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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
Cultivate your passion to grow
In a 1625 essay, Francis Bacon called gardens "the purest of human pleasures," and what was true then is even more so today—gardening can give you a serene refuge from the short-lived (and noisy!) distractions of modern life and a fertile basis for satisfaction that will bear fruit long into the future. To help you get started on your own leafy paradise, the new edition of Gardening Basics For Dummies grounds you thoroughly in the fundamentals of soil, flowers, trees, and lawns—and helps you get to know the names of what you're planting along the way!
In a friendly, straightforward style, professional horticulturist Steven A. Frowine distills 50 years of gardening experience to show you how to start growing your expertise—from planning out your own mini-Eden and planting your first annuals, bulbs, and perennials through to laying the perfect lawn, raising tasty crops, and even introducing fish to your landscape! He also digs into the grubbier side of horticultural life, making sure you're as prepared as any seasoned farmer to deal with pests, weeds, and other challenges the earth will throw up at you.
- Create your ideal garden plan
- Become an expert on common flora with definitions and descriptions
- Know how to look after your soil
- Get creative with butterfly and children's gardens
Whether you're beginning with a tiny garden in a box, or beautifying your property with tree-lined groves and flowery bowers, this is the ideal introduction to the intense pleasure of gardening and will make you happy to reap what you’ve sown!
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Gardening Basics For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021932177
ISBN: 978-1-119-78203-2
ISBN: 978-1-119-78204-9 (ebk); ISBN: 978-1-119-78205-6 (ebk)
Gardening Basics For Dummies
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Gardening Basics For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: Preparing Yourself (and Your Garden) for Planting
Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening
Playing the Name Game
Beautifying with Flowers (and Foliage)
Gardening for Your Dining Pleasure
Working with Woody (or Viny) Plants
The World Is Flat: Caring for Your Lawn
Chapter 2: Creating a Landscape That You’ll Love
Evaluating What You Already Have
Getting Ideas for Your Garden Space
Zeroing In on Your Ideal Garden Style
Keeping Your Budget in Mind
Bringing Your Garden Ideas to Reality
Getting Professional Help
Chapter 3: Getting into the Zone – Your Garden’s Zone
Focusing on Location — Different Hardiness Zone Maps for Different Folks
Fathoming Frost Zones and Growing Seasons
Zoning Out: Breaking the Zone and Growing Season Rules
Chapter 4: Live Long and Prosper: Giving Plants What They Need
Welcoming the Sun — Let There Be Light!
Facing Fertilizer Facts
Composting: More Than Just Fertilizer
Demystifying Soil pH
Much Ado about Mulch
Tackling Watering Issues
Making Sure Your Plants Get Enough Air
Chapter 5: Gathering Your Gardening Gear
Digging into Those Digging Tools
Cultivating 101: Clues to Quality Tools
Making the Right Cut with Cutting Tools
Putting Power Tools to Use
Rolling Out the Wheelbarrows and Carts
Wading through Watering Tools
Part 2: Flowers and Foliage: Growing for Color
Chapter 6: Adding Yearly Variety to Your Garden with Annuals
Finding Flowers that Fit Your Garden
Mixing and Matching Annuals
Buying Annuals
An Annual Event: The Whens, Wheres, and Hows of Planting
Feeding the Flower Power: Taking Care of Annuals
Chapter 7: Growing Perennials: Plants That Make a Comeback
Looking at the Repeat Performers
Planning Long-Term Strategies for Your Perennial Garden
Finding and Buying Perennials
Planting Perennials
Taking Care of Your Perennials
Chapter 8: Brightening Up the Garden with Bulbs
Shedding Light on Bulbs
Choosing to Combine Your Bulbs
The Search: Where to Get Your Bulbs
Getting Down and Dirty: Planting Bulbs
Taking Care of Bulbs
Chapter 9: Coming Up Roses
What Makes a Rose Be a Rose Be a Rose
Deciding Where to Put Your Roses
Buying the Best Roses
Planting Your Roses
Taking Care of Your Roses
Chapter 10: Multiplying Your Plants
Growing Plants from Seeds (Sexual Propagation)
Sowing Seed Indoors
Sowing Seed Directly Outdoors
Cloning Your Plants — Vegetative Reproduction
Reproducing Bulbs
Part 3: Stretching Your Garden beyond Its Boundaries: The Permanent Landscape
Chapter 11: Growing a Perfect Lawn
Patching Up the Lawn You Already Have
Making a Lawn from Scratch
Seeding and Sodding: Adding the Grass
Watering a Thirsty Lawn
Fertilizing Your Lawn
Mowing the Lawn, Cutting the Grass, and Otherwise Giving the Yard a Trim
Battling the Weeds
Chapter 12: Reaching New Heights with Trees
Knowing Your Trees
Choosing the Right Tree for Where You Live
Getting Treed! Planting Trees
Taking Care of Your Tree
Chapter 13: Going Low with Shrubs
Knowing Your Shrubs
Planning Practical Uses for Bushes
Planting Shrubs
Caring for Your Shrubs
Chapter 14: Climbers and Crawlers: Growing Vines and Groundcovers
Looking at How Vines Hold On
Choosing the Right Vines
Planting and Supporting Vines
Maintaining Vines through Pruning
Looking at Groundcovers
Planting and Maintaining Groundcovers
Part 4: Producing Your Own Produce
Chapter 15: Food, Glorious Food! Raising Your Own Veggies
Perusing the Varieties of Veggies
Designing for Dining and Getting Your Vegetable Garden Ready
Finding Your Vegetables
Planting Your Vegetables
Chapter 16: Taking Your Veggie Garden to the Next Level
Composting Your Vegetable Garden
Fertilizing Your Vegetable Garden
Using Frames and Supports for Veggies
Dealing with Vegetable Pests
Chapter 17: Adding Flavor to Your Garden with Herbs
Recognizing Common Culinary Herbs You Can Grow
Planting Herbs: A Lesson in Adaptation
Taking Care of Your Herbs
Chapter 18: Sweet and Crunchy: Growing Fruits, Berries, and Nuts
Choosing the Fruits for Your Garden
Finding and Buying Your Fruit Bearers
Planting Your Fruit
Taking Care of Fruits
Part 5: Designing Special and Fun Gardens
Chapter 19: Mini Gardens and Microcosms: Gardening in Containers
Exploring Different Kinds of Containers
Getting the Container Soil Right
Picking Plants for Your Containers
Arranging Containers for a Container Garden
Taking Care of Your Container Plants
Chapter 20: Taking the Plunge: Gardening with Ponds and Fish
Planning Your Water Garden
Picking Out Your Parts and Supplies
Installing and Filling Your Pond
Choosing Plants for Water Gardens
Adding Goldfish to Your Water Garden
Maintaining Your Water Garden
Part 6: The Part of Tens
Chapter 21: Ten Great Perennials for Northern Climate Gardeners
Achillea
Astilbe
False Indigo (Baptisia)
Bellflower (Campanula)
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Ox-Eye Sunflower (Heliopsis)
Plantain Lily (Hosta)
Rose Campion (Lychnis Coronaria)
Catmint (Nepeta)
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia Fulgida)
Chapter 22: Ten Garden Projects for Children
Create a Dinosaur Garden
Grow a Sunflower Fort
Make Sunprints
Plant Mini-Pumpkins
Write with Seeds
Trap a Zucchini
Make a Home-Grown Salad
Grow Paperwhites
Set Up a Birdbath
Attract Butterflies to the Garden
Appendix A: Basic Gardening Resources
Examining Gardening Information Online
Turning to U.S. University Resources
Referring to Gardening Organizations
Canadian Gardening Frost Dates by Region
Appendix B: English-Metric Conversion Tables
Index
About the Author
Advertisement Page
Supplemental Images
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 4
TABLE 4-1 Plant Nutrients in the Air and Water
TABLE 4-2 Differences between Natural and Chemical Fertilizers
TABLE 4-3 Pounds of Limestone Needed to Raise pH (per 1,0000 Square Feet)
TABLE 4-4 Pounds of Sulfur Needed to Lower pH (per 1,000 Square Feet)
TABLE 4-5 Comparing Mulching Options
Chapter 6
TABLE 6-1 Appearance and Habits of Annuals
Chapter 7
TABLE 7-1 When Perennials Bloom
Chapter 11
TABLE 11-1 Cool-Season, Northern Grasses
TABLE 11-2 Warm-Season, Southern Grasses
TABLE 11-3 Grass Seed Amounts and Time until Germination
Chapter 12
TABLE 12-1 Common Needled Evergreens
Chapter 15
TABLE 15-1 Ideal Seasons for Growing Vegetables
Chapter 16
TABLE 16-1 Vegetarian Bugs, Grubs, Slugs, and Other Critters
Chapter 17
TABLE 17-1 Pests and the Herbs They Dine On
Chapter 18
TABLE 18-1 Chill Requirements of Fruit and Nut Plants
Appendix A
TABLE A-1 Canadian Frost Dates
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
FIGURE 1-1: The basic parts of a perennial plant, above and below ground.
FIGURE 1-2: Flowers come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes.
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2-1: Annuals come in many different shapes and colors.
FIGURE 2-2: A delightful, relaxing Japanese garden.
FIGURE 2-3: Bold colors can create a festive, lush, sizzling, tropical feel.
FIGURE 2-4: You can draft your garden plan, but here are some tools that can he...
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3-1: A maximum-minimum thermometer gives you an idea of the outdoor temp...
FIGURE 3-2: Putting a cold frame to efficient use.
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4-1: A fertilizer label can tell you important information.
FIGURE 4-2: Many gardeners find wooden compost bins attractive and easy to use....
Chapter 5
FIGURE 5-1: You can see how the blades of a shovel (A) and spade (B) are constr...
FIGURE 5-2: My favorite trowel is made of one-piece of solid stainless steel.
FIGURE 5-3: Dibbles make transplanting into the garden easier.
FIGURE 5-4: My two favorite hoes — half-moon (A) and colinear hoe (B).
FIGURE 5-5: One of my favorite weeders — the single prong cultivator — routs ou...
FIGURE 5-6: Common pruning tools (top to bottom) — pruning saw, lopper, and han...
FIGURE 5-7: Smaller tillers are most suited for regular use for home gardeners....
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6-1: Following an annual's life cycle, from seed germination to seed pro...
FIGURE 6-2: This simple colorful garden for annuals includes large star-shaped ...
FIGURE 6-3: You can add dimension to a flowerbed by planting short annuals in t...
FIGURE 6-4: Packets of fresh seeds contain planting information, details about ...
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7-1: A garden plan for a shade-filled area, such as one beneath a group ...
FIGURE 7-2: An easy-to-grow perennial garden for a sunny spot.
FIGURE 7-3: Dry gardens can still be beautiful with the right plants, like the ...
FIGURE 7-4: Plant supports do more than support plants; they can also help them...
FIGURE 7-5: Two different methods for dividing a perennial.
Chapter 8
FIGURE 8-1: A bulb is really a plant in a protective package.
FIGURE 8-2: Lily bulbs are constructed slightly different than other bulbs.
FIGURE 8-3: True bulbs form offsets that you can pull apart to for more plants....
FIGURE 8-4: Corms resemble true bulbs in many ways; this corm has little cormel...
FIGURE 8-5: Rhizomes grow sideways.
FIGURE 8-6: Tubers roots look like swollen roots.
FIGURE 8-7: Stages of flowering for crocus.
FIGURE 8-8: Interplanting a variety of bulbs to extend your bulbs season from e...
FIGURE 8-9: Spring bulb planting guide.
FIGURE 8-10: Amaryllis provide a show-stopping display and are practically fail...
FIGURE 8-11: Securely place the bulb’s basal plate against the bottom of the ho...
FIGURE 8-12: A hardware cloth cage could save the day against bulb eating varmi...
Chapter 9
FIGURE 9-1: A large, classic plan for a very elaborate rose garden. The blank s...
FIGURE 9-2: Roses can be integrated nicely with other annuals and perennials.
FIGURE 9-3: A bareroot rose plant, showing the various parts.
FIGURE 9-4: Drip emitters are ideal for watering roses.
FIGURE 9-5: A rosebush before and after pruning.
Chapter 10
FIGURE 10-1: The basic components of most seeds.
FIGURE 10-2: The wet towel technique.
FIGURE 10-3: Starting larger seeds in pots made of compressed peatmoss makes th...
FIGURE 10-4: Use a plastic container to plant smaller seeds.
FIGURE 10-5: How seedlings develop.
FIGURE 10-6: Cut with a sterile blade (A) and add sticks to support the plastic...
FIGURE 10-7: Girdle the stem (A), wrap the stem with sphagnum moss (B), and cov...
FIGURE 10-8: The two ways to reproduce lily bulbs: divide them (A) or snap off ...
Chapter 11
FIGURE 11-1: Spreading seed with cyclone-type (A) and rotary spreaders (B).
FIGURE 11-2: How to spread grass seed in a rectangular-shaped lawn.
FIGURE 11-3: How to spread grass seed in an irregular-shaped lawn.
FIGURE 11-4: Sod-laying equipment.
FIGURE 11-5: A typical lawn fertilizer label.
FIGURE 11-6: Setting mower height.
Chapter 12
FIGURE 12-1: Tree shapes.
FIGURE 12-2: Examining the root system for a typical tree.
FIGURE 12-3: Balled-and-burlapped (A), containerized (B), and bareroot (C).
FIGURE 12-4: Water bags give trees a long, slow drink.
FIGURE 12-5: Removing a large limb in three steps.
FIGURE 12-6: Pruning candle growth on evergreens.
FIGURE 12-7: Two different ways to stake a tree.
Chapter 13
FIGURE 13-1: Evergreen shrubs come in many shapes and sizes, so present a myria...
FIGURE 13-2: A shrub border that offers interesting flowers, bark colors and te...
FIGURE 13-3: Left is the bush before pruning, and right is the bush after pruni...
Chapter 14
FIGURE 14-1: Star jasmine climbs by twining; grapes climb with tendrils; Boston...
FIGURE 14-2: A stand-alone structure not attached to the house.
FIGURE 14-3: Typical store-bought supports for vines: a fan trellis, an arbor, ...
FIGURE 14-4: Install landscape fabric to prevent weed growth and cover with mul...
Chapter 15
FIGURE 15-1: Cold frames can make gardening a year around affair.
FIGURE 15-2: A water wall, consisting of plastic sleeves filled with water, off...
FIGURE 15-3: An ideal and ornate garden plan for veggie lovers.
FIGURE 15-4: Garden plan showing succession plantings.
FIGURE 15-5: Garden plan showing interplanting.
FIGURE 15-6: Making a raised bed.
FIGURE 15-7: Using seed-starting trays.
Chapter 16
FIGURE 16-1: Layers in a compost pile.
FIGURE 16-2: Side-dressing fertilizers.
FIGURE 16-3: Supporting melons.
FIGURE 16-4: Two different types of tomato cages.
FIGURE 16-5: Row covers.
FIGURE 16-6: Garden tank sprayer.
Chapter 17
FIGURE 17-1: Most common cooking herbs.
FIGURE 17-2: A formal herb garden plan.
FIGURE 17-3: Various herb combinations in pots.
Chapter 18
FIGURE 18-1: Strawberry garden plan aligned for easy harvesting.
FIGURE 18-2: Various rootstocks determine the ultimate size of the tree.
FIGURE 18-3: Plan for a good-sized fruit garden.
FIGURE 18-4: The correct way to plant a bareroot fruit tree.
FIGURE 18-5: Examples of support systems for raspberries: Single row (A), doubl...
FIGURE 18-6: Two common grape-training systems.
FIGURE 18-7: Three common fruit-tree training methods: Open vase, or center (A)...
FIGURE 18-8: Raspberries should be pruned so that they don’t grow together too ...
FIGURE 18-9: A fruit tree or shrub covered with netting keeps the birds at bay....
Chapter 19
FIGURE 19-1: Typical hanging basket.
FIGURE 19-2: A cross-section of a container, ready for planting.
FIGURE 19-3: Pot feet provide drainage and protection for the surface below the...
FIGURE 19-4: A planting for the shade can be just as full and vibrant as one fo...
Chapter 20
FIGURE 20-1: An aboveground water garden, ideal for porches, patios, and balcon...
FIGURE 20-2: A garden plan featuring a planted backdrop for an in-ground pond.
FIGURE 20-3: A cross-section of a pond plan showing ground pool critical depths...
FIGURE 20-4: Make sure you properly layer the elements in biological filter so ...
FIGURE 20-5: Planting tropical waterlilies (A) and hardy waterlilies (B).
FIGURE 20-6: Two great goldfish for smaller pools: Comet (top) and Shubunkin (b...
Guide
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Appendix A: Basic Gardening Resources
Appendix B: English-Metric Conversion Tables
Index
About the Author
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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 cultivation interests and disciplines, it’s impossible for anyone book to cover everything 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 and science 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 stimulation that surrounds you (cars, phones, and the like) seem trivial. Gardening fosters a deep satisfaction that nurtures your body and soul. That’s why this book, Gardening Basics For Dummies, 2nd edition, 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 more than 50 years of gardening experience as well as the knowledge of some of my other gardening friends, because everyone can discover something from each other.
I hope you find 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 anxiety, not add to it. After all, this is gardening, not brain surgery! Making a mistake (and you will) isn’t 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.
In this second edition, look for the following:
A new chapter on multiplying plants
Revised and updated content in nearly every chapter
More than 50 new or revised illustrations
A color insert of great plants and climate maps for Canada and the United States
A new Part of Tens chapter for northern gardeners
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.
As you advance in gardening, you find that in certain branches of horticulture (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, followed by the botanical name.
Even though I sometimes use the word “dirt” in this book, I must say that I remember one of my horticulture professors admonishing my class when we used this word to describe soil. He always said, “Dirt is what you sweep off the floor. Soil is that miraculous material that you grow plants in.”
Foolish Assumptions
Because you’re reading this book, I assume that you’re ready to really love gardening. Here are some other things I assume regarding your possible background and interest in gardening:
You’ve seen other folks’ gardens that have inspired you, so now you want to bring your own gardening skill to the next level.
You’re concerned about a fresh and organic diet and want to grow some of your own herbs, fruits, and vegetables.
Your lawn is looking on the tattered side, so you want to spruce it up a bit.
You’ve moved into a new place, and the landscaping is nonexistent or dreadful, so you want to change it.
You love outdoor living and you want to improve the space around you.
You like the idea of gardening but don’t know where to start.
You want to know how to multiply your own plants.
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 icon points out some major ideas in the book — stuff well worth remembering. I also use this icon to point out garden lingo you may find a bit confusing and help you identify and clarify the most common terms.
The Tip icon flags notable gardening information that even experienced gardeners 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.
I use this icon to point out stuff that’s interesting to read but is not essential to understanding the point I’m making.
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 18. No need to start anywhere else! Scan the Table of Contents or the index, find a topic that piques your mind, and flip to that chapter.
That said, if you feel more comfortable getting a basic grounding (so to speak) in gardening before plunging right in, start with Chapter 1. If you’re re-evaluating or starting your garden from scratch, then any of the other chapters in Part 1 are good places to begin. After that, where you go is really up to you, based on your most pressing gardening needs or pleasures.
Of course, keeping your plants alive and making them look their best involves a lot of preparation. You can then read the chapters in Part 1 if you really want your plants to grow, thrive, and look their absolute best. Spending time and effort in preparation at the outset will save you lots of time and effort down the line.
If you want to read more, go to www.dummies.com and search for “Gardening Basics For Dummies Cheat Sheet” to read a handy Cheat Sheet that you can refer to again and again.
Part 1
Preparing Yourself (and Your Garden) for Planting
IN THIS PART …
Understand the important first steps to fully realizing your garden potential.
Examine all the types of flowering plants that add color and interest to your garden as well as trees, shrubs, and vines that are important garden components.
Design and create a landscape that is the envy of your neighborhood and make a plan that fits your needs, style, and budget no matter how big or small your property is and whether it’s in the sun or shade.
Understand your climate and see how you can extend your growing season.
Give your plants what they need to grow and flower to their best.
Buy the right tools for the job and know how to use them.
Chapter 1
Getting Ready for Gardening
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding how plants are named
Examining flowering plants
Checking out trees, shrubs, and vines
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 3 of this book), or being able to grow your own food (Part 4), or just having a great excuse to play in the dirt (Part 5), but for most people, the plants make everything worthwhile.
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 gardening. 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.
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 garden center aisles, ask better questions, and treat your plants right.
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 or Greek. 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!
There is a reason why Latin and Greek are the languages used in naming plants. Latin and Greek have always been the language of scholarship, for scientists worldwide. They’re unchanging, unlike the modern, daily-use language.
Botanical names
The botanical name is the proper or scientific name of a plant. It consists of two parts and is called a binomial (bi equals two, nomial equals name):
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:
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 popular, mostly shade-loving plants named hostas, and undulata describes the type of hosta it is — a hosta with an undulating leaf shape.
The singular and plural for the word species is species.
Sometimes the botanical name has a third name, right after the species name, known as the botanical variety. A botanical 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, short for cultivated variety. Cultivars are usually named by the people who developed or discovered them, and they’re often maintained through asexual or vegetative propagation for example by cuttings, seed propagation, or the most-modern method of raising large numbers of identical plants in test tubes, called tissue culture. In other words, they’re cultivated (humans grow, improve, and develop them). An example is Lychnis coronaria ‘Angel’s Blush.’ You can use or modify some of these techniques to make more plants yourself. For more details about how to, see Chapter 10.
A hybrid plant is the result of the cross-pollination between two genetically different plants, usually of the same species but different varieties. This combination can happen with human intervention, when the object is to make a new or improved plant or it can occur naturally through bee pollination between two different plants.
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.
Even though botanical names can be a bit intimidating and sometimes a pain to remember, they’re much more definitive than common names. They’re recognized internationally so anywhere you are in the world, fellow plant lovers will know what plant you’re talking about.
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.
SHARING NAMES WITH DISTANT RELATIVES
If you want to be absolutely sure of the plant you’re buying, then remember that the botanical or scientific name, including the cultivar name, is the most exact one. Some common names, like common basil, are very specific. All common basil has the same genus and species, Ocimum basilicum. However, a common name like daisy is so general that it may not be very helpful. This term can apply to plants very faintly related found in various genera (genuses). For instance, a “daisy” can be an African daisy (Arctotis or Gerbera), Dahlberg daisy (Dyssodia tenuiloba), English daisy (Bellis perennis), painted daisy (Chrysanthemum coccineum), Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum superbum), and many others. If you’re shopping by common names, read labels to make sure this particular kind of plant can grow for you.
The biggest problem with common names is that the same plant can have many different common names depending on what part of the United States or the world you live in.
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. Botanists use many more descriptive and detailed names for plant parts, but you have enough to remember without getting further confused! You probably already know most of the common ones, 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 and to speak the language with fellow gardeners. In the figure, the taproot (not all plants have this) is the main root of the plant; the stolon, or runner, is a horizontal stem that spreads underground, sending up more plants as it goes; many groundcovers (pachysandra, ivy, ice plant) operate this way, as anyone who has tried to tug up a patch well knows!
Propagate is a term commonly used in horticulture to describe the process of reproducing or multiplying plants. I discuss it more detail in Chapter 10.
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!
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FIGURE 1-1: The basic parts of a perennial plant, above and below ground.
Beautifying 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 vast array of sizes, colors, and shapes (see Figure 1-2), and no matter where you 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” may become perennials. See the section, “Perennial plants,” later in this chapter for more information.)
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FIGURE 1-2: Flowers come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes.
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 full of exuberant energy and hard to kill. Indeed, some of them keep blooming their cheery heads off even when you neglect them. They provide reliable garden color even as perennials cycle in and out of bloom.
Some 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 colorful 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 a longer-term investment, planting perennials.)
You can use annuals
To fill an entire flowerbed (this popular use is why some places call annuals
bedding plants
)
To add to container displays — in pots, window boxes, patio planter boxes, and more
To fill a hanging basket
To edge a walkway
To insert reliable color in a perennial bed
To decorate a vegetable and herb garden
To cover over or at least distract from a fading spring bulb display
To add summer color to your flower beds when the perennials are done blooming
To fill in places where perennial plants haven’t filled in yet — the added advantage of covering ground so opportunistic weeds can’t move in
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.) Note that annuals grown in pots, hanging baskets, or window boxes dry out much faster than ones grown in the ground. See Chapter 4 for more info on watering.
You can’t deny that regular doses of plant food or fertilizer significantly boost your annuals (make sure you apply it according to directions). For best flowering fertilize every six weeks with a granular or organic fertilizer or add a water-soluble fertilizer to your sprinkling can every week or so. 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.
Raising annuals from seed
Of course, you can raise annuals from seed, which is the most economical approach, especially if you want to grow large quantities for a display garden. 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 (particular 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! Refer to Chapter 10 for more about growing plants from seed.
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. Snapdragons and many salvias are examples.)
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.
ANNUALS THAT AREN’T REALLY ANNUALS
False annuals are plants with tropical origins, or ones whose parents hail from the tropics, which means that they’re actually perennial — more long-lived — somewhere, somewhere warmer, somewhere far away like Costa Rica or Mexico. These pseudo-annuals, sometimes called tender perennials, can, at least in theory, be kept going over the winter and live to dress up your garden again next year. Examples of these tropical visitors include the coleus, geranium, impatiens, salvia, snapdragon, and wax begonia.
Meanwhile, biennials are plants that only live for two years. They grow their foliage and roots the first year and then flower the following year and then die. The most common examples are Canterbury bells, forget-me-nots, foxgloves, hollyhocks, pansies, stock, and verbascum (mullein). They frequently reseed themselves so some gardeners let them go to seed to ensure future plants. Most garden centers helpfully start these plants for you the season before or in early winter so they’re usually sold as annuals and flower the first year that you plant them.
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. Some of the annuals like marigolds, sunflowers, and zinnias reseed or self-sow themselves so they’ll sprout and grow plants the following spring when the ground warms. Depending on how aggressively they do this can be a good or bad thing.
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? One gardener jokingly defined a perennial as “A plant that, had it lived, would’ve bloomed again the next year.” For the most part, 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.
Here are some of the many uses of perennials:
Creating a colorful bed or border
Filling an
island bed
(an isolated, self-contained garden, like an island in a sea of lawn)
Mixing them with annuals to assure summer-long color
Edging a walkway, patio, pool area, or deck
Interplanting them with roses, annuals, or other ornamental shrubs to provide year-round interest
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.
IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR: GROUNDCOVERS
Low-growing perennial plants may be handy in a flower border (near the front where they won’t be blocked from view) or as an edging, but they have another, very practical use: You can plant entire areas with them, and they can form a low-care carpet. Groundcovers are problem-solvers for difficult-to-landscape areas such as shady areas, including under trees where lawn won’t grow, or areas where you don’t want to or can’t easily mow such as slopes/embankments.
Some favorite groundcovers include ajuga, candytuft, creeping phlox, epimedium, hosta, ivy, lamium, lily-of-the-valley, pachysandra, sweet woodruff, verbena, and vinca. For details on groundcovers, turn to Chapter 14.
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 perennials 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 themselves and expand into their new home.
Many perennials (like most people) enjoy being fed. They respond by growing 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.
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 established, 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.
Most perennials sold in the late summer or fall have been grown for an entire season so they’re generally bigger plants than what you’ll find for sale in the spring. Also, they’re many times on sale because the grower doesn’t want to overwinter them so you get a good deal. 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.
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 produce 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
Increasingly 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 fruit from a tree planted right in the front yard. And if you like to cook, there’s nothing quite like working with and eating freshly harvested produce that you know exactly what chemicals have been added or not.
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 15 gives you the information you need to get started on growing your own vegetables. Chapter 16 is devoted to herbs and how you can grow them to enhance the dishes that come out of your kitchen.
Working with Woody (or Viny) Plants
When planning which plants to grow in your garden, check out native plants. In general, they’re easy to grow because they have been long adapted to your area, are frequently drought tolerant, and are usually low maintenance. Check out which plants are native to your area at http://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/plants.
Woody plants consist of shrubs, some vines, and trees. This group of plants is probably a more important garden element than annuals and perennials simply because of the space that woody plants take up over the long term. They serve as kind of the bones of your garden. You may have inherited some trees and shrubs when you moved into your present home, or you may be considering replacing 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.
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, as it does with herbaceous plants. Yes, the leaves, flowers, fruits, berries, and seeds may fade and fall off, but the rest of the plant 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 permanent, and certainly substantial, parts of a home landscape.
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 and attractive or exfoliating bark, 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, sometimes offer attractive flowers, and, in many cases, a denser-growing profile.
Favorite shrubs for home landscapes include
Flowering:
Althea, deciduous azalea, broom, butterfly bush, daphne, deutzia, elderberry, flowering quince, forsythia, fothergilla, hibiscus, hydrangea, itea, lilac, mock orange, ninebark, privet, red buckeye, red twig dogwood, smoke bush, spirea, sweetshrub, sweetspire, various viburnums, weigela, winterberry, and witch hazel
Broadleaf evergreen (with spring flowers and more-or-less evergreen foliage):
Andromeda, aucuba, boxwood, camellia, cotoneaster, evergreen abelia, gardenia, holly, laurel, leucothoe, mahonia, manzanita, mountain laurel, nandina, oleander, rhododendron, and rock rose
Evergreen:
Arborvitae, boxwood, euonymus, some cedars, some false cypresses, hemlock, holly, juniper, laurel, some pines, some spruces, and yew
Take a look at some of the roles shrubs can play:
Foundation planting (around the base of your house to add architectural interest, insulation, and security)
Boundary and hedge plantings (possibly in addition to, or in lieu of, fencing — thorny ones, including shrubby roses, are popular as living fences)
Individual, solo spots of color (specimen plants)
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)
Backdrops for a flower border
Entryway, poolside, deck side, or privacy plantings
As food and shelter for songbirds
For much more on shrubs, please turn to Chapter 13.
