variety of fruits, most of which will be old lore to experienced gardeners. While it would be difficult to be comprehensive with regard to varieties of given fruits, more attention could have been given to them. Also, more specific information on individual fruits and varieties would have been welcome, particularly with regard to site preparation and pruning. The illustrations are poorly drawn and thus not particularly useful.

Extremely helpful! Just moved to a new home and wanted to start my plants off right. This book helped me not only in the selection of my plants, but where on my property it is best to plant them, and how to properly plant them. I also learned the correct ways of pruning and fertilizing each plant. I have found this book to be an invaluable tool to a begining backyard gardener.

This book passed my expectations. Told about soil preparations an growing seasons on different berries. My most interest was Lingonberries an Blueberries. But now I believe I will try my hand a couple more. It was delivered ahead of schedule as well. Awesome job Amazon.