[Lapg] Robert Kourik's New Garden Book - Roots Demystified

Tue Oct 2 10:28:57 PDT 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:       Robert Kourik

                        <mailto:rkourik at sonic.net>rkourik at sonic.net

                        707-874-2606

Get Down and Dirty with Your Roots

Roots Demystified: Change Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive is a
clearly written and copiously illustrated book that explains how to make any
plant flourish, using methods based on the knowledge of how roots actually
grow. It explores the subterranean areas of every gardener’s world, revealing
the complex and secret lives of roots and root systems, debunking outworn
gardening myths, and providing down-to-earth advice on root-efficient planting
and cultivation methods.

The roots uncovered and demystified in this lively book include those of
lawns,
prairies, shrubs, vegetables, fruit trees, and native and ornamental trees.
Each of these divisions abounds with practical root-based tips; following
Kourik’s advice is a surefire way to produce better-looking lawns, more
abundant vegetables, more productive fruit trees, and sturdier trees and
shrubs. Roots Demystified also describes several ways to garden without
turning
the soil—a plus for aging baby-boomers—and explains why roots thrive when not
mangled by a rototiller or shovel.

A highlight of the book is its collection of 25 meticulous scale drawings
produced in the early 20th century by horticultural researchers who actually
dug, troweled, dusted, mapped and drew their way through entire growing root
systems, down to the tiniest root hair. The resulting illustrations are at
once
miracles of precision, a tribute to scholarly obsession, and a revelation of
the beauty contained in the patterns and habits of rooting plants. These
drawings are amplified throughout the book by helpful illustrations and
instructive diagrams. Roots Demystified is the first and only gardening
book in
print with such an extensive number of illustrations of garden and orchard
roots. 

The soft back book is 176 pages of  B&W text, 70 illustrations, six
appendices,
index and bibliography. 

The list price is: $25 USD. 

See <http://www.robert-kourik.com>www.robert-kourik.com for a sneak preview.

                   -O-                        

(NOTE: I will be out of town the month of November. Thanks.)

Reviews about the book are on the following two pages.

Reviews for Roots Demystified:

Highly recommended! This book is an outstanding compilation and
distillation of
the most current information about plant roots. Written with wit and insight,
it contains just the sort of economically and ecologically practical
information one can only learn from an experienced gardener. The text is
enriched by the use of appealing and enlightening graphics highlighted by
reproductions of extraordinarily detailed illustrations  of extraordinary
illustrations of meticulously excavated entire root systems. This book is sure
to change the reader’s perspective on the vital roles roots play in both soil
as well as plant health, and how that knowledge can enhance our own gardens
and
landscapes.  —Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis,
MO

We are grateful to have John Weaver’s important root work made available to
people everywhere through Robert Kourik’s new book. Everyone needs a better
sense of his or her roots, and Roots Demystified will help a lot.  —John
Jeavons, Author, How to Grow More Vegetables, Ecology Action, Willits, CA

Robert Kourik has done it again. He’s produced a garden book with a
critical and
unique focus: roots. After all, it is the mostly invisible roots that largely
determine a plant’s success or failure. All the key plant groups are
covered—lawns, trees & shrubs, vegetables, fruits, and so on—but from the
perspective of what researchers have learned about their roots. This book will
make anyone a better gardener.  —Michael MacCaskey, Garden Editor/Writer,
Burlington, Vermont

What a book! Robert Kourik’s underground pursuit has unearthed a great
treasure,
a guide both wondrous and eminently practical.  —Roger B. Swain, Science
Editor,
Horticulture magazine; Host, PBS’s The Victory Garden

Robert connects the dots between what we already know and new information.
Roots
Demystified is filled with practical advice that every gardener should
know—whether beginning or advanced gardeners.  —Rosalind Creasy, Author, The
Complete Book of Edible Landscaping

A gold mine of fascinating facts about the secret life of plants under the
ground. Kourik has spent a lifetime studying plants, both as a professional
gardener and as journalist hunting down the truth hidden in horticultural
research. In this book, he has pulled all that together into a coherent story
about the way plants and soils really interact. While the focus of Roots
Demystified is most squarely on trees and shrubs, the book is one of the
best I
have read on how to get plants of any kind to grow, and grow well.  —Jack
Ruttle, Garden Design magazine

A rare combination of firsthand observation, research, humor, and the author’s
practicality make for a refreshingly original look at roots.  —Joy Larkcom,
Author, Grow Your Own Vegetables, Lislevane, Co. Cork, Ireland

Roots Demystified pulls together practical science from a wide range of
sources,
including a unique assembly of detailed scale drawings of a variety of veggie
and tree root systems. Even a seasoned and well-read plant person will find
interesting and practical information in this well-written manual. For
example,
in my 27-plus years as a tree nurseryman, I had not learned that trees
redistribute water in the soil profile via “hydraulic lift” [Chapter 11]! Soil
fertility and irrigation are covered as well, made imminently useful presented
in the context of where and how roots grow.  —Robert Woolley, President, Dave
Wilson Nursery, Hickman (near Modesto), CA

I thought Robert Kourik had written the most useful book on ecological
gardening when he wrote, 
Your Edible Landscape—Naturally. Apparently, he had
only scratched the surface. Now he’s written a new book, Roots Demystified,
Change Your Gardening Habits to Help Roots Thrive. Robert has a rare gift for
rendering complex scientific studies into a compost of humorous, fascinating
environmental wisdom and easy-to-apply, in-the-dirt, hands-on knowledge. After
you read Roots Demystified, every tree you plant will dig in and thrive for
you.
What Alex Haley taught us about how to value and nurture our metaphorical
family tree, Robert has done for our actual family tree—the one in our
backyard.  —Sam Benowitz, Owner, Raintree Nursery, Morton, WA

A really great book! Robert has taken a complex subject and refined it into a
highly informative, must-read book for every ecologically-minded gardener. 
—Chip Tynan, Manager, Horticulture Answer Service, Missouri Botanical Garden,
St. Louis, MO

Gardeners interested in sustainability will find Roots Demystified an
invaluable
resource. If roots are the key to sustainable gardening, Robert Kourik’s Roots
Demystified offers the key to growing terrific roots. The astonishingly
detailed
pictures are an education in themselves, earning this excellent new w handbook
a place on every gardener’s reference shelf.  —Ann Lovejoy, Author/Lecturer,
Bainbridge Island, WA

I saw my first root drawing in 1974, when I took a soils class while a student
at the University of California at Berkeley. But, it didn’t really hit home
with me until looking at a root drawing in 1982 while reading John Jeavons’
book, How To Grow More Vegetables. Robert has done an excellent job compiling
all the research that has been done in the past twenty years to flesh out our
knowledge of what plant roots do and how they grow. He has made very
complicated information easily accessible and given practical information for
gardeners to use in growing better plants.  —Kate Burroughs, Founding
Co-owner,
Harmony Farm Supply, Sebastopol, CA

Kourik’s book about the significance of roots comes from many years of
physical
labor in the fields, not in a classroom. Join that demanding and exhausting
physical labor to his ability to combine observation and analysis and words,
and you have a book more valuable to gardeners and diners and readers than any
such book on the market, past or current. And the illustrations? As my teenage
great grandson says: “I mean, like, they’re mind-blowing, man!”   —Chester
Aaron, Garlic Farmer/Author, Occidental, CA

Roots is an amazing look into the underground world of plants. After
showing us
a world that we knew little about Robert gives us practical ways to apply this
knowledge to our daily horticultural activities.  —Tom Bressan. Owner, The
Urban
Farmer Store, San Francisco, CA

            #  

Robert Kourik, Metamorphic Press
PO Box 412, Occidental, CA 95465

www.Robert-Kourik.com

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie at sbpermaculture.com
www.sbpermaculture.org

"We are like trees, we must create new leaves, in new directions, in order to
grow." - Anonymous

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