Introduction 1About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You’re Not to Read 3
Foolish Assumptions 3
Icons Used in This Book 3
Where to Go from Here 4
Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Gardening 5
Playing the Name Game 6
"Hello, my name is . . .": Getting used to plant nomenclature 6
Anatomy 101: Naming plant parts 8
Bringing in Beauty with Flowers 9
Amazing annuals 10
Perennial plants 12
Gardening for Your Dining Pleasure 14
Chapter 2: Planning Your Own Eden 15
Taking Stock: Evaluating What You Already Have 16
Identifying problems and restrictions 18
Taking advantage of your yard’s assets 22
Getting Ideas for Your Garden Space 23
Gardening with the kids in mind 23
Creating space for entertainment 25
Designing a sanctuary: The quiet garden retreat 26
Cooking up an edible garden: Gardening for your kitchen 27
Zeroing In on Your Ideal Garden Style 29
Gardening around a theme 30
An inspired idea: Perusing books, magazines, and local gardens 34
Making Sure Costs Don’t Outgrow Your Budget 35
Bringing Your Garden Ideas to Reality 37
Sketching out the yard you have now 37
Making your drawing match your dream garden 38
Defining key areas so you know where to start 39
Chapter 3: Getting into the Zone — Your Garden's Zone 41
Different Hardiness Zone Maps for Different Folks 42
Taking a look at plant hardiness zone maps 43
Warming up to the heat-zone map 44
Savoring the Sunset zones 45
Reading plant hardiness zone maps 46
Fathoming Frost Zones and Growing Seasons 47
Chapter 4: Gathering Your Gardening Gear 49
Digging Those, Er, Digging Tools 50
Getting down with shovels and spades 50
Trowels: More than just little shovels 53
Garden forks: Not for dining! 54
Clues to Quality Cultivating Tools 55
Ho, ho, hoes 56
Weeding out poor weeders to get to the best 57
Getting a Handle on Hand Pruners 58
Wading through Wondrous Watering Tools 60
Hoses 61
Nozzles 63
Hose-end sprinklers 64
Water timers 66
Chapter 5: Growing Annuals and Perennials 67
Finding Annuals that Fit Your Garden 68
Some like it hot: Warm weather annuals 68
Some annuals like it cool 69
Buying Annuals 70
Starting with seed packets 70
Starting with nursery, well, starts 71
An Annual Event: The Whens, Wheres, and Hows of Planting 72
Filling in the garden after the last frost 73
Deciding where to plant annuals 74
Getting annuals in the ground 75
Looking at Perennials, the Repeat Performers 75
Hardy perennials 76
Tender perennials 76
Finding and Buying Perennials 77
To the market: Getting perennials in containers 77
Buying perennials through mail-order 79
Acquiring free divisions 80
Planting Perennials 80
Figuring out where to plant perennials 81
Deciding when to plant perennials 85
Preparing for the actual planting 89
Chapter 6: Food, Glorious Food! Growing Your Own Veggies 91
Varieties of Veggies 92
Growing vegetables by seasons 92
Defining hybrids 95
Appreciating heirlooms 96
Getting Your Vegetable Garden Ready 97
Sketching out your plan 97
Working with the sun: Where to plant vegetables 98
Using planting patterns and systems 99
Prepping your soil 102
Finding Your Vegetables103
Buying seeds 104
Buying nursery transplants 104
Planting Your Vegetables 105
Deciding when to plant your veggies 106
Sowing and planting your veggies 107
Chapter 7: Live Long and Prosper: Giving Plants What They Need 115
Let There Be Light! 116
Facing the Fertilizer Facts 118
Compost: More than Just a Fertilizer 121
Demystifying Soil pH 123
Finding out your soil's pH 124
Adjusting your soil's pH 124
Much Ado about Mulch 125
Knowing your mulches 126
How to apply mulch 129
Tackling Watering Issues 129
Providing plants with the right amount of moisture 130
Determining which watering system to use 131
Cutting back on watering 133
Dealing with drainage problems 134
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