In the Garden Articles

Great Garden Books

by Joan S. Bolton

2007 produced a splendid crop of new gardening books for Central Coast gardeners. While scores of gardening books are published every year, they tend to be skewed to an East Coast or British audience -- or at least to folks who face sleet and snow.

But we lucked out this year, with inspired writing, great photographs, and tips and techniques that specifically apply to our mild, coastal climate. Any local gardener would be happy to unwrap at least one of the following books on Christmas morning.

California Gardener's Guide

Nan Sterman, Cool Springs Press

This more-than-a-picture book is a terrific primer for selecting and growing great plants. It covers the basics, with quick hits on soil, watering, climate and a pep talk on why Mediterranean plants are the best fit for our warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

Then comes the heart of the book: the 186 plants. The entries are organized by type, such as ground covers, shrubs, vines and trees. Each plant gets a full page treatment, with a color photograph and far more in-depth information than the typical paragraph or two in most gardening books.

Sterman tells when, where and how to plant, provides growing tips and care instructions, and suggests companion plants. She also offers personal observations, such as this on purple-top verbena (Verbena bonariensis): "Take a walk through the bedding plant section of your local nursery and you'll see many low-growing verbenas in brilliant red, purple, bright white, and deep burgundy. Those plants are great fillers, but for my money, I prefer a different verbena, one that looks like a verbena on stilts."

Designing California Native Gardens

The Plant Community Approach to Artful, Ecological Gardens

Glen Keator and Alrie Middlebrook, University of California Press

"The point of this book is to make a case for going native," writes Keator, "Both to create gardens of beauty and to give a sense of place and extend native habitats into urban settings."

But rather than devolving into pages of text and extended descriptions, the authors divvy up California into 12 plant communities, then devote a chapter apiece to creating a garden based on each of those communities.

The Channel Islands garden, for example, includes such familiar natives as manzanita and ceanothus. The Coastal Sage Scrub garden features coast live oak, sage, verbena and monkeyflower. The Oak Woodland garden includes coast live oak, along with western redbud, toyon and blue fescue.

What's especially useful is that the book shows actual plans, so you can see how to group and space the plants. Design notes and photos of both individual plants and garden vignettes further illustrate the planting schemes.

The Landscaping Ideas of Jays

A Natural History of the Backyard Restoration Garden

Judith Larner Lowry, University of California Press

Ordinarily, I don't find that garden musings provide much practical information for applying to my garden. But this collection of essays is a delightful exception.

Lowry's knowledge, sense or purpose and humor infuse her writing as she recounts her 25-year quest to repopulate her garden entirely with natives.

The essays follow the seasons, beginning with fall and "Waiting for Rain." They wander through battles with sour grass, preservation of natives under 2 feet tall and thoughts on pond scum. The concluding chapter, "Life is Maintenance," takes place during a Lowry-inspired "fifth season," which she describes as the time that the California garden rests, between summer and fall.

Unfortunately, there are few photos. For those unfamiliar with the plants, consider having on hand last year's California Native Plants for the Garden, which contains photographs of many of the natives mentioned.

The Home Orchard

Growing Your Own Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees

Chuck A. Ingels, Pamela M. Geisel and Maxwell V. Norton, Technical Editors

University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources

If you grow -- or have ever even considered growing -- deciduous fruit trees, this is the go-to book.

Written by a trio of UC Cooperative Extension experts, the volume covers all aspects of pome fruits (apples, pears, pomegranates, quinces); stone fruits (almonds, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, prunes and plumcots); nuts (chestnuts, filberts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts); and miscellaneous temperate fruits (figs and persimmons).

You'll find step-by-step photos and illustrations of all aspects of selecting, maintaining, pruning and harvesting your trees. There are also excellent photos of specific maladies, such as phosphorous deficiency in pear leaves and potassium deficiency in prune leaves, as well as close-ups of pests and beneficial insects.

Giant Tomatoes

Giant Yields, Giant Weights

Marvin H. Meisner, M.D., Annedawn Publishing

Okay, so this book was written by a retired cardiologist living in the mountains of Pennsylvania who also grows giant pumpkins. But if you're interesting in growing a tomato with the heft of a plump grapefruit, it's a good place to start.

You'll learn what you're up against -- the largest tomato ever grown weighed 7 lbs., 12 ounces (as much as a healthy, newborn baby).

You'll also find which varieties are most likely to produce big fruits, such as Delicious, Big Zac, Monster and Ponderosa Pink. Meisner encourages record-seekers to start prepping their soil in the fall, with a generous dose of compost. Apparently some folks also spray their tomato beds with molasses, but Meisner makes no mention of the inevitable ant invasion.

Other chapters cover digging big holes for big tomatoes, fertilizing, watering, diseases, saving seeds, breeding, seed sources and recipes. Also listed are 10 common grower mistakes, including not giving vines enough support, planting vines too close together, and compacting the soil by walking too close to the plants.

Garden to Vase

Growing and Using Your Own Cut Flowers

Linda Beutler, Timber Press

This book also comes from out of state -- Beutler and her photographer, Allan Mandell, both live in Oregon.

But the advice still applies. In the first half of the lavishly-photographed book, Beutler begins with the basic question of what makes a good cut flower. From there, she dispenses practical tips ranging from what time in the growth cycle is best to harvest flowers, branches and foliage, to suggesting the best clippers to cleanly cut stems, and the best floral preservatives to use for different plant material.

The second half of the book is an encyclopedia with a twist: along with typical plant descriptions, the entries detail when to harvest, how to condition and how long to expect the particular cut flowers or foliage to last in an arrangement. Each entry includes buying tips, which is helpful for plants that we don't typically grow here -- such as astilbes, hostas and Stargazer lilies -- but might still splurge on at local flower marts.

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Other Noteworthy Titles for 2007

Designing With Succulents, Debra Lee Baldwin, Timber Press. This is an excellent introduction to these increasingly popular plants, and how to use them in the garden.

Trees of the California Landscape, Charles R. Hatch, University of California Press. This 600-page photographic manual of 418 trees is geared to the serious gardener.

Western Garden Book, Kathleen Norris Brenzel, Sunset Publishing. The latest edition of this California classic is filled with more plants and photos than ever, but woefully lacks a plant index.

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Seeds of Wisdom

Many gardening books offer little useful advice for Central Coast gardeners. Look beyond the pretty pictures to see whether what you're considering buying really applies to our special Mediterranean climate.