- Author: Kathy Low
If you own a copy of the first edition of the Master Gardener Handbook and constantly refer to it, they you'll want a copy of the new 2nd edition. For those of you not familiar with the Handbook, it's the 750 plus page 8 ½” x 11” manual used statewide for training Master Gardeners. It also serves as reference tool used by Master Gardeners to help diagnose specific gardening problems and provide solutions.
When I read there was a new edition of the Handbook containing updated information and a new “Landscape and Garden Design” chapter, I debated as to whether or not I needed the 2nd edition. But since Master Gardeners receive a 40% discount, it meant the cover price of the new edition would only be $22, less than the cost of a new release hardcover fiction book I'd read only once before giving it away. But the Handbook would be a book I'd keep and use time and time again. So I ordered a copy and am glad I did.
For me, the second edition seems much easier to use as a reference tool than the first edition. Slight changes in the formatting and the addition of color make it so much easier to find information on each page. In addition to some updated information, there are also small additions of information. For example, in the chapter on Citrus, brief information was added on “sports” (genetic mutations affecting only parts of the tree). The chapter also has twenty new color photos of leaves showing signs of different types of deficiencies, making it easier to diagnose the problem.
I'll admit I don't plan on reading the new edition from cover to cover. But it will be at hand as a ready reference as needed.
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the new 2nd edition, it can be ordered from the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources publication website at www.ucanr.edu/publications_524/
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