History and timeline of The Sunset Western Garden Book

Sunset Western Garden Book, available February 2012, is the go-to guide for all things plant-related in the West.

The Western Garden Book collection

Garden everywhere with these books from the Western garden experts at Sunset
more

1935: The book’s first plant selection guide—ancestor of the all new Plant Finder section—was published
1950: Sunset introduced readers to packaged potting soil, which was just developed.
1954: The first Sunset climate zone maps appeared, divided into 13 climate zones. That same year, container gardening was touted as the next big trend.
1970’s: Sunset introduced readers to budding drip irrigation technology and Integrated Pest Management
1972: Sunset pushed for a ban on the pesticide DDT in 1972.
1982: Sunset introduced Xeriscaping (water conserving landscaping)
1988: Easy composting was introduced, plus the first four-color photo gallery of Western gardens.
1995: Sunset refined and expanded the climate zone maps, setting gardeners up for greater success despite the growing demands on their time.
2001: Sunset introduced “natural-sustainable” gardening, well before the idea went mainstream; the encyclopedia was expanded to include 2,000 plants.

Timeline of the Western Garden Book