Eight of the first titles Meredith produced under the Ortho brand.
Work began in November 1997; books went to production in October 1998 and arrived on bookshelves in January 1999. Their success at Home Depot led to Meredith becoming category manager for the company, a relationship that lasted 10 years.
á By Edward H. Reiley, past president of the American Rhododendron Society.
á By Katie Lamar Smith, extension writer at Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
Ö both by Jo Kellum, landscape architect and garden writer ➤
Ö All-new title explaining how to grow and use water plants; written by Greg and Sue Speichert, publishers of Water Gardening Magazine and owners of Crystal Palace Perennials nursery.
á Revised by Doug Jimerson, Editor-in-Chief, Meredith Garden Group, 112 pages.
á All-new title by Janet Macunovich, owner of Perennial Favorites, a design-build firm in Waterford, MI; in-depth information about planting and caring for perennial gardens; 112 pages.
á All-new by Charles B. Thomas and Richard M. Koogle, Lilypons Water Gardens; in-depth info on building and managing water features; 96 pages.
á All-new title by Nick Christians, professor of turfgrass science at Iowa State University, Ames, IA, with help from five other writers; 192 pages. This is the best-selling book on lawn care published in the last 10 years.
á A light redo of the original book by Alvin Horton. Refreshed by Mike MacCaskey with all-new photography and illustrations and updated text; 112 pages.
á By Ann Lovejoy and Janet Macunovich with additional text by Jan Riggenbach, Katie Lamar Smith, Jo Kellum, and Phil Edinger; Nancy Engle, project editor; 256 pages.
(This was a combination of two books—Ortho All About Perennials and Ortho All About Successful Perennial Gardening—with bits and pieces from several other books.)
á All-new title featuring a mix of projects from shows on the popular cable channel and basic introductory how-to information. Many of the step-by-step shots are video grabs. Written by Kathy Barberich, David Haupert, Jan Riggenbach, and Diane Witosky; 224 pages.
á All-new title featuring projects and ideas from 20 public gardens across the United States. Written by Marty Ross and photographed by Rob Cardillo; 224 pages.
Written by Kathy Bond Borie, Charlie Nardozzi, Delilah Smittle, Ann Whitman, and T. Jeff Williams; contributing project editor Mike MacCaskey; 384 pages.
á 600 pages 88 contributing photographers, more than 1,000 photos.
Nine writers, all experts in their fields: Scott Aker, Cathy Cromell, Glenn R. Dinella, Marcia Eames-Sheavly, Janet Macunovich, Dave Mellor, Bob Polomski, Jan Riggenbach, Helen M. Stone.
Ö The first plant-based book, rather than project-based, from Miracle-Gro. It follows the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. belief that people who buy their products want to do things the easy way. By packaging text in short nuggets, such as in charts and sidebars, mixed with numerous colorful photos, the book contains all information necessary to design a garden and successfully grow perennials. Written by Penny O’Sullivan; 192 pages.
Öà More than 50% of all shoppers never make it inside big-box stores during the spring garden season. The Miracle-Gro Waterproof series was designed to catch potential readers in the garden center. The books are especially geared to non-gardeners.
These 96-page, digest-size books, surprisingly, required as much time and attention as full-size books. All are written by Megan McConnell Hughes.
á Changes include updates to the information, new photography, and additional text by David Mellor, grounds manager for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park; 224 pages.
á By Jeff Day, 192 pages. All Home Depot books are vetted in roundtables with staff from appropriate departments in stores around the country. This ensures the book answers the questions their customers typically ask and includes practical tips shared by the staff.
Ö by Megan McConnell Hughes, 96 pages.
We prepared three other waterproof books for this season—Trees, Shrubs, and Pruning. Because stores and distributors did such a poor job of executing placement of the books, however, these other titles were cancelled before they went to the printer.
Ö By Ned Nash, previous American Orchid Society education director, and Steve Frowine, plant geek; 256 pages. The text was originally prepared by a packager and another editor for Beautiful Orchids, which was scheduled to be published the previous year, then cancelled. I revised it to fit the “Miracle-Gro Complete” format, a much more challenging task than expected. The writer’s original text was a labyrinthine mess, and while it included all details key to a “Complete” book, many had been edited out of the manuscript.
á By Dr. Laura Deeter, assistant professor of horticulture at Ohio State University, and Scott Aker, head of horticulture at the U.S. National Arboretum; 256 pages.
Miracle-Gro Completes provide the same depth of information as an Ortho book but in a lighter, brighter format. á Meredith’s first foray into regional garden
books. This book follows the structure of Scotts Lawns with revised text from two turfgrass science professors, Gil Landry of Georgia and Charles M. Peacock, North Carolina. It includes all-new step-by-step and location photography shot in the South; 224 pages.
