The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From Seed to Tissue Culture, Second Edition

This is probably not the book to get for a beginner, who just wants to take cuttings from their favourite garden shrub (look for info online or get the RHS propagation book). But if you propagate temperate climate trees and shrubs, this is the book to get.. I will doubtless be referring to it many times in the future. Pictures are black & white and small, but they're adequate for their purpose and this is not the sort of book you get for glossy pictures. It covers a wide range of woody plants: trees, shrubs and climbers, which would grow in any region of US, although it covers far fewer options for the southern, almost sub-tropical regions. It has some less hardy classics, like Albizia julibrissin, but mainly, it covers hardy species. It's written mainly for US audience, so where/when to take cuttings from a particular species, for example, will refer to US regions, and suppliers listed for grafting equipment are all in US, but there are UK (and EC) seed suppliers listed. The fact that it's mainly written for US audience does not detract from its usefulness for UK propagators, it just means you might have to look up the climate zones sometimes, to get full benefit. I am not aware of any similarly detailed book written for UK audience - I have the RHS propagation book, but this is far more useful for woody plants, and covers more of them. It covers grafting, budding and tissue culture, and not only in the general chapters, but also instructions for each species. Although not all propagation methods are covered for each species, guess it's "where appropriate" - have taken 2 pics of randomly selected pages from Encyclopedia section.Contents are:How to Use ManualSeed Propagation, includes: Provenance, Sources, Collection & Handling, Storage, Viability, Treatments to Overcome DormancyCuttings, includes: Why Cuttings?, Types of Cuttings, Collection & Handling, Factors Affecting Rooting (includng rooting hormones), Media & Fertilisers, Rooting Structures, Containers & Bottom Heat, Mist Systems, Fog Systems, Light in Propagation House, Sanitation, Aftercare, Overwintering & StorageGrafting and BuddingTissue Culture (both are just as detailed as the 1st two, won't include all sub-headings, see 3rd pic)Encyclopedia - about 300 pages of dense info about how to propagate each speciesAppendixes (sources, references for tissue culture etc)Scientific Name IndexCommon Name IndexAs said, this is not a glossy coffee table book, and the paper quality and cover reflect this, probably to keep price low. It's perfectly adequate - it's about the contents, not appearance. I bought mine "Used - Like New" and I am very happy with its condition and it arrived within estimated time from UKPaperbackshop.I am so glad I finally bought this, and would definitely recommend..

After buying several propagation books on amazon that turned out to be of disappointing, this book is has covered everything I've wanted to look up. The book covers techniques for the horticultural trade but is also accessible to amateurs such as myself who just want to dabble in growing from cuttings and want to know when is the best time to strike them. The book is thorough, scientific and well laid out. If you only plan to buy one book on the subject, I recommend this one.

Some useful information on seed propagation and on grafting but almost nothing on layering or stooling. It's as if a whole chapter was accidentally omitted. Overall, quite disappointing.

Excellent manual