Gardening Basics How To Design, Plant & Maintain Your Garden

by Beckett, Ken; Bradley, Steve; Kingsbury, Noël; Newbury, Tim

• ISBN13: 9780806924533
• ISBN10: 0806924535
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-30
• Publisher: Sterling

Summary

a magnificent garden, this sumptuous and comprehensive handbook bursts with color, stunning designs, and unexpected treasures. Anyone eager to plant a first garden, revive an ailing one, or start over completely, will find this an absolute must-have. Four top experts, and over 1,200 magnificent, specially-commissioned photos, answer every question a beginner might have. * Design the Garden: Create and draw a plan; get basic techniques for surfaces, patios, paths, and steps; add ponds and other water features. * Plants for the Garden: Choose plants; see how to use small trees, shrubs, and climbers; and learn about roses, clematis, perennials; grasses, bulbs, annuals, container plants, and water plants. * Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs: Manage crops properly, and find out the special details that go into laying out a vegetable garden. Includes everything from beans, cabbage and tomatoes to melons, strawberries, and peaches--plus culinary herbs. * Care and Maintenance: Find out how to use an array of tools and equipment, and the methods of soil care, feeding and watering, pruning, weed control, and winter care. Helpful "Calendars of Work" make remembering which tasks to do when even easier! If you have a garden or think you might want one, this is an essential a tool as soil or plants. A Main Selection of BOMC's Country Book Club. 276 pages (all in color), 8 5/8 x 11 3/8.

Table of Contents

Introduction: How to use this book	6	(2)
First steps in gardening	8	(2)
Creating and choosing a style	10	(6)
Where garden plants come from	16	(2)
Selecting plants	18	(2)
Designing the Garden	20	(60)
The need for design	22	(2)
Introducing the third dimension	24	(2)
Planning the garden	26	(2)
Drawing up the plan	28	(2)
Constructing the garden	30	(2)
Family gardens	32	(2)
Patio gardens	34	(2)
Low-maintenance gardens	36	(2)
Large gardens	38	(2)
Creating surface designs	40	(2)
Hard surfaces: Bricks	42	(2)
Concrete	44	(2)
Paving and steps	46	(2)
Gravel and decks	48	(2)
Soft ground cover: Plants	50	(1)
Grassed surfaces	50	(2)
Lawns and edgings	52	(2)
Creating vertical structures	54	(2)
Boundaries, exits, and entrances	56	(2)
Fences	58	(2)
Hedges	60	(2)
Arches and pergolas	62	(2)
Water features	64	(2)
Containers	66	(2)
Structural planting	68	(2)
Designing borders	70	(2)
Designing island beds	72	(4)
Planting designs for small spaces	76	(2)
Problem areas	78	(2)
Plants for the Garden	80	(60)
Principles of planting	82	(2)
Plants for particular situations	84	(2)
Trees for the framework	86	(2)
Trees	88	(4)
Using shrubs	92	(2)
Large shrubs	94	(2)
Medium shrubs	96	(2)
Small shrubs	98	(2)
Roses	100	(2)
Using vines and wall shrubs	102	(2)
Vines and wall shrubs	104	(2)
Using perennials	106	(2)
Perennial borders	108	(2)
Water-loving perennials	110	(2)
Plants for sunny corners and containers	112	(2)
Large perennials	114	(2)
Medium perennials	116	(2)
Small perennials	118	(4)
Bamboos, grasses, and ferns	122	(2)
Using ground cover	124	(2)
Ground cover	126	(2)
Using bulbs	128	(2)
Bulbs	130	(4)
Using annuals and biennials	134	(2)
Annuals and biennials	136	(4)
Vegetables, Fruit, and Herbs	140	(60)
Introduction	142	(2)
Growing vegetables	144	(2)
Getting the most from your plot	146	(2)
Planning through the year	148	(2)
Pods and beans	150	(4)
Leaves and flower heads	154	(7)
Roots	161	(7)
Fruiting vegetables	168	(5)
Stems	173	(3)
Growing fruit	176	(2)
Pruning soft fruit	178	(2)
Pruning tree fruit	180	(2)
Fruit	182	(12)
The herb garden	194	(2)
Culinary herbs	196	(2)
Medicinal herbs	198	(2)
Care and Maintenance	200	(60)
Introduction	202	(2)
Basic equipment	204	(2)
Lawn care, garden safety	206	(2)
Knowing your soil	208	(2)
Drainage	210	(2)
Improving your soil	212	(2)
Plant foods	214	(2)
Watering	216	(2)
Digging	218	(2)
Weed control	220	(2)
Supporting plants	222	(2)
Lawns	224	(2)
Increasing plants	226	(2)
Growing from seed	228	(3)
Increasing bulbs	231	(1)
Growing from cuttings	232	(2)
Division	234	(1)
Layering	235	(1)
Plant problems	236	(4)
Pruning	240	(2)
Pruning trees	242	(2)
Pruning shrubs	244	(4)
Pruning vines and wall shrubs	248	(6)
Pruning hedges	254	(4)
General maintenance	258	(2)
Appendix:	260	(8)
Edible garden calendar	260	(2)
Ornamental garden calendar	262	(2)
Edible crop pests and diseases	264	(2)
Plants for particular purposes	266	(2)
Index	268	(6)
Glossary	274	(2)
Acknowledgments	276