Slightly Used Plants

Another way to save on plant costs is to ''reuse" grown plants from your own garden, or those unwanted by others.

One of the best reasons to belong to a garden club, apart from the friendship, is that members give each other or sell cheaply perfectly good plants. Plant swaps or sales are standard among clubs and a great way to increase your plant collection. If you're not a member of a formal club, create the same opportunities simply by talking with others about your garden and theirs. Once people know you are a plant nut, they offer you all kinds of plant items.


Plants move around some people's yards more than the people. A shrub just doesn't prosper in a particular corner. A rose bush might clash with a climbing vine. It's actually a lot like moving furniture around until you create just the perfect setting in your outdoor room. Furniture doesn't suffer transplant shock, however. The first rule of thumb for digging up and relocating any plant is to wait until the plant is dormant. This causes the least possible amount of stress on the plant. Fall is usually the best time. For most perennials, dig down around the perimeter of the plant to create a rootball large enough to accommodate the plant. For shrubs and trees, a burlap wrap will help hold the rootball in place. Dig a trench around the perimeter of the plant branches, the dripline, and use a fork or spade to pull as much soil away from roots as possible to create a ball of soil. Tip the rootball up with the edge of a shovel, and shuffle the burlap underneath. Repeat around the plant, shifting the burlap until it encircles the roots. For heavy shrubs or trees, you may need to slide a board or two underneath the rootball to create enough leverage to move the plant. Lift the plant carefully and transport.

You can dig up plants routinely sold bare rootsuch as roses, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, and many shrubsand treat them the same way as a bare-root transplant . A younger plant has better chances of survival.

Divide and Multiply

Dividing is a quick way to multiply your collection of perennials, succulents, and some suckering shrubs. Dividing yields two or more plants from one, and it is healthier for the original plant than being left to overcrowd itself.

The best time to divide most plants is from late fall to early spring. Avoid especially cold or wet periods as these make it tough for the divided plants to reestablish. Plants with fleshy roots, such as irises, peonies, and poppies, have a better chance of rooting if divided in late summer.

Begin by gently digging around the base of the plant to expose the perimeters of it. Then carefully lift the plant with a garden fork. Shake or brush off as much soil as possible so you can see what you are doing. Often with older plants, there will be a dead spot of brown stems in the center of the plant. Cut this out and divide the remaining growth. The simplest way to divide most plants is to grasp large sections by hand and gently, but firmly, pull them apart. Plants that can't be pulled apart can be cut through with a sharp spade. Make sure you leave a few buds on each division.

You can dust any cuts with a fungicide to curb infection. Cut back the tops and place the new plants in the ground at the same height they were growing before, and water.

Making Sure Costs Don’t Outgrow Your Budget

Having a good garden, or a series of smaller gardens on your property, does cost money. Fencing materials and paving stones aren’t cheap. Garden furnishings and décor aren’t cheap. Big plants, special small plants, and pots aren’t cheap. Potting soil and loam aren’t cheap. Fertilizer and pesticides aren’t cheap. It all adds up. And, frankly, budgeting is hard when you’re dealing with an ongoing project whose look is likely to evolve.

So here’s my main advice: Relax. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take small bites, if need be. Tackle one project at a time and see it through, and then move on to the next one. Or divide a large project into sections and allow yourself time — even several seasons or years — to complete it. One place where you can save money is labor — use yourself, involve your partner or your kids, bribe friends with dinner, or hire neighborhood kids. And remember that, fortunately, gardening is one of those experiences in life whose journey can be as satisfying as the destination.

Here are some other money-saving ideas:

• Grow plants from seed.
• Divide perennials and shrubs and move the pieces to other parts of your yard.
• Get plants from other gardeners — some people may simply give you their unwanted surplus; others will be happy to swap. Join a local garden club, and you may be assured of these transactions!
• Make your own compost. And always compost your fall leaves instead of bagging them and sending them off to the local landfill.
• Buy from the source, whether it’s a special daylily nursery nearby or a local brickyard.
• Browse yard sales, junkyards, and antique shops. You may happen across real bargains in garden ornaments as well as pots, gates, trellises, fencing, and so on.

Last but not least, take care of your investments. It’s a sad waste to let good, costly plants or garden areas languish or die. The more you know about soil, about planting, about plant care — and this book is chock-full of useful advice — the easier it’ll be to do right by your garden. A thriving garden can repay you many times over.

Tackling the paste-and-ponder method

Some people find their ideas jell best given a little time. If you have an available wall or large bulletin board, try this: Rip out inspirational photos from magazines, gather your photos, and tack them up. Make the display orderly or make it a collage. Then leave it there and walk by every now and then, pausing to admire and study it. Add to it, shift things around, and take pieces away. This admittedly informal method can really help clarify your thinking and consolidate your planning, especially if you’re a visually oriented person. The paste-and-ponder method also helps you keep your eye on the prize, so leave the board up for a while.

An inspired idea: Perusing books, magazines, and local gardens

As part of your narrowing-down process, have fun as you gather inspiration. Thumb through back issues of gardening magazines, flagging beautiful photographs and helpful articles. Grab a few of those arguably fluffy gardening magazines you often see at the checkout stand at the grocery store (technically, they’re called SIPs, or Special Interest Publications). These publications tend to be heavily photo-driven, lighter on the actual how-to information, but that’s the dreamy stuff you want right now.

Also check the gardening books you already own, both practical ones and coffee-table books, and do the same. Visit a well-stocked bookstore or the book section at a garden center and do some more prospecting. Buy a few titles if you find something wonderful and useful.

And don’t forget the gardens that aren’t too far beyond your front door. Bring your camera as you visit your local botanical garden or arboretum, and take advantage of local garden tours. Walk around surrounding neighborhoods and take pictures of gardens or vignettes that pique your interest. The object of this exercise is to fill your mind with enticing images of what’s possible.

You also get to see how other gardeners — in various regions, with different types of yards — have pulled off their woodland garden or cottage garden or whatever you’re aiming for. Study their creativity and their solutions; they can help you clarify your vision.

Woodland gardens style

Woodland gardens, which are often shady, include groundcovers that flower as well as bulbs (for lots of spring color). For fall color, you can plant some native asters.

This garden is most practical if you already have a well-treed lot. Tall deciduous hardwoods like oaks, beeches, and maples are ideal because they provide a high canopy with diffused shade. Seek out diverse forms and colors for the larger plants, from bold hostas to lacy ferns. You can then tuck in nonplant items for color and interest, such as ornaments and garden furniture.

Dry climate gardens style

If your area is a little on the parched side, you may want to opt for a dry climate garden. Employ a naturalistic layout, perhaps with a dry streambed or stone pathways, and choose plants that thrive in hot sun, including but not limited to cacti and succulents. Then strategically place accents of colorful or more water-needy plants in pots or in groups.

Tropical gardens style

Put a piece of paradise in your own backyard. Tropical gardens emphasize lots of big, bold, leafy foliage plants (such as cannas, coleus, hibiscus, and taro) in the ground or in large containers. Use bright flowers in hot colors: yellow, red, and orange, as well as bicolors. Then include a water feature, such as a pool, fountain, or stream. You can add drama with extras: birdhouses or cages, colorful pots, gazing balls, and playful or handcrafted décor and statuary.

Formal and Asian styles

Formal gardens
Keep formal gardens simple . Aim for balance and symmetry so the garden has an air of calm elegance. Here are some tips:

• Use strong lines and boundaries, such as groomed hedges, walkways, perhaps even a reflecting pool.
• Employ single-color plantings, aiming to match or complement your house color, fence, or another element.
• Add stylish pots, urns, gazing balls, or statuary. Keep everything in moderation so it doesn’t look cluttered.

Asian gardens
Asian gardens are usually based on a garden floor, or a broad area of raked sand or stones. Choose fine-textured traditional plants, in pots or in the ground. Try bamboo, dwarf conifers, Japanese maples, iris, azalea, and flowering fruit trees. Then include Oriental-style accessories such as stone lanterns, bamboo fencing, a water basin, or even a small “tea house.”

Gardening around a theme

Garden design often goes beyond the types of plants you want to grow and the type of function you want your garden to have. Thematic elements can also influence the look of a garden. Do you have a soft spot for old-fashioned English rose gardens? Or Japanese Zen gardens? Or even sandy deserts filled with cacti and succulents?

In the following sections, I list some popular style elements to help you continue clarifying what you may want and need. If you’d like your garden to be like the styles covered in this book or any other of the large variety of garden styles available, be sure to do plenty of research beforehand to make your space look as harmonious and authentic as possible. And don’t forget to make sure your space can accommodate the style! Trying to install an outdoor cactus garden in the Midwest USA may not be your best bet.

Zeroing In on Your Ideal Garden Style

After you’ve determined your basic wants and needs for your garden space, you’re ready to decide on its overall style. Gardens come in many types, themes, and moods. Yours can be informal, with less strict boundaries, a more casual look, and a wide variety of plants; or it can be formal, with symmetrical lines, crisp edges, and a limited plant palette. Or it can be one of many variations in between.

Select a style based on the architecture of your house, the lay of the land, or even an idea you saw in a magazine. Your choice also ought to take into consideration the advantages and disadvantages already inherent in your yard and gardening space, as I outline in the first half of the chapter. A garden is an emotional place for many people — a place of pride and joy, of relaxation, comfort, and meaningful projects.

Luckily, a garden’s always a work in progress, and you can improve, expand, or totally change some or all of it over time. You should also be open to surprises, like the errant sunflower that pops up near the deck or the herb that self-sows into the roses and ends up looking pretty there. So dream and plan, but be flexible.

Setting up your garden for international cuisine

Consider what kinds of cuisine you like to cook, and you can prepare yourself for an international feast with some of the freshest possible ingredients:

• Asian: Opt for various herbs and leafy greens, plus certain kinds of eggplant and onions.
• Italian: Be sure to include tomatoes, oregano, and basil, at the least.
• Mexican: The easy herb cilantro is a must, as is epazote, and of course, a salsa medley of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and various peppers, hot and mild.

Cooking up an edible garden: Gardening for your kitchen

If you love to cook and enjoy gardening, it’s only a matter of time before you long to grow your own produce. A so-called kitchen garden can be modest in size, easy to manage, and produce all the fresh vegetables and herbs you desire. It doesn’t need to be extensive or as ambitious as a back-forty vegetable garden.

Because a kitchen garden exists for one reason — to generate good things to eat — planting it near your house is best. That way, you can pop out the door, snip the herbs you need or grab a few sun-warmed cherry tomatoes, and put them to immediate use. Ideally, a kitchen or dining-room window overlooks your patch so you aren’t likely to forget what’s ripe for the taking. If your goal is to serve healthier and fresher food to your family, go for a variety of classic vegetables and herbs.

Even salad skeptics may be won over after they taste a wondrous array of colorful lettuces accompanied by fresh ripe tomatoes. And kids who don’t normally enjoy vegetables can discover the joys of fresh, sweet homegrown peas and carrots The easiest, most successful kitchen gardens are small and simple. You can always expand later. To get started, I recommend

• Keeping it sunny: At least six hours of full sun per day is essential for good growth and ripening of almost all vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Morning light is preferable to afternoon because it dries the dew (reducing the risk of disease) and is less stressful than the blazing heat of midafternoon.
• Setting the boundaries: Stake out a spot using string rigged between wooden sticks, or try a simpler approach: Use your garden hose as a guide. After you establish the garden, you can edge the bed with bricks or stones or commercial plastic edging. Or dig a roughly 4-inch-deep trench all around the edges. The idea is to keep any lawn grass from encroaching on your kitchen garden.
• Building raised beds: If the soil in the appointed spot isn’t very good, erect a raised bed from planks standing on edge. Be sure to use untreated lumber, because some wood preservatives may be harmful to edible plants. (Unless you use the more expensive cedar, these wooden sides will eventually rot and need replacing. By then, you may be ready to expand your kitchen garden, anyway.)
  
• Installing protective barriers: If you garden in deer, woodchuck, or rabbit territory (just to name some of the worst pests), or if you host backyard soccer games, a protective fence around your kitchen garden may be in order. Use poultry wire or wood and sink it into the ground to discourage digging invaders. If the fence doesn’t look very attractive, plant fast-growing, lightweight plants to cover it, such as morning glories.
• Planting a few containers that are literally at the kitchen door: Try a small tomato plant surrounded by ‘Spicy Globe’ basil, a cut-and-come again mix of lettuces and salad greens, and another container of your favorite herbs.

Designing a sanctuary: The quiet garden retreat

A garden retreat needs to be outside and away from the busy world, where you can relax and gather your thoughts in peace, quiet, and solitude. In a sense, any garden can provide retreat for the world-weary, nerve-jangled gardener. But some backyard retreats are more soothing than others.

Having a simple and undemanding landscaping and décor can encourage you to relax, not jump up to attend to garden chores or errant weeds. You needn’t turn your entire garden to a Zen-like space. A special corner or tucked-away nook will do. Privacy, protection, and isolation are key elements of a good retreat. Think about adding a fence or wall to block out sights and, equally importantly, sounds. Less-solid screens in the shape of trellises or tall and dense plantings of trees and shrubs or even a gathering of potted plants can also enclose a space.

The idea is to make a garden room accessible yet insulated. For summertime relaxation, consider a shady retreat. Within the walls of your retreat, make a comfortable place to sit or even recline. A full table-and-chairs set is appropriate if you plan to share the space and enjoy meals or quiet cups of tea here. A hammock or a chaise lounge invites reading and relaxing.
Now consider the furnishings — namely, plants and décor:

• The plants that you choose should be easygoing selections that don’t require fussing — for shade, try impatiens; for sun, marigolds or zinnias are good choices. Stick to a simple or even monochromatic color scheme, one that’s soothing to the eye.
• Consider a water element, such as a small, tubbed water garden or fountain. The inherently soothing sight and sound of water can help block out distracting noises
• A judiciously employed ornament, such as a hummingbird feeder, a large clay urn, a garden statue of St. Fiacre (the patron saint of gardeners), or Buddha, can further the mood. Use simple ornaments that have meaning to you and are in keeping with your theme.