Concrete garden projects: easy & inexpensive containers, furniture, water features & more by Malin Nilsson, Camilla Arvidsson — Concrete may not be one of the first materials that comes to mind for DIY projects, but there are a lot of things you can make from it and it's not difficult to do yourself. This book includes instructions and ideas for lots of items you can use in the garden, such as stepping stones, water features, benches, accent pieces, and more.

Good bug, bad bug: who's who, what they do, and how to manage them organically (all you need to know about the insects in your garden) by Jessica Walliser

They may be creepy crawly, but bugs can be your best friends when it comes to gardening. This book offers details on both pests and beneficial insects, many of which can be used to control the pests. With color photos, this book provides a clear illustration of both the insect itself and, for pests, the type of damage it does to plants.

What plant when by [writers, Martin Page, with Andrea Loom]

It can be tricky to plant a garden that always has something blooming through the seasons. This book lists plants in order of season, from early spring through winter, and within each season offers plants according to their color, making it easy to find ideas that will fit in your garden. It also lists plants that are pleasing throughout all seasons, whether it be from their blooms or their foliage.

Five books to help make life a little easier as you age:

I feel great about my hands: and other unexpected joys of aging by edited by Shari Graydon

AARP guide to revitalizing your home: beautiful living for the second half of life: reimagine, redesign, remodel by Rosemary Bakker

The social animal: the hidden sources of love, character, and achievement by David Brooks

The bust DIY guide to life: making your way through every day by Laurie Henzel & Debbie Stoller — This book covers the gamut: all the things you love about BUST magazine and more. Crafting, cooking, and beauty tips are just the start. There is also info on being a landlady, polishing your resume, traveling, and much more. This is way more than a contemporary home economics book!

Have you ever made a terrarium? They're all the rage lately and they're so easy to make. Check out this tutorial for terrarium ornaments, and take a look at some of the resources we have here at the library:

Terrarium craft: create 50 magical, miniature worlds by Amy Bryant Aiello & Kate Bryant; photography by Kate Baldwin

The new terrarium: creating beautiful displays for plants and nature by Tovah Martin and Kindra Clineff

The United States Department of agriculture had updated its Plant Hardiness Zone Map, reflecting a more accurate picture of growing conditions in the United States. Canton, Michigan is currently in zone 6a and 50% of the country has a warmer zone assigned. Gardeners, nurseries and plant breeders are among those who use the map. Data also figures into research models for crop-risk insurance and the spread of exotic weeds and insects.

Growing perennials in cold climates by Mike Heger, Debbie Lonnee, and John Whitman — There are certainly many areas with colder climates than we have here in Canton, but with our sometimes harsh winters and unpredictable seasonal changes, we definitely qualify. This book lays out details on the most popular perennials cold climate gardeners favor, and also provides basic information for growing perennial plants. It even gets into propagation techniques and troubleshooting problems with perennials.

The language of flowers: a novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Winterdance: the fine madness of running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen

My name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

1984: a novel by George Orwell ; with an afterword by Erich Fromm

Designing with grasses by Neil Lucas — Like many gardeners, I tend to think of ornamental plants in terms of perennials and annuals, but I often neglect to remember the grasses. There are so many beautiful grasses that can really bring depth and flair to a garden, and this book highlights them. Not only do grasses bring beauty, they are often very healthy for the ecosystem and bring environmental benefits. This book has information on varieties of grasses, how to use them in your gardens, and how to keep them healthy.

Pruning & training by Christopher Brickell, David Joyce — There are so many plants that like to climb or have other growth habits that make it easy for gardeners to help them grow in a particular shape or pattern. This book covers a huge variety of those plants, as well as presenting background information on how different types of plants grow and the basics of both pruning and training. There's info here on how to prune and train established plants as well as how to get new plantings started to match your vision.

Backyard birding : using natural gardening to attract birds by Julie Zickefoose ; and the editors of Bird watcher's digest — Watching birds in your yard can be a great way to relax and learn more about native creatures. Having birds in your garden can also benefit you in other ways: many feed on insects, which can help your garden flourish and make your yard a more pleasant place for people, too. Many of the plants that attract birds also attract butterflies - a double bonus!

Contemporary color in the landscape : top designers, inspiring ideas, new combinations by Andrew Wilson — In addition to the directions and tips on using color, selecting a palette, creating intensity, harnessing contrast to create drama, color combinations, and information on other technical ways of using color in your garden, the photographs in this book would stand on their own. They're gorgeous, and terrific inspiration for gardeners or anyone who appreciates natural beauty.

The complete guide to saving seeds : 322 vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruits, trees, and shrubs by Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough — Purchasing plants every year can be expensive! Even buying seeds can add up after awhile, so why not save your own seeds? This book includes all the information you'll need to save seeds from herbs, vegetables, fruits, trees, and even shrubs. It also shows how to go a step further and customize your plants through cross-pollination.

Envisioning the garden : line, scale, distance, form, color, and meaning by Robert Mallet ; translated by Bryan Woy ; drawings by Yves Poinsot — Now that it's getting toward winter, it's a perfect time to work on garden plans for next year. It's hard to overstate the impact that careful planning can have on a garden space, but how many of us actually take time to do take all of these concepts into consideration before we start choosing varieties and planting? (Maybe it's just me who gets inspired and forgets to plan?) Either way, this book has a wealth of information that can help you create exactly the kind of garden space you desire.

50 beautiful deer-resistant plants : a gardener's guide to the best annuals, perennials, shrubs, ferns, bulbs, herbs, and grasses by Ruth Rogers Clausen ; photography by Alan L. Detrick — It can be extremely frustrating to plant something new in your garden, only to have it chomped away by deer. Lovely as these creatures may be, we want them to find snacks away from our gardens. This book has plenty of ideas for plants deer will find less appealing, and rates each plant on a scale of one to ten to show how resistant to deer it is.

Sew up a home makeover : 50 simple sewing projects to transform your space by Lexie Barnes — This book not only contains a wide variety of sewing projects, it also includes important information on how to plan for a makeover. It's easy to get inspired but forget to think about the function of the space or to plan a realistic budget, and those items and more are covered here. Home makeover projects often involve not only your sewing kit, but items from your tool bench, and this book makes it easy to plan for those needs. Included are ideas for children's rooms at various ages, a craft room, as well as many a la carte projects.

High-impact, low-carbon gardening : 1001 ways to garden sustainably by Alice Bowe — Most of the time when I choose plants for my garden, I go by what their blooms look like, what fruit (or veg) they will bear, and how they will complement the other plants in my garden. This book looks at it from another angle: will the plant improve my garden's ecological credentials? will it help manage water? Also included here are tips for choosing sustainable materials, eliminating perennial weeds, substituting more eco-friendly alternatives for classic favorite plants, and more.

Grow herbs by Jekka McVicar — This guide to herbs has info on a lot more than just growing them. It also includes some history, basic information about what herbs are, designing an herb garden, propagation and harvesting techniques, a list of 100 top herbs for use in the kitchen,  recipes and instructions for use in cooking and throughout the home (for cleaning, remedies, relaxation, and more).

Stitches : a memoir -- by David Small — I have the pleasure of working with a fantastic group of young adults at the Starkweather Alternative High School. The Canton Public Library in cooperation with Starkweather was awarded an ALA Great Stories Club Grant a couple years ago. The book club was such a success we decided to continue meeting.