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Gardening Basics FOR DUMmIES‰ by Steven A. Frowine with the Editors of the National Gardening Association Gardening Basics For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis- sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley. com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REP- RESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CRE- ATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CON- TAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FUR- THER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFOR- MATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 2006940843 ISBN: 978-0-470-03749-2 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1O/RS/QR/QX/IN About the Authors Steven A. Frowine was a plant nut even as a child. Since then, his love and sometimes obsession for outdoor and indoor plants has continued to grow. He worked in various horticultural jobs before and during high school and college. Steve has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in horticulture from Ohio State University and Cornell, respectively. His first job after graduate school was to set up a professional gardeners’ pro- gram at Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden (now the National Tropical Botanical Garden) on Kauai, Hawaii. He later held other professional horticultural posi- tions at Cleveland Botanical Garden and Pittsburgh Civic Garden Center. At Missouri Botanical Garden, he served as chairman of indoor horticulture. Steve served as an executive at top horticultural businesses including W. Atlee Burpee Company, White Flower Farm, and International Gardening Products. Steve is sought out as a lecturer and has delivered hundreds of talks throughout the country. His presentations are noted for his excellent photography, his knowledge of the subject, and his sense of humor. He has appeared on various national TV shows and writes extensively, authoring many articles for horticultural trade and consumer magazines. He has served on the boards of various professional organizations, including the National Gardening Association, Garden Writers of America, and the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta. Steve served on the Visiting Committee of Longwood Gardens for six years. Steve enjoys all plants and has a particular fondness for orchids. He wrote Orchids For Dummies (Wiley Publishing) and Fragrant Orchids (Timber Press). He is also the author of Miniature Orchids, published by Timber Press in spring 2007. Steve is now president of his own horticultural consulting firm, where he works with various companies in the green industry on writing, photography, marketing, and public relations issues. The National Gardening Association (NGA), founded in 1972, is a national not-for-profit leader in plant-based education, esteemed for its award-winning Web sites and newsletters, grants and curriculum for youth gardens, and research for the lawn-and-garden industry. NGA’s mission is to advance the personal, community, and educational benefits of gardening by supporting gardeners, communities, and teachers with information and resources. For more information, please visit www.garden.org. Dedication This book is for all new and veteran gardeners who have discovered or are about to realize the lifelong wonders and pleasures of gardening and the plant world. Please remember that gardening is not primarily about an end result but about the therapeutic aspects of the journey itself. Enjoy this process, and don’t rush it! Let gardening become an integral part of your life. You’ll be much richer for it. Author’s Acknowledgments Simply put, this book would not be possible without the help and advice of Teri Dunn. I am deeply indebted to her. Natalie Harris, my project editor, was a joy to work with. She cheerfully kept me on track and shepherded the myriad parts of this book to completion, so without her, this work would not have made it to print. I’ve been pleased and privileged over the years to witness the good works of the National Gardening Association (NGA). Thanks to this organization, I received the opportunity to produce this book. I hope it does justice to their mission of bringing the joys of gardening to all. Charlie Nardozzi, a horticulturist with the National Gardening Association, was generous with his time in reviewing and making helpful suggestions for each of the chapters. It was super having a person with his gardening experi- ence looking over my shoulder. Putting together a detailed outline for a book takes much time and thought. For this book, Michael MacCaskey tackled this important job. Hats off to him for his thoroughness. As with any book project, the spouse or companion of the writer suffers from neglect. My wife, Sascha, never wavered in her patience and understanding. She has always been supportive and loving, and I’m lucky to have her as my wife! And last, I must not forget Zoe and Ginger, our two dogs who always kept me company and face every day with enthusiasm. Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Heather Kolter Project Editor: Natalie Faye Harris Photography: Cathy Wilkinson Barash Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy Illustrations: Ron Hildebrand, Assistant Editor: Courtney Allen Hildebrand Design Copy Editor: Danielle Voirol Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Brooke Graczyk, Joyce Haughey, Editorial Program Coordinator: Hanna K. Scott Stephanie D. Jumper, Barbara Moore, Laura Pence, Brent Savage General Reviewer: Cathy Wilkinson Barash Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico Editorial Manager: Christine Beck Proofreaders: Susan Moritz, Techbooks Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle Indexer: Techbooks Editorial Assistants: Erin Calligan, Special Help Leeann Harney, David Lutton Carmen Krikorian Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services Contents at a Glance Introduction .................................................................1 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting..................................................................7 Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening..........................................................................9 Chapter 2: Planning Your Own Eden ..............................................................................25 Chapter 3: Getting into the Zone — Your Garden’s Zone ............................................51 Chapter 4: Live Long and Prosper: Giving Plants What They Need...........................63 Chapter 5: Gathering Your Gardening Gear ..................................................................83 Part II: Flowers and Foliage: Growing for Color ...........105 Chapter 6: Growing Annuals: Adding Yearly Variety to Your Garden ......................107 Chapter 7: Growing Perennials: Plants That Make a Comeback...............................121 Chapter 8: Brightening Up the Garden with Bulbs.....................................................145 Chapter 9: Coming Up Roses ........................................................................................167 Part III: Stretching Your Garden Beyond Its Boundaries: The Permanent Landscape.......................191 Chapter 10: Growing a Perfect Lawn............................................................................193 Chapter 11: Reaching New Heights with Trees and Shrubs......................................217 Chapter 12: Climbers and Crawlers: Growing Vines and Groundcovers.................245 Part IV: Producing Your Own Produce ........................265 Chapter 13: Food, Glorious Food! Growing Your Own Veggies.................................267 Chapter 14: Adding Spice to Your Garden: Growing Herbs.......................................301 Chapter 15: Sweet and Crunchy: Growing Fruits, Berries, and Nuts .......................313 Part V: Designing Special and Fun Gardens ................339 Chapter 16: Mini Gardens and Microcosms: Gardening in Containers....................341 Chapter 17: Taking the Plunge: Gardening with Ponds and Fish..............................357 Part VI: The Part of Tens ...........................................379 Chapter 18: Ten Common Questions from (and Ten Common Answers for) Gardening Beginners ...................................................................................................381 Chapter 19: Ten Quick, Fun, or Handy Garden Projects............................................387 Chapter 20: Ten Garden Projects for Children............................................................391 Appendix: Basic Gardening Resources ........................395 Index .......................................................................401 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................1 About This Book...............................................................................................1 Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................2 What You’re Not to Read.................................................................................2 Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................3 How This Book Is Organized...........................................................................3 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting ...............3 Part II: Flowers and Foliage: Growing for Color..................................4 Part III: Stretching Your Garden Beyond Its Boundaries: The Permanent Landscape................................................................4 Part IV: Producing Your Own Produce.................................................4 Part V: Designing Special and Fun Gardens ........................................5 Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................................................5 Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................5 Where to Go from Here....................................................................................6 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting ..................................................................7 Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Playing the Name Game.................................................................................10 “Hello, my name is . . .”: Getting used to plant nomenclature ........10 Anatomy 101: Naming plant parts......................................................11 Bringing in Beauty with Flowers (and Foliage) ..........................................12 Amazing annuals...................................................................................13 Perennial plants ....................................................................................17 Bulbs and roses ....................................................................................19 Gardening for Your Dining Pleasure.............................................................20 Working with Woody (or Viney) Plants .......................................................20 Shrubs ....................................................................................................21 Trees ......................................................................................................22 Vines.......................................................................................................23 The World Is Flat: Caring for Your Lawn .....................................................24 Chapter 2: Planning Your Own Eden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Taking Stock: Evaluating What You Already Have .....................................25 Identifying problems and restrictions ...............................................27 Taking advantage of your yard’s assets.............................................30 x Gardening Basics For Dummies Getting Ideas for Your Garden Space...........................................................31 Gardening with the kids in mind ........................................................32 Establishing a good garden for pets ..................................................32 Creating space for entertainment ......................................................34 Designing a sanctuary: The quiet garden retreat .............................35 Cooking up an edible garden: Gardening for your kitchen .............36 Zeroing In on Your Ideal Garden Style .........................................................37 Gardening around a theme..................................................................38 An inspired idea: Perusing books, magazines, and local gardens...41 Making Sure Costs Don’t Outgrow Your Budget.........................................42 Bringing Your Garden Ideas to Reality ........................................................43 Sketching out the yard you have now ...............................................44 Making your drawing match your dream garden .............................44 Defining key areas so you know where to start................................45 Getting Professional Help for Your Garden Plans ......................................47 Landscape architects, landscape designers, and garden designers .......................................................................48 Landscape or general contractors .....................................................49 Master gardeners..................................................................................49 Chapter 3: Getting into the Zone — Your Garden’s Zone . . . . . . . . . . .51 Different Hardiness Zone Maps for Different Folks....................................51 Taking a look at the world’s plant hardiness zone maps ................52 Warming up to the heat-zone map .....................................................53 Savoring the Sunset zones ..................................................................54 Reading plant hardiness zone maps ..................................................54 Fathoming Frost Zones and Growing Seasons............................................56 Zoning Out: Breaking the Zone and Growing Season Rules......................57 Managing your microclimates ............................................................58 Cheating the system: Creating microclimates ..................................60 Stretching your growing season .........................................................61 Chapter 4: Live Long and Prosper: Giving Plants What They Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Let There Be Light!.........................................................................................64 Facing the Fertilizer Facts .............................................................................65 What to feed: The great natural versus chemical debate ...............67 When to feed your garden...................................................................68 Compost: More than Just a Fertilizer ..........................................................69 Demystifying Soil pH......................................................................................71 Finding out your soil’s pH ...................................................................72 Adjusting your soil’s pH ......................................................................72 Much Ado about Mulch .................................................................................73 Knowing your mulches ........................................................................73 How to apply mulch — and how much .............................................75 Water, Water Everywhere: Tackling Watering Issues .................................76 Providing plants with the right amount of moisture .......................76 Determining which watering system to use......................................77 Table of Contents xi Cutting back on watering ....................................................................79 Dealing with drainage problems.........................................................80 Air! Air! Plants Need Air!................................................................................81 Chapter 5: Gathering Your Gardening Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Digging Those, Er, Digging Tools ..................................................................83 Getting down with shovels and spades.............................................84 Trowels: More than just little shovels ...............................................86 Garden forks: Not for dining!...............................................................87 Dabbling in dibbles (or dibbers) for poking holes...........................88 Clues to Quality Cultivating Tools ...............................................................89 Ho, ho, hoes ..........................................................................................89 Weeding out poor weeders to get to the best...................................90 Making the Right Cut with Cutting Tools ....................................................92 Getting a handle on hand pruners .....................................................92 Hedging your bets on hedge shears ..................................................93 Branching out with loppers ................................................................94 Moving up to pruning saws.................................................................95 Putting Power Tools to Use...........................................................................96 Safety first: Controlling your power tools (so they don’t control you) .............................................................96 Chewing through chores with chainsaws .........................................97 Working with weed trimmers and weed whackers ..........................97 Tilling soil with rototillers...................................................................98 Wading through Wondrous Watering Tools ................................................99 Hoses......................................................................................................99 Nozzles.................................................................................................101 Hose-end sprinklers ...........................................................................102 Water timers........................................................................................103 Part II: Flowers and Foliage: Growing for Color............105 Chapter 6: Growing Annuals: Adding Yearly Variety to Your Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 Finding Flowers that Fit Your Garden........................................................107 Some like it hot: Warm weather annuals .........................................108 Some annuals like it cool...................................................................109 Mixing and Matching Annuals ....................................................................109 Good habits: Taking advantage of shape, height, and structure......................................................................110 Combining colors ...............................................................................113 Buying Annuals.............................................................................................114 Starting with seed packets ................................................................114 Starting with nursery, well, starts ....................................................114 xii Gardening Basics For Dummies An Annual Event: The Whens, Wheres, and Hows of Planting ...............115 Filling in the garden after the last frost ...........................................116 Deciding where to plant annuals......................................................117 Getting annuals in the ground ..........................................................117 Feeding the Flower Power: Taking Care of Annuals.................................118 Watering...............................................................................................118 Fertilizing.............................................................................................118 Mulching ..............................................................................................119 Grooming .............................................................................................119 Dealing with annual pests .................................................................119 Chapter 7: Growing Perennials: Plants That Make a Comeback . . .121 Looking at Perennials, the Repeat Performers.........................................122 Hardy perennials ................................................................................122 Tender perennials...............................................................................122 Planning Long-Term Strategy for Your Perennial Garden .......................123 Choreography: Timing perennial blooming ....................................124 The living palette: Keeping colors in mind .....................................125 Designing perennial beds and borders............................................125 Finding and Buying Perennials ...................................................................128 To the market: Getting perennials in containers............................128 Buying perennials through mail-order.............................................129 Acquiring free divisions from other gardeners ..............................130 Planting Perennials ......................................................................................131 Figuring out where to plant perennials ...........................................131 Deciding when to plant perennials ..................................................134 Preparing for the actual planting .....................................................137 Show the Love: Taking Care of Your Perennials .......................................138 Supporting with stakes or rings .......................................................138 Practicing good grooming habits .....................................................139 Dividing perennials ............................................................................141 Preparing perennials for winter........................................................142 Dealing with perennial pests and diseases .....................................142 Chapter 8: Brightening Up the Garden with Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145 Shedding Light on Bulbs .............................................................................145 Defining terms: Bulbs aren’t always, well, bulbs............................146 The time of the season: Looking at early and late bloomers........149 Getting acquainted with the most popular bulbs ..........................150 Social Mixers: Choosing to Combine Your Bulbs .....................................151 Combining various types of tulips ...................................................151 Mixing up your daffodils....................................................................152 Combining different kinds of bulbs..................................................153 The Search: Where to Get Your Bulbs .......................................................155 Buying bulbs from home stores and nurseries ..............................156 Purchasing bulbs through mail-order..............................................157 xiiiTable of Contents Getting Down and Dirty: Planting Bulbs....................................................158 When to plant bulbs...........................................................................158 Where to plant bulbs .........................................................................160 How to plant bulbs .............................................................................161 Taking Care of Bulbs ....................................................................................163 Watering your bulbs...........................................................................164 Fertilizing bulbs ..................................................................................164 Mulching ..............................................................................................165 Fighting bulb pests.............................................................................165 Chapter 9: Coming Up Roses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167 What Makes a Rose Be a Rose Be a Rose ..................................................167 Checking out blooming habits..........................................................168 Looking at hardiness..........................................................................169 Identifying the various rose types....................................................169 Deciding Where to Put Your Roses ............................................................173 Planning your beds and borders ......................................................173 Using roses as groundcovers............................................................175 Screening with roses ..........................................................................176 Using roses as vines ...........................................................................177 Buying the Best Roses .................................................................................178 Getting a potted rose .........................................................................178 Purchasing a bareroot rose...............................................................179 Planting Your Roses .....................................................................................182 Putting containerized roses in the ground......................................182 Planting bareroot roses .....................................................................183 Taking Care of Your Roses ..........................................................................185 Watering...............................................................................................185 Fertilizing.............................................................................................185 Keeping roses in shape......................................................................186 Maximizing winter hardiness ............................................................188 War of the roses: Tackling rose pests ..............................................189 Part III: Stretching Your Garden Beyond Its Boundaries: The Permanent Landscape .......................191 Chapter 10: Growing a Perfect Lawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193 In the Beginning: Getting Ready to Make a Lawn from Scratch .............193 Preparing your yard for a lawn.........................................................194 Designing the lawn .............................................................................195 Seeding and Sodding: Adding the Grass....................................................196 Determining the kind of grass you want or need ...........................196 Cool-season and warm-season grasses ...........................................197 xiv Gardening Basics For Dummies Growing lawns from seed ..................................................................201 Your own turf: Growing lawns from sod ..........................................204 Watering a Thirsty Lawn .............................................................................207 Getting the water balance right........................................................207 Boosting watering efficiency.............................................................208 Feeding and Fertilizing ................................................................................209 What’s your type? Deciding on the kind of fertilizer .....................209 Knowing your serving sizes: How much fertilizer is enough........211 Checking out the feeding schedule ..................................................211 Mowing the Lawn, Cutting the Grass, and Otherwise Giving the Yard a Shave .......................................................................................212 Warring with Weeds .....................................................................................214 Preventing lawn weeds ......................................................................215 Treating already-weedy lawns ..........................................................215 Chapter 11: Reaching New Heights with Trees and Shrubs . . . . . . .217 Knowing Your Trees.....................................................................................218 Exploring evergreen trees .................................................................218 Falling for deciduous trees................................................................220 Choosing the Right Tree for Where You Live ...........................................222 Getting Treed! Planting Trees .....................................................................223 Not just for Arbor Day: Deciding when to plant your tree............223 Finding a suitable location ................................................................224 Planting your tree...............................................................................226 Taking Care of Your Tree .............................................................................229 Giving trees a tall drink of water ......................................................229 Fertilizing trees ...................................................................................231 Life and limb: Pruning judiciously....................................................231 Raising the stakes: Offering some support .....................................235 Knowing Your Shrubs ..................................................................................236 Nonflowering shrubs..........................................................................236 Flowering shrubs................................................................................237 Planning Practical Uses for Bushes ...........................................................237 Planting Shrubs ............................................................................................238 Deciding when to plant your shrubs ...............................................239 Situating your shrubs ........................................................................239 Perfecting your shrub-planting skills...............................................240 Caring for Your Shrubs ................................................................................241 Watering...............................................................................................242 Fertilizing your shrubs ......................................................................242 Pruning for shape and rejuvenation ................................................243 Chapter 12: Climbers and Crawlers: Growing Vines and Groundcovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245 Looking at How Vines Hold On...................................................................245 Twining ................................................................................................247 Tendrils ................................................................................................247 Adhesive discs ....................................................................................247 xvTable of Contents Holdfasts..............................................................................................248 Sprawling .............................................................................................248 Choosing the Right Vines for Your Garden ...............................................248 Considering your basic options .......................................................249 Love me tender? Deciding whether you need cold-hardy vines...250 Sizing up your vines ...........................................................................251 Examining site considerations for vines .........................................252 Planting and Supporting Vines ...................................................................253 Giving vines a little backup: Trellises, fences, and arbors............254 Using trees and shrubs as living supports......................................255 Maintaining Perennial Vines through Pruning..........................................256 Looking at Groundcovers, a Living Carpet ...............................................257 Examining groundcover varieties ....................................................257 Reaching out: How the groundcover spreads ................................259 Spacing out: Considering the room the groundcover takes up....260 Exploring site considerations for groundcovers............................261 Planting and Maintaining Groundcovers...................................................262 Watering...............................................................................................263 Fertilizing.............................................................................................263 Mulching ..............................................................................................263 Keeping groundcovers in shape: Pruning and pegging .................264 Getting weeds out (and keeping them out) ....................................264 Part IV: Producing Your Own Produce .........................265 Chapter 13: Food, Glorious Food! Growing Your Own Veggies . . . . .267 Varieties of Veggies ......................................................................................268 Growing vegetables by seasons .......................................................268 Defining hybrids .................................................................................271 Appreciating heirlooms .....................................................................272 Designing for Dining and Getting Your Vegetable Garden Ready...........274 Sketching out your plan.....................................................................274 Working with the sun: Where to plant vegetables .........................276 Using planting patterns and systems ..............................................277 Prepping your soil ..............................................................................278 Finding Your Vegetables ..............................................................................280 Planting Your Vegetables.............................................................................282 Deciding when to plant your veggies...............................................282 Sowing and planting your veggies....................................................283 Composting for Vegetable Gardens ...........................................................288 Fertilizing Your Vegetable Garden..............................................................290 Using Frames and Supports for Veggies....................................................292 Dealing with Vegetable Pests ......................................................................295 Rodents, rabbits, and other miscreants..........................................296 Deer ......................................................................................................296 Birds .....................................................................................................297 Bugs......................................................................................................297 xvi Gardening Basics For Dummies Chapter 14: Adding Spice to Your Garden: Growing Herbs . . . . . . . .301 Planting Herbs: A Lesson in Adaptation....................................................302 Getting the timing right .....................................................................302 Helping herbs find their place in the world ....................................303 Putting herbs in their place: How to plant ......................................306 Raising herbs from seed ....................................................................307 Taking Care of Your Herbs ..........................................................................308 Providing an herb’s basic needs.......................................................308 Dealing with herb pests.....................................................................309 Chapter 15: Sweet and Crunchy: Growing Fruits, Berries, and Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313 Fruit Basics: Knowing and Choosing the Right Fruits for Your Garden ........................................................................................314 Examining the types of fruits ............................................................314 Getting the lowdown on chill factors...............................................315 Studying your size accommodations...............................................317 Going solo or in pairs: Looking at pollination ................................321 Finding and Buying Your Fruit Bearers .....................................................321 Planting Your Fruit .......................................................................................322 Making the prepared soil deep and wide enough ..........................323 Choosing the best time to plant fruits.............................................323 Deciding where to plant your fruits .................................................324 Getting your fruit in the ground .......................................................325 Taking Care of Fruits ....................................................................................329 Watering...............................................................................................329 Fertilizing.............................................................................................329 Cutting back on mulch.......................................................................330 Supporting and training your fruit ...................................................330 Pruning ................................................................................................332 Dealing with fruit pests......................................................................336 Part V: Designing Special and Fun Gardens .................339 Chapter 16: Mini Gardens and Microcosms: Gardening in Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341 Exploring Different Kinds of Containers ...................................................341 Examining standard container materials ........................................342 Thinking outside the pot: Alternative choices and offbeat containers...........................................................................344 The Inside Track: Getting the Container Soil Right .................................346 Purchasing a soil mix .........................................................................346 Whipping up your own soil mix........................................................347 Picking the Best Plants for Your Containers.............................................349 Up close and personal displays........................................................350 Tucked in attention-grabbers ...........................................................351 Containers of mixed company..........................................................351 xviiTable of Contents Arranging Containers for a Container Garden..........................................352 Taking Care of Your Container Plants........................................................353 Gauging your container garden’s water needs ...............................354 Fertilizing your container plants ......................................................355 Chapter 17: Taking the Plunge: Gardening with Ponds and Fish . . .357 Planning Your Water Garden.......................................................................357 Looking at location.............................................................................358 On the level: Deciding between aboveground and in-ground gardens...........................................................................359 Choosing the best lining....................................................................362 Picking Out Your Water Garden Parts and Supplies ................................363 Pumps ..................................................................................................366 Bubblers and fountains .....................................................................366 Filters ...................................................................................................367 Installing and Filling Your Pond..................................................................368 Choosing Plants for Water Gardens ...........................................................368 Waterlilies ............................................................................................369 Lotus ....................................................................................................370 So-called marginal plants ..................................................................371 Floaters and submerged plants ........................................................371 Adding Fish to Your Water Garden ............................................................372 Maintaining Your Water Garden .................................................................374 Taking care of the plants ...................................................................375 Winterizing your plants and fish ......................................................375 A sea of green: Controlling algae in troubled waters .....................376 Part VI: The Part of Tens ............................................379 Chapter 18: Ten Common Questions from (and Ten Common Answers for) Gardening Beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381 What’s the Difference between an Annual and a Perennial? ..................381 What’s Organic Matter? ...............................................................................382 Why Does Everything I Plant in My Flower Bed Die? ..............................382 How Do I Prepare the Ground for a Brand-New Bed? ..............................382 Do I Have to Spray Chemicals on My Rosebushes?.................................383 Do Any Vegetables Grow in the Shade?.....................................................383 It’s Hot and Dry Here and I Don’t Want Cacti. What Are My Options? .............................................................................383 What Can I Plant on a Steep Bank to Prevent Erosion?...........................384 How Do I Remove the Weeds from the Lawn without Pulling Them One by One? ......................................................................384 Is There Anything Deer Don’t Eat?.............................................................385 Chapter 19: Ten Quick, Fun, or Handy Garden Projects . . . . . . . . . . .387 Set Up a Hammock .......................................................................................387 Put Up a Rubber Tire Swing ........................................................................387 xviii Gardening Basics For Dummies Install Stepping Stones ................................................................................388 Set Up a Trellis..............................................................................................388 Plant a Teepee ..............................................................................................388 Create Whimsical Garden Art from Castoffs.............................................389 Decorate the Front Steps with Potted Plants ...........................................389 Make Some Plant Labels..............................................................................389 Make a Simple Compost Bin for Your Own Organic Matter....................390 Combat Garden Pests with Homemade Pepper Spray ............................390 Chapter 20: Ten Garden Projects for Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .391 Create a Dinosaur Garden ...........................................................................391 Grow a Sunflower Fort.................................................................................391 Make Sunprints.............................................................................................392 Plant Mini-Pumpkins ....................................................................................392 Write with Seeds...........................................................................................392 Trap a Zucchini ............................................................................................392 Make a Home-Grown Salad .........................................................................393 Grow Paperwhites........................................................................................393 Set Up a Birdbath .........................................................................................393 Attract Butterflies to the Garden ...............................................................394 Appendix: Basic Gardening Resources .........................395 Index ........................................................................401 Introduction Aren’t you lucky! You’re entering or are already part of the most popular and rewarding lifelong hobby that exists — worldwide. Gardening is a common language that knows no national, socioeconomic, or age boundaries. It’s a common thread that binds all of us together. Whether you’re discussing your outrageous zucchini harvest of the previous year or sharing your secret tips for prizewinning roses, you’ve probably found that gardeners have an instant bond, no matter what their level of experience. Because gardening is a huge topic that encompasses a wide field of cultiva- tion interests and disciplines, it’s impossible for any one book to cover every- thing there is to know about gardening. However, when you’re armed with the gardening basics, like those presented in this book, you’re ready for just about anything that the art of gardening can throw at you. Sure, gardening requires some exertion. But it’s healthy exercise. It makes you feel a great sense of accomplishment when the flowerbeds are weeded, the bulbs are planted, and the seeds are sown. It’s primal. And reaping the rewards of your labor — by cutting flowers for your dinner party or fresh herbs for your salad — is a special joy that makes the noisy, electronic stimu- lation that surrounds us (cars, phones, MP3 players, and the like) seem triv- ial. Gardening fosters a deep satisfaction that nurtures your body and soul. That’s why this book, Gardening Basics For Dummies, exists. In addition to giving you basic pointers on how to make your gardening as successful and rewarding as possible, it’s a celebration of the art and sheer joy of gardening. About This Book In this book, I’ve tried to distill my over-40-years of gardening experience as well as the knowledge of some of my other gardening friends, because we all learn from each other. I hope this book is fun reading: Sometimes gardeners can get way too serious about this pursuit. I’ve always felt that gardening is supposed to relieve anxi- ety, not add to it. After all, this is gardening, not brain surgery! Making a mis- take (and you will) is not a big deal. Gardens can recover quickly from our bumbling efforts to care for them. My main mission in this book is to bring you gardening success and the inimitable pleasure that comes from it. It’s no fun if all your efforts end up in the compost pile. 2 Gardening Basics For Dummies Following the classic For Dummies format, this book gives you the most basic gardening information you need, organized and presented in an easy-to- follow, modular manner. Although you can read from cover-to-cover, you don’t have to. This book can function as a reference work, so you can jump in, find what you need, and get back to your stand of birch trees or the koi pond or the garden center or wherever else you’d like to be. After reading this book, you may not be an expert, but you should be well on your way to taking on most gardening tasks with new confidence. Gardening is part science and part art, and how you mix them up is a very personal thing. After getting a handle on the basics presented here, you can move on to develop your own style and techniques that work best for you. Conventions Used in This Book As you advance in gardening, you find that in certain branches of horticul- ture (like perennials, some trees and shrubs, and orchids), you’re confronted with dreaded scientific names (usually Latin, sometimes Greek). People use such names in these plant categories for very legitimate reasons, and you can choose to follow the path to those reasons later. For now, I spare you that step by mostly using common names for the plants throughout this book. When I do provide the scientific name, I give common plant names first, fol- lowed by the botanical name. As is typical of all For Dummies books, I also shy away from as much jargon as possible, and I explain any terms used right away (often in parentheses fol- lowing the term). New, defined terms may also appear in italics. Horticulture and gardening can be as technical as any other science, but this is not a text- book for Horticulture 101! The Internet is part of life now and can provide oodles of great gardening information, so I include various Web references. Web addresses appear in monofont. When this book was printed, some Web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If that happened, rest assured that I haven’t put in any extra characters (such as hyphens) to indicate the break. When using one of these Web addresses, just type in exactly what you see in this book, pretending as though the line break weren’t there. What You’re Not to Read If you’re short on time and just want to get down to the nitty-gritty, you can skip the stuff in the gray boxes. I include this sidebar information for those of you who want to know the whys of everything or who just want to dig deeper. Introduction 3 Foolish Assumptions Because you’re reading this book, I assume that, like me, you really love gar- dening. Here are some other things I assume regarding your possible back- ground and interest in gardening: ߜ You’ve seen other folks’ gardens that have inspired you, so now you want to bring your own gardening skill to the next level. ߜ You’re concerned about a healthy diet and want to grow some of your own herbs, fruits, and vegetables. ߜ Your lawn is looking on the tattered side, so you want to spruce it up a bit. ߜ You’ve moved into a new place, and the landscaping is nonexistent or dreadful, so you want to change it. ߜ You love outdoor living and you want to improve the space around you. ߜ You like the idea of gardening but don’t know where to start. How This Book Is Organized The basic goal of every chapter is to give you the information you need to go out and create a garden, or at least plant something, no matter what your level of experience. You may already know a lot about roses, for example, but perhaps you want information on how to start an annual flowerbed; the chap- ters in this book can help out in that regard. Even if your primary interest is in growing roses or daylilies, or in setting up a basic vegetable garden, you can find useful information in every chapter that you can probably apply to your planting project. This book includes six parts, which are further divided into chapters. Check out the following sections for an overview of what you can find in each part. Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Sometimes just getting started can be the hardest part. In this section, your wheels begin turning. Chapter 1 introduces you to the main garden players — annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, vines, and groundcovers — and explains their roles. Chapter 2 helps you put together your grand plan and gives you some ideas of types of gardens to consider and questions to ask yourself. I explain what hardiness zones are and why should you care about them in 4 Gardening Basics For Dummies Chapter 3. Chapter 4 puts your spade in the ground with the basics of garden preparation and your plants’ basic needs. And the right garden tools make a big difference, so Chapter 5 takes all the mystery out of tool selection and use. Part II: Flowers and Foliage: Growing for Color Foliage is nice, but most people are in gardening for color. Chapter 6 deals with the almost ever-blooming, frequently dazzling colors of annuals — which ones to choose and how to use them best. Recently, perennials have been the hottest category of plant, probably because of their immense vari- ety and year-after-year performance. These repeat-performers are detailed in Chapter 7. Nothing can perk up your spirits after a long winter better than spring-flowering bulbs or give late color like the summer-flowering types; that’s what Chapter 8 is all about. Chapter 9 introduces you to America’s favorite flower: the rose. There, I give you tips on which roses are easiest to grow and tell you which are most fragrant. Part III: Stretching Your Garden Beyond Its Boundaries: The Permanent Landscape The lawn frames everything in the garden and is the family playground during the summer. Chapter 10 can help you grow a lawn you can be proud of. Trees and shrubs are considered the “bones” of the garden because they define its shape and are present for many years. I introduce you to the foun- dational plants that best suit your needs in Chapter 11. And don’t forget vines and groundcovers — they can serve as the icing on your garden cake; I pro- file them in Chapter 12. Part IV: Producing Your Own Produce What can possibly match the flavor of your own warm vine-ripened toma- toes? Or fresh ripe strawberries and raspberries? That’s what Part IV is about: home-grown produce. It’s healthy and delicious. Veggies start off this part in Chapter 13, followed by Chapter 14 on the pleasures of how to grow and enjoy herbs. Chapter 15 shows you how you can have all the fruits and berries you want. Introduction 5 Part V: Designing Special and Fun Gardens This part covers what gardening is really all about — fun! Chapter 16 covers the extremely popular form of gardening that even those space-challenged gardeners can enjoy: container gardening. Water gardens have become the rage because of not only the exotic plants they display but also the wildlife (including fish and frogs) that they provide a home for. Skip to Chapter 17 for details on water gardening. Part VI: The Part of Tens Of course, this wouldn’t be a real For Dummies book without a Part of Tens. This part is where you go when you want information fast. Chapter 18 gives you answers to the ten most commonly asked garden questions. If you’re handy and like gardening projects, see Chapter 19. Getting the kids involved in gardening early in life is a great idea, so check out the fun projects for them to do in Chapter 20. Icons Used in This Book Icons are the cute little pictures that show up in the margins of the book, right next to certain blocks of text. Here’s what those icons stand for: This image points out some ecological tips that you can follow and use to ensure that your gardening is truly Earth-friendly. Gardeners sometimes speak their own lingo, which can be a bit confusing for people who are just getting their feet wet (or dirty) in the gardening process. This icon helps to identify and clarify the most common terms you encounter. This icon points out some major ideas in the book — stuff well worth remembering. 6 Gardening Basics For Dummies The Tip icon flags notable gardening information that even experienced gar- deners may not know. This info can save you time and frustration. This icon alerts you to possible problems to watch out for or avoid. These problems may result in injury or at the very least a bad gardening experience. Where to Go from Here A great thing about For Dummies books is that you can start anywhere you want — one part or chapter doesn’t depend on any other. For example, if you’re interested in growing your own fruit, head right to Chapter 15. No need to start anywhere else! That said, if you feel more comfortable getting a basic grounding (so to speak) in gardening before plunging right in, start with Part I, Chapter 1. If you’re re-evaluating or starting your garden from scratch, then any of the other chapters in Part I are good places to begin. After that, where you go is really up to you, based on your most pressing gardening needs or pleasures. Part I Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting In this part . . . Ready to do some gardening? Even if you don’t think you’re ready to get your hands dirty (or if you’re not sure), the chapters in Part I can help you get started. These chapters give you an overview of the gardening process. They show you how to set up everything for your dream garden and generally arm you with the knowledge vital to successful gardening — which plants you can grow in your area and what they need to thrive, how best to take advantage of the gardening space you have, and how to design the right plans and acquire the right tools to make your garden a reality. Chapter 1 Getting Ready for Gardening In This Chapter ᮣ Understanding how plants are named ᮣ Examining flowering plants ᮣ Checking out trees, vines, and shrubs ᮣ Managing your lawn No matter what your main gardening interest — be it growing vegetables, making your yard colorful with flowers, picking out just the right tree, or aspiring to have the most gorgeous roses on the block — chances are that you care most about the plants. Sure, gardening can also involve landscaping and lawn care (see the chapters in Part III of this book), or being able to grow your own food (Part IV), or just having a great excuse to play in the dirt (Part V), but for most people, the plants make everything worthwhile. Of course, keeping your plants alive and making them look their best involves a lot of preparation. This book contains information on caring for your garden plants throughout, but you should especially read through the first few chapters if you really want your plants to grow, thrive, and look their absolute best. Okay, yeah, I know, you already know you need to plan and prepare your soil to get your garden going, but you really just want to read about plants right now, right? In that case, the rest of this chapter is devoted to the most basic explanations of the kinds of plants you may encounter in the world of garden- ing. Later chapters in this book go into much more detail about the various types of plants, trees, bushes, and vines, but here I help you get a sense of how plants are similar and different — the first step in turning a brown thumb green. First, though, I explain a bit about names. 10 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Playing the Name Game What’s in a name? For gardeners, plenty. Gardening is a blend of horticulture and botany, common names and high science, and the names can get a bit confusing. Whether you’re looking at plant anatomy or simply want to know what to call a plant, understanding a bit about naming can help you wade through the aisles, ask better questions, and treat your plants right. “Hello, my name is . . . ”: Getting used to plant nomenclature Whenever you’re talking about plants, knowing how they’re named can help you avoid getting tangled up in the Latin. Generally, when looking for plants and flowers, you encounter two types of names — botanical and common. Read on for some info on how the naming system works, and then carpe diem — pluck the day! Botanical names The botanical name is the proper or scientific name of a plant. It consists of two parts: the genus name and the species name. The species name is kind of like your own first name (except it comes last in a plant’s botanical name). The genus name is similar to your family name (except in botanical names, it comes first). For example, in the plant name Hosta undulata, Hosta is the genus name, and undulata is the species name. Hosta describes an entire genus of famous, mostly shade-loving plants named hostas, and undulata describes the type of hosta it is — a hosta with an undulating leaf shape. Sometimes the botanical name has a third name, right after the species name, known as the variety. A variety is a member of the same plant species but looks different enough to warrant its own name, such as Rosa gallica var. officinalis. Still another botanical name that sometimes comes up is the cultivar, or cultivated variety. Cultivars are usually named by the people who developed or discovered them, and they’re often maintained through cuttings, line- bred seed propagation, or tissue culture. In other words, they’re cultivated (humans grow, improve, and develop them). An example is Lychnis coronaria ‘Angel’s Blush.’ A hybrid plant is the result of the cross-pollination between two genetically different plants, usually of the same species but different varieties. This com- bination can happen because of cultivation, or it can occur naturally through bee pollination between two different plants. 11Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening Sharing names with distant relatives If you want to be absolutely sure of the plant related found in various genera (genuses). For you’re buying, then remember that the botani- instance, a “daisy” can be an African daisy cal or scientific name, including the cultivar (Arctotis or Gerbera), Dahlberg daisy (Dyssodia name, is the most exact one. Some common tenuiloba), English daisy (Bellis perennis), names, like common basil, are very specific. All painted daisy (Chrysanthemum coccineum), common basil has the same genus and species, Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum superbum), and Ocimum basilicum. However, a common name many others. If you’re shopping by common like daisy is so general that it may not be very names, read labels to make sure this particular helpful. This term can apply to plants very faintly kind of plant can grow for you. Botanical names are more common with some types of plants than others. For instance, you frequently run into them with herbaceous plants, trees, and shrubs but much less so with roses, annuals, and vegetables. You can find botanical names on the labels and in many garden references. Common names Common names are what you’re most likely to encounter when shopping for plants to put in your garden, and they’re what you mostly encounter in this book. You can find these names prominently displayed on seed packets or on seedling trays of plants that are for sale. They’re kind of like botanical nicknames that gardeners use to describe a certain type of plant without going into a great amount of detail. For example, the Hosta undulata fits into the genus Hosta, so most gardeners merely refer to these plants under the common name of hostas. And you may know that Hemerocallis is actually the genus name for the common daylily, but chances are that most gardeners you encounter just call them daylilies. Anatomy 101: Naming plant parts Beyond recognizing the names of plants, knowing the various parts of plants is also useful. Figure 1-1 shows a nice, healthy perennial plant with the basic parts displayed. You probably already know most of them, but keep these parts in mind, because you need to know them to understand some of the things I discuss in the rest of this book! In the figure, the taproot is the main root of the plant; the stolon, or runner, is a horizontal stem that spreads through the ground to help some perennials propagate. When you know the parts of plants and the difference between all the plant names you run into, you may be ready to get the lowdown on the types of plants out there! 12 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Flower Stem Seedhead Leaf Stolon Figure 1-1: Taproot Secondary roots The basic parts of a perennial plant, above and below ground. Bringing in Beauty with Flowers (and Foliage) Flowers are often the first thing that comes to mind when people think of gardening and the first thing people plan to grow when they want to beautify their surroundings. Flowers are marvelous because they come in a huge vari- ety of sizes, colors, and shapes (see Figure 1-2), and no matter where you 13Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening live, at least one kind of flowering plant can grow there. Even the volcanic crater of Haleakala, on the island of Maui, is home to a flowering plant: the rare silver sword. Flowers are more than merely the beautiful display they put on, however. If you know the different types of flowers out there, you can take full advantage of displaying them in your own garden. Read on for info on annuals and perennials, as well as a bit on bulbs and roses. Amazing annuals You may already know what annuals are without realizing that you know! These beauties are the flowers, arrayed in flats and pots, for sale every spring down at the garden center — everything from geraniums to impatiens to marigolds. You bring them home and plunk ’em in the ground, and they get right to work, delivering pretty much continuous color all summer long. When fall comes, they start to slow down (some may even go to seed); cold weather eventually causes them to wither and die. Game over. (That is, unless you live in a frost-free climate; in this case, your “annuals” become perennials. See the upcoming section titled “Perennial plants” for more information.) Bicolor Single Double Figure 1-2: Star Picotee Flowers come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, as these popular flowers show. 14 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting For the brief time annuals are growing and pumping out flowers, you get a lot of bang for your buck. A great deal of selection and breeding refinements over the years have made these plants totally reliable. They’re hard to kill. Indeed, some of them keep blooming their cheery heads off even when you neglect them. More sophisticated gardeners have been known to sneer at good old annuals. They’re boring. They’re too perky. They’re “plastic plants.” These folks may or may not have a point, but hey, annuals are hard to beat if you want a color- ful garden. In the end, the main drawback of annuals is economic. You have to buy new ones every spring. If you’re planting a wide area, running out to buy more year in and year out can get expensive. Time may also be an issue for you — you may grow sick and tired of getting down on your hands and knees and replanting. (If you’re getting to that point, consider planting perennials — see the section later in the chapter!) You can use annuals ߜ To fill an entire flowerbed (this popular use is why some places call annuals bedding plants) ߜ In container displays — in pots, windowboxes, patio planter boxes, and more ߜ To fill a hanging basket ߜ To edge a walkway ߜ To “spot” color in a perennial bed ߜ In edging and as decoration for a vegetable or herb garden ߜ To cover over or at least distract from a fading spring bulb display If the info you want on annuals isn’t in the upcoming sections, you can get an in-depth look in Chapter 6. Caring for and feeding annuals Luckily, taking proper care of annuals is not rocket science. For the most part, annuals are easygoing, because they’re bred to be quite tough and durable. Many can withstand some neglect and still be productive — not that I recommend ignoring them! Without a doubt, water is an annual’s number one need. All that lusty growth and continuous flowering requires fuel. A thirsty plant can’t sustain the show for long. Regular, deep soakings are best because they reliably supply water to the roots, which leads to a stress-free life of consistent growth and bud and bloom production. (Note that a drying-out plant favors its roots and, to a lesser extent, its leaves, in a bid for survival, automatically jettisoning its water-hogging buds and petals.) See Chapter 4 for more info on watering. 15Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening You can’t deny that regular doses of plant food significantly boost your annuals (make sure you apply it according to directions). The leaves become healthier and greener, and you end up with more buds and flowers. Chapter 4 contains information on fertilizer as well. The rather unromantic term of deadheading simply refers to the practice of pinching or cutting off spent flowers. Your annuals look nicer when you do this, of course, but removing the flowers also serves another purpose: It thwarts the plant from the energy-intensive process of producing seeds, and the plant responds by diverting its energy back into making more flowers. Favorite annuals If you shop earlier in spring (before the garden center has been picked clean, I mean) or go to a place with a big selection, you see lots of choices. If you find certain types too boring or common, look around for alternatives — one big trend these days is familiar annuals in new colors, even bicolors. Get cre- ative! Have some fun! Here are some popular annuals: ߜ Sun-lovers: Angelonia, California poppy, cleome, cosmos, geranium, lobelia, marigold, million bells, nasturtium, nicotiana, petunia, portulaca, salvia, and zinnia ߜ Shade-lovers: Ageratum, cineraria, coleus, forget-me-not, impatiens, nemophila, pansy, primrose, sweet William, vinca, wax begonia ߜ Unusual, offbeat, but still easy annuals: • Collinsia: An easily grown and graceful plant that looks similar to a blue snapdragon • Eustoma: A plant with very long lasting, silk-like flowers • Feverfew: An annual covered with double, mostly white chrysanthemum-like flowers • Annual foxglove: A plant with charming, nodding flowers on a tall spike, adding a dramatic vertical element to any garden • Honesty (money plant): An annual grown for its translucent quarter- shaped seed pods that make it choice for dried arrangements • Larkspur: A plant that’s easy to grow by directly sowing the seeds in your garden in the early spring • Nemophila: A plant with sky-blue cup flowers on compact mounded plants • Nierembergia: A ground-hugging plant covered with purple cup-shaped flowers • Stock: An annual with heavenly fragrance and flowers from white to pink to purple • Torenia: A flower that looks like an open-faced snapdragon on compact plants, in shades of blue, pink and white. 16 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Raising annuals from seed Of course you can raise annuals from seed! Some are simpler to grow than others. Annuals with very small seeds like snapdragons and begonias are a bit more of a challenge because you need to start them indoors in a bright windowsill or under fluorescent lights. Just buy the seed packets in late winter and sow them in flats or pots (partic- ular directions are always on the back of the packets). Raise the seedlings indoors until spring weather comes and the soil warms up and all danger of frost is past; then move the plants outside. Some annuals are so fast-growing that you can sprinkle their seeds on good soil in late spring, right outside, and they’ll quickly sprout and grow. This group includes popular ones like zinnias, marigolds, and nasturtiums. This process may require you to do some thinning at some point, but otherwise, it’s dead easy. Again, consult the back of the seed packet for details. One advantage to this tack is that you can grow some more unconventional or rare annuals. It certainly makes for a more interesting garden! Beholding a one-time show The very definition of an annual — a plant that goes from seed to flowering to death in one season, completing its entire life cycle in short order — states that annuals are a one-time show. When it’s over, it’s over. (Except when it’s not; if you garden in a mild climate, many annuals merely slow down for the winter but survive.) If you garden in a cold climate, you can try digging up some favorites or bringing potted annuals inside. Keep them in a nonfreezing place, out of direct sunlight, and let them rest. Cut back all spent growth. Start reviving them with water and plant food when spring returns. However, if despite your best efforts, your wintered-over annuals don’t return to their former glory the following spring, accept their fate, pull them out, and replace them with new ones. Annuals that aren’t really annuals False annuals are plants with tropical origins, or can, at least in theory, be kept going over the ones whose parents hail from the tropics, which winter and live to dress up your garden again means that they’re actually perennial — more next year. Examples of these tropical visitors long-lived — somewhere, somewhere warmer, include the coleus, geranium, impatiens, salvia, somewhere far away. These pseudo-annuals snapdragon, and wax begonia. 17Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening Perennial plants For many gardeners, going from growing annuals to exploring perennials seems to be a natural progression. But remember that you don’t have to choose! You can grow both and, indeed, your garden is likely to be the better for the diversity. So, what, exactly are perennials? They’re long-lived herbaceous (non-woody) plants — flowers and herbs, mainly. How long they last depends on the plant and the conditions in your garden. But these plants certainly last longer than annuals. A typical perennial emerges in the spring, grows and often produces flowers and seeds as the seasons progress from spring to summer to fall, and then slows down or dies back in winter. But the plant doesn’t actually die; it just rests. The following spring, your perennial returns in glory to repeat the cycle. Unlike annuals, you don’t have to replant perennials every year. Once should be enough — well, if you choose wisely and take good care of your perennials, you ought to get many good years out of them. Eventually, though, some perennials run out of steam. Their growth gets crowded and they don’t seem to flower as well. At this time, you can dig them out and replace them, or you can divide them (perhaps discarding the tired- out center, or mother plant) and replant well-rooted bits for a fresh new start. Chapter 7 can give you tips on division. Here are some of the many uses of perennials: ߜ Creating a colorful bed or border ߜ Filling an island bed (an isolated, self-contained garden, like an “island” in a sea of lawn) ߜ Mixing them with annuals to assure summer-long color ߜ Edging a walkway, patio, pool area, or deck ߜ Interplanting them with roses or other ornamental shrubs to provide year-round interest ߜ Dressing up an area that was formerly lawn For the nitty-gritty details on perennials, check out Chapter 7. If you just want the basics, read on. 18 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting In on the ground floor: Groundcovers Low-growing perennial plants may be handy in Some favorite groundcovers include ajuga, can- a flower border (near the front where they won’t dytuft, creeping phlox, epimedium, ivy, lamium, be blocked from view) or as an edging, but they lily-of-the-valley, pachysandra, sweet woodruff, have another, very practical use: You can plant and verbena. entire areas with them, and they can form a low- care carpet. They’re especially nice for shady For details on groundcovers, please turn to areas where lawn won’t grow. Chapter 12. Caring for and feeding perennials The water needs of perennials vary. Some are moisture-lovers, others are drought-tolerant, and many are somewhere in the middle. Do your homework when choosing plants, not just on what they prefer but on which ones are suitable to the growing conditions in your yard and climate (otherwise, you’ll be jumping through hoops trying to please them). Chapter 2 can help you get a grip on how to plan your garden. One generalization is possible, though: Nothing makes newly planted perenni- als feel more welcome than plentiful water does. The perennials have gone from a sheltered and confining life in a pot to the wide world of your garden, and water helps sustain the roots and encourages them to establish them- selves and expand into their new home. Many perennials (like most people) enjoy being fed. They respond by grow- ing more robustly and producing more flowers. You’re fine with a general, all- purpose garden fertilizer, applied according to the label directions during the height of the growing season. Don’t feed your perennials as fall approaches and growth naturally begins to slow. You don’t want them producing a fresh new flush of growth that soon gets nipped by a frost. (For some general info on fertilizing, see Chapter 4.) I have to admit that fertilizing the majority of perennials isn’t mandatory. If you plant them in soil that suits them (and do your homework when choosing the plants), they may do just fine without it. Good, organically rich soil and good growing conditions and regular water can sustain healthy, hearty perennial growth for quite some time. Fertilizing merely supplies a boost in these cases. Favorite perennials Lots of places offer perennials these days. The garden centers in spring and early fall are full of them. Unless the place is especially big or sophisticated, you’ll find mostly common, tried-and-true choices. If you get a taste for the 19Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening more unusual perennials, or common ones in uncommon colors, turn to mail- order or Internet shopping. What’s out there may astound you — thousands and thousands of fascinating and beautiful plants await! Here are some favorites: ߜ Sun perennials: Black-eyed Susan, coneflower, coreopsis, daylily, del- phinium, gaura, hardy geranium, iris, penstemon, peony, phlox, pincush- ion flower, poppy, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, and Shasta daisy ߜ Shade perennials: Astilbe, bergenia, bleeding heart, brunnera, ferns, foamflower, goatsbeard, hellebore, heuchera, hosta, Solomon’s seal, spi- derwort, and violet Looking at lifespan The life cycle of a perennial depends on various factors, notably the type of plant and whether it’s happy in your garden. But you can certainly expect to get a minimum of two years and a maximum of a decade out of the vast majority of perennials. For best results, of course, take good care of them. Most perennials are slow starters. During their first year in your garden, they tend to invest in developing a good root system. Be patient! After that’s estab- lished, they grow and expand, and the flower show gets better with each passing year. You can hurry things along by fertilizing regularly during the height of the growing season (see Chapter 4 for fertilizing details) and get a head start by planting in the fall (see the next section). Considering fall planting If you shop for perennials in late summer and get them in the ground a good six weeks or more before the first frost, those plants will definitely have a head start over their spring-planted counterparts. In fall, the soil is still warm and welcoming, and drenching fall rains can help water in the new kids. Depending on the severity of your winter, cutting back any new growth and mulching when winter is just around the corner may be good ideas. For much more on perennials, please turn to Chapter 7. Bulbs and roses Bulbs, which store their food underground, are a richly varied group of plants. The best-known ones like tulips and daffodils are spring flowering, but these plants represent only the tip of the iceberg. Many others, like dahlias and lilies, are summer bloomers. What they all have in common is that they’re easy to grow and produce plenty of flowers. Just provide them a sunny, well-drained spot, stand back, and let them do their thing. See Chapter 8 for info on bulbs. 20 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Although bulbs are quite popular, roses are America’s favorite flowers for many reasons. They epitomize romance and come in an impressive range of flower colors, not to mention their inimitable delicious fragrances. Lucky for us, modern rose breeders have worked their wonders on this plant to pro- duce roses that are not only stunningly beautiful but also tough as nails. Roses are no longer the wimps that gardeners loved to think about growing but were afraid to try because of the reputation for being a magnet to every known plant disease and insect pest. Today’s varieties are also available in a range of plant habits, from upright to bush forms to those that are ground hugging. Chapter 9 can fill you in on growing roses. Gardening for Your Dining Pleasure For many gardeners, growing food is the real reason for gardening. There really isn’t quite anything like the feeling of satisfaction a gardener gets from nurturing and encouraging a tomato plant to put forth the most gorgeous and delicious tomatoes imaginable, or harvesting a healthy and tasty bunch of berries from a tree planted right in the front yard. Food-bearing plants come in all shapes, sizes, and types, from annuals and perennials, to trees and bushes, to vines that creep along the ground or climb to impressive heights when given the right support. Chapter 13 gives you the information you need to get started on growing your own vegetables. Chapter 14 is devoted to herbs and how you can grow them to enhance the dishes that come out of your kitchen. And Chapter 15 gives you the lowdown on the different kinds of fruit that you can grow and enjoy. Working with Woody (or Viney) Plants Woody plants consist of shrubs, some vines, and trees. Though I come to this group last in this chapter, it’s probably a more important garden element than annuals and perennials simply because of the space that woody plants take up over the long term. You may have inherited some trees and shrubs when you moved into your present home, or you may be considering replac- ing what you have or installing some new ones. Whatever you’re thinking, choose and act wisely. Allow these bigger plants the elbow room, the deeper prepared soil, and the light they may need. 21Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening The reason trees, shrubs, and some vines are called woody plants is that the bulk of their stems, and branches, are, well, woody — not herbaceous. This growth doesn’t wither or die back in the wintertime. Yes, the leaves, flowers, fruits, berries, and seeds may fade and fall off, but the rest of the plant, its “bones,” so to speak, abides. And with each passing year, the main stem or trunk grows another layer thicker, and the plant may add additional branches or woody stems. No wonder woody plants are considered more-or-less per- manent, and certainly substantial, parts of a home landscape. The difference between a shrub (or bush) and a tree can be pretty tenuous. Shrubs usually have multiple stems that branch close to the ground, and the plants are often at least as wide as they are tall. Trees are usually higher than they are wide, tend to be larger than shrubs, and usually have one or just a few predominant stems or trunks. These definitions become foggier when a very large shrub gets pruned to one stem to look like a tree or a small tree is trained to have multiple stems and is pruned to be a hedge. In these cases, are they trees or shrubs? Your call is as good as mine! Shrubs You may choose flowering or evergreen shrubs. Both kinds are worthwhile in different ways. Just bear in mind that flowering shrubs tend to have a fairly brief period of glory, and then you’re left with only foliage, so pick a shrub whose foliage you like. Good fall color, leaves, and/or berries may also be a factor in your decision. On the other hand, evergreen shrubs, whether broadleaf or needled, are valuable for long-term, consistent green color and, in many cases, a denser-growing profile. Favorite shrubs for home landscapes include ߜ Flowering: Azalea, broom, buckeye, burning bush, daphne, flowering quince, forsythia, fothergilla, hibiscus, hydrangea, mock orange, smoke bush, sweetshrub, and winterberry ߜ Broadleaf evergreen (with spring flowers and more-or-less evergreen foliage): Andromeda, aucuba, barberry, boxwood, camellia, cotoneaster, gardenia, holly, laurel, mahonia, manzanita, mountain laurel, nandina, oleander, rhododendron, and rock rose ߜ Evergreen: Some cedars, some false cypresses, hemlock, juniper, some pines, some spruces, and yew 22 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Take a look at some of the roles shrubs can play: ߜ Foundation planting (around the base of your house to add architectural interest, insulation, and security) ߜ Boundary and hedge plantings (possibly in addition to, or in lieu of, fencing) ߜ Individual, solo spots of color (specimen plants) ߜ Mixed-border citizens for more architectural interest (have a mixture of shrubs, or have a mixture of one type of shrub and roses or perennials or vines or all of these) ߜ Backdrops for a flower border ߜ Entryway, poolside, deckside, or privacy plantings For much more on shrubs, please turn to Chapter 11. Trees Trees can raise your property value, improve air quality, prevent erosion, lower your air conditioning costs, and provide a handy support for your hammock. Not too shabby, eh? For most home gardeners, trees in the landscape are often already present but need care and pruning to look good. Or you may be shopping for one or more ornamental or fruiting trees to add. As with shrubs, your options include deciduous (ones that drop their leaves each fall; they may flower and fruit or have berries or seedpods) and evergreen (with leaves or needles that remain year-round). Favorite trees for home landscapes include ߜ Flowering and deciduous: Catalpa, crape myrtle, dogwood, dove tree, golden chain tree, horse chestnut, magnolia, redbud, serviceberry, silk tree, snowbell, and stewartia ߜ Shade trees: Ash, basswood, beech, catalpa, elm, ginkgo, honey locust, Kentucky coffee tree, linden, locust, various maples, various oaks, sour- wood, sweet gum, and tupelo ߜ Evergreen: Arborvitae, cedar, cypress, false cypress, fir, hemlock, juniper, Norfolk Island pine, pine, spruce, and yew ߜ Fruit and nut trees: Almond, apple, apricot, avocado, cherry, chestnut, citrus, crabapple, fig, filbert (hazelnut), juneberry, loquat, mulberry, nectarine, olive, pawpaw, peach, pear, pecan, plum, quince, and walnut 23Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening Roles trees can play involve things like ߜ Shade ߜ Privacy (including noise reduction) ߜ Grandeur and substance in the landscape ߜ Food (fruits, berries, and nuts) ߜ Decorative beauty due to foliage (including fall color!) ߜ Shelter and food for birds and other wild creatures For much more information on trees in general, please turn to Chapter 11. For info on fruit and nut trees, check out Chapter 15. Vines Annual vines like morning glory, nasturtium, moonflower, and so on aren’t woody, but vines — woody or not — can be a substantial presence in your landscape. Vines like to grow upward, though some need assistance in terms of guidance and/or support. Some vines are valued mainly for their lush foliage. Others flower and fruit, with attractive seedheads or berries by fall — all factors that naturally add to their appeal and affect placement and maintenance. Choose vines based on whether and when you want these extra, color-contributing features. Also, when purchasing, be sure to inquire about predicted mature size! Some of my favorite vines for home landscapes are ߜ Akebia ߜ Honeysuckle ߜ Bougainvillea ߜ Ivy ߜ Clematis ߜ Jasmine ߜ Climbing hydrangea ߜ Kiwi ߜ Climbing roses ߜ Mandevilla ߜ Creeping fig ߜ Trumpet creeper ߜ Dutchman’s pipe ߜ Wisteria ߜ Grape 24 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Roles vines can play include ߜ Cloaking or disguising a fence (especially if it’s unattractive; or just use vines to make it into a more substantial barrier) ߜ Climbing a trellis that’s either against a wall or fence or out in the open (if well-supported) ߜ Covering a gazebo to give shade and privacy as well as beauty ߜ Decorating a pillar, arbor, or pergola, adding shade and beauty as well as making a major contribution to your garden landscape ߜ Adding extra, vertical color to your garden (which is especially nice if your garden is small or you want to give it a feeling of enclosure) ߜ Draping over an outbuilding or shed, an old or dead tree trunk, or another larger structure in need of some softening or disguise ߜ Providing flowers and edible fruit for decorating and eating Note: Even ridiculously strong vines can’t help you swing from tree to tree, namely because they’re attached to the ground and not-so-attached at the top. If you really don’t want to stay grounded, Chapter 19 can give you info on installing a tire swing. For much more information on vines, please turn to Chapter 12. I address climbing roses in more detail in Chapter 9. The World Is Flat: Caring for Your Lawn Some gardeners love lawn care; others think it’s just a necessary chore. Whichever way you feel, one thing can’t be denied: Lawns, even small ones, can define a garden. They frame and provide a backdrop for all your other plants. If your lawn looks shabby, unfortunately, the rest of your garden creations just don’t look as good. I appreciate that everyone these days is pressed for time and can’t spend the time on manicuring their turf like golf course managers do, so in Chapter 10, I give you the basic, nitty-gritty information so that your lawn can do you proud without taking too much time away from the rest of your creative garden pursuits. Chapter 2 Planning Your Own Eden In This Chapter ᮣ Working with what you already have ᮣ Deciding on your garden style ᮣ Staying within your budget ᮣ Setting up your garden plans ᮣ Hiring a professional Consider your ideal garden. Perhaps you know you want a handsome woodland shade garden, but what’ll it look like? Or maybe you know you want a sunny cottage garden, but what’s your vision? Getting to this point in your garden planning is a bit like shopping for a blue shirt. You know you want a shirt and you know you want it to be blue, but you still have plenty of options. Now’s the time to narrow in on your target. By assessing your gardening wants, your gardening needs, and what you already have available for your garden, you can come up with the best garden for you. In this chapter, I lead you through the processes that can help you clarify your vision, and I explain how you can start making your dream garden a reality. Taking Stock: Evaluating What You Already Have Observation! That’s the very first step. Forget for a moment what’s growing in your neighbors’ yards or other home landscapes around town that you see and may covet. It’s time to take a broader view — it’s all part of the assessing process, a process that can lead you to a gorgeous, successful garden of your own. And don’t forget that the garden is part of your yard in general. If you incorporate your garden plans into an overall plan for your yard, the yard itself can become a beautiful extension of the garden. 26 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Identifying and spending some time analyzing what you already have is an important step in planning. After all, every yard is different and therefore presents a gardening challenge. You may be surprised, as you ponder, to discover that you can work quite well with what you already have, making seemingly minor changes to major effect. Start by looking at the big picture. Here are the basic things to look for that affect your overall gardening plans. The following issues directly influence your planting decisions: ߜ Local climate: Over the course of a calendar year, is your area’s climate dry or damp? Generally sunny or generally rainy? Do your winters (or summers) slow everything down or bring plant growth to a temporary halt? The answers to these questions can tell you which plants are likely to grow easily and which ones may require some extra help. See Chapter 3 for info about plant hardiness zones and how they affect your growing space. ߜ Type of soil in your yard: Consider the natural soil in your area. Is it rather sandy? Clay? Loamy (rich, crumbly, and dark)? Acidic? Alkaline? Does it drain rainwater away quickly, or does moisture puddle and linger for days? The answers can help you understand which plants will thrive and which ones will need soil improvements. (If you really don’t have any idea, a simple soil test is a good idea — see Chapter 4.) ߜ Plants native to your area (or already growing in your yard): I’m not asking that you make a garden out of entirely native plants — after all, you may want to distinguish your yard from the surrounding natural landscape. But finding out which plants (trees, shrubs, grasses, flowers) are native or perform well in your general area, either by observing or by asking around, can further fill you in on what kind of growing condi- tions you’ve been dealt. When looking at plants, make sure you don’t choose invasive exotics, which are aggressive nonnative plants that can escape your yard and run rampant. Your state may also find some native plants harmful. For information and details on what to watch out for, visit plants.usda. gov/java/noxiousDriver. And here are some structural considerations for your garden: ߜ Permanence of big structures: Okay, the house stays. The garage and shed, too, although maybe you can move or replace the shed. What about shade trees? Can and should you cut any of them down, or at least prune them? Big branches may be a hazard, and letting more light into a garden is often welcome. ߜ Walkways: It’s hard, but not impossible, to change the path of foot traf- fic if it’s currently in the way of your garden space. So take a hard look and be honest. If you add or replace a walking surface, the yard can look immediately nicer and your garden spot may be neatly outlined. 27Chapter 2: Planning Your Own Eden Options for installing a path include gravel, brick, flagstone, and other paving materials. Wandering paths look nicer and slow down footsteps, but pathways should actually lead somewhere if you want people to use them. Wider paths also slow people down and encourage them to enjoy their surroundings — your beautiful garden. ߜ Desire for privacy or shelter: Good fences can make good neighbors, and materials make all the difference. Big, substantial wooden fences do block street noise and unsightly views but may also create shade and look unfriendly. A lighter or more open design may be better, perhaps softened with a flowering, climbing plant. An alternative is living fences of hedges or an informal line of bushes (evergreen or deciduous, with or without fruit and flowers — turn to Chapter 11 for information). Work with what you have to improve your fence’s look, or vow to install or replace it with something nicer. Before making any major changes, consult with neighbors who’ll be affected, especially if you have a neighborhood association that governs big yard projects. After evaluating these items and the impact they’ll have on your future garden, you may find that you have the start of a good plan for forming the boundaries and overall design of your garden. Don’t be intimidated by the beautifully designed and laid-out yards you see in your neighborhood or admire in the pages of gardening magazines or books. Transforming and beautifying your yard yourself, while bringing in outside help only if you think you need it, is perfectly possible. Like any other large project, you’ll get further and feel better if you divide it into smaller parts. Identifying problems and restrictions There are certain classic gardening “problems” and, thankfully, myriad solu- tions. Please don’t ever feel overwhelmed — picking out an area to work on and improve and concentrating your efforts can buoy your spirits, and then you can move on to another concern. My advice is to start first with an area you have the time and money to fix up — preferably an area you’d like to start enjoying sooner rather than later. The main point is to take action. Address the big issues now, and you’ll defi- nitely feel well on your way to a more beautiful, enjoyable garden. Read on for some basic problems. 28 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting You have too much shade A yard or garden space with a lot of shade is often lamented as forcing too many limitations on gardeners. Never fear! This problem is often much easier to remedy than you may think, usually just by pruning some trees and bushes: 1. Go out with clippers and/or a small pruning saw to remove all “non- negotiable” branches and twigs — anything obviously dead or dis- eased, particularly the lower branches of thick trees. 2. Go on to thinning — taking out growth that’s rubbing against other branches or crowding the interior of a plant. 3. For anything you can’t handle, call in a certified arborist or a tree company. You need the services of a tree company if you decide to take out an entire tree. Check with local authorities; in some areas you need permis- sion to cut down trees. In the end? More sun, more light, and more air — a whole new yard! If a more permanent structure, such as a house or fence, causes your shade problem, you may still have more planting options available than you think. Review the chapters in Parts II, III, and IV for a variety of ideas on how to grow in the shade. Regardless of whether bushes and shrubs are a shade problem, you should prune them to remove some or all the offending thicket to keep your garden (and yard in general) looking good. Try an early-spring pruning foray. (This is also the time to do drastic chopping back, say, if you want to reduce a hedge’s height; cut no more than one-third at a time — you can prune again next season.) You have too much sun If your garden space is sunnier than you’d like, the quick solution is to add human-made items — try an umbrella or two, a pergola (arbor), or an out- door tent. For the long term, you can make a planting plan with shade trees (see Chapter 11) and vines that cover trellises and other structures (see Chapter 12). Your yard is too big Here are three good ways to reduce that maintenance-demanding, water- hogging lawn and create ideal spaces for gardening: 29Chapter 2: Planning Your Own Eden ߜ Create garden beds around the sides of the yard, widening or extending them as you can. Alternatively, create what landscapers call island beds, which are flat or mounded beds (in any shape and size you like) in the middle of a lawn. ߜ Add large, sprawling structures that take up a lot of yard space, such as • Pathways • A terrace, patio, or deck • A pool (swimming or ornamental) • A potting shed or gazebo Adding garden beds around these structures really spruces things up. ߜ Fence in or otherwise enclose individual “garden rooms” within spaces around your yard. The fence can be an artificial fence made of wood or metal, or it can be made of hedges, ornamental grasses, or trellises over- hung with vines. Use your imagination! Your yard is too little A small yard can seem bigger, more welcoming, and a lot more charming when you employ a few basic gardening techniques. With these methods, you can transform your cozy little yard into the garden of your dreams: ߜ Soften the edges of your lawn so they don’t seem so imposing. If you have a fence, you can • Paint the fence a bright color (dark colors heighten the sense of constriction). • Add lush vines or climbing roses. • Adorn the fence with potted plants. ߜ Create a varied layering effect — that is, position different plant types and textures above and behind one another, stepping up to the edges of your yard. Some gardeners literally display a combination of in-ground and potted plants on and around a rack or stepladder. ߜ Add a focal point — a statue, a small fountain, or one spectacular pot or urn with a big, dramatic plant or showy combination of plants; this move draws attention away from the close boundaries. The soil isn’t the type or quality you want More often than you may think, poor soil thwarts gardening plans. People just forget or underestimate the importance of having organically rich, well- draining ground to plant in. 30 Part I: Preparing Yourself (And Your Garden) for Planting Reclaiming the good garden hiding in your yard Improving on what you already have in your weeds so the bed will hopefully never get out of yard is a quick and easy way to start enjoying a hand again. good garden. Timing is often key; that is, make your move at the right time and the project will You can reclaim a vegetable garden, even if it’s be less work and will yield faster results. If the full of weeds — chances are that the garden project seems overwhelming, by all means, find still has fairly good soil. Get weeds and debris or hire help. out of there in fall or early spring, repair or install edging and/or fencing, and then dig in To improve a flowerbed, rake out all debris, some organic matter for good measure (this remove all weeds, and add soil amendments in step’s easier now, before you add plants). Then late fall or early spring. Plan what will go in, and cover the entire area with black plastic or a remember to avoid overcrowding and to allow thick layer of mulch until you’re ready to plant for each plant’s mature size. Last but not least, to keep out digging critters and thwart a resur- mulch the bed to retain moisture and thwart gence of weeds. To tackle this problem, try growing only those types of plants proven to work in your soil. See what the neighbors are growing in their gardens, or check with the local nursery for the best plants to grow in your area. You can also dig into the soil and mix in the materials you want (sort of like making cake batter, only more work). A rototiller is a handy tool to use for this purpose (see Chapter 5). Remember to work down to a depth of 6 to 8 inches for most garden plants — less for shallow-rooted grass, more for trees and shrubs. Too many weeds! You can attack these unwelcome plants any time of the year, but you’ll make faster progress if you start in late fall or early spring and thwart them before or just as they’re sprouting. Use a hoe, smother weeds with plastic or mulch, or carefully use an herbicide (or some combination of these tactics). Then, in midsummer, make sure you don’t let weeds go to seed. Pull them, mow them down, and discard them outside your garden to keep them from coming back. Taking advantage of your yard’s assets Every garden space has its strengths and its good spots, if only you look, and some of the “problems” I mention in earlier sections can actually be benefits if you see them that way. You can save yourself a lot of time, effort, and grief by identifying these types of spots and working with what you have rather 31Chapter 2: Planning Your Own Eden than knocking yourself out to impose an ambitious plan upon your garden space. Go with the flow, in other words! Here are a few examples of condi- tions you may find within your garden space and how to handle them: ߜ Sunny days: Bright sunshine is beloved by many plants, especially those with colorful flowers. Rejoice and be glad you have it; then go shopping for a wide range of bright and lively plants. Have fun with color combina- tions. Full sun also affords you the opportunity to grow many vegeta- bles, herbs, fruits, and waterlilies. See the chapters ahead for details on choosing and growing the types that interest you. ߜ The dark side: If your lot in life is shade, don’t fret. Consider it a gift, a chance to create a cool, soothing, even enchanting oasis. Without direct blasts from the hot sun, plants in a shady area look fresher and crisper for far longer. Wilting and withering in the heat aren’t issues, colors don’t get washed out, and not only do flowers last longer, but they also add sparkle and definition. For ideas, read the shade-gardening parts of Chapters 6 and 7. ߜ Dry conditions: Instead of knocking yourself out trying to provide water for thirsty plants, seek out ones that prosper in drier growing condi- tions. A nursery that offers native plants (and good-looking cultivars of the same) is a good place to start. You don’t have to grow only cacti and succulents, though you should check out the amazingly wide range of colors and shapes before you decide not to; lots of exciting dry-ground, drought-tolerant plants are available to gardeners these days. ߜ Water: If your yard’s soggy or boggy, stop neglecting the area to weeds or trying to dry it out. Instead, grow plants that relish damp ground. Loads of good-looking choices — large and small, tall and ground-cover- ing, flowering and foliage — are available. Try red twig dogwood, red maples, skunk cabbage, or Japanese primroses. Getting Ideas for Your Garden Space After you take inventory of your garden space and yard in general, consider what sort of garden you want. Before you get bogged down in choosing plants and deciding where to plant them, think in broad terms once again. How do you want to use your garden? What are your needs and expectations? Naming your goals can help you further clarify the details of your plans. If I had one single, strong piece of advice to give you at this point — and I do! — it would be this: Be realistic. Identify, admit, and allow for special uses and con- siderations. Working within an honest, clear-eyed framework is so much easier. A beautiful garden can grow up around your “givens.”