Book six in the Guides for the Prairie Gardeners series demystifies planting and caring for trees and shrubs on the prairies, with tips on stock size, fruit production, pests, and winter protection.

Trees and shrubs together make up the bulk of Earth's biomass. They are responsible for carbon dioxide storage, oxygen production, movement of water, and a host of other functions. In our gardens, trees and shrubs provide numerous benefits, including reducing air, light, and noise pollution, protecting our homes from wind, cold, and heat, and providing habitat for birds, insects, and other animals.

In the sixth book in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series, lifelong gardeners Janet and Sheryl offer advice and recommendations to help you successfully grow trees and shrubs from the ground up. They answer your questions on

• Whether to choose small or large trees and shrubs to match your needs
• The fine art of digging holes
• Care and feeding (and mulching and watering and fertilizing)
• When and how to train and prune for your plant's health and appearance
• How to protect young trees and shrubs through a bitter winter
• When to call your local arborist

Janet and Sheryl help you trouble shoot on common issues like a tree's failure to produce fruit, girdling, and weather-related challenges, as well as an introduction to pests and diseases like leaf miners, leaf rollers, leafhoppers, and their friends. They also provide prairie-specific lists of recommended trees and shrubs for flower displays, autumn colour, beautiful bark, smaller yards, hedges, and shade.

Janet Melrose is a garden educator and consultant, and an advocate for Calgary's Sustainable Local Food System. She is a life-long gardener and holds a Prairie Horticulture Certificate and Home Farm Horticultural Therapy Certificate. She has a passion for Horticultural Therapy and facilitates numerous programs designed to integrate people marginalized by various disabilities into the larger community. She is a regular contributor to The Gardener for Canadian Climates magazine. She lives in Calgary where she runs her education and consulting company, Calgary's Cottage Gardener.