Gardening Basics For Dummies. Steven A. Frowine

      Trees

      Trees can raise your property value, improve air quality, prevent erosion, lower your air conditioning costs with welcome shade, and provide a handy support for your hammock. Not too shabby, eh?

      For most home gardeners, trees in the landscape are often already present but need care and pruning to look good and remain healthy. Or you may be shopping for one or more ornamental or fruiting trees to add. As with shrubs, your options include deciduous (ones that drop their leaves each fall; they may flower and fruit or have berries or seedpods) and evergreen (with leaves or needles that remain year-round).

      Favorite trees for home landscapes include

       Flowering and deciduous: Catalpa, dogwood, dove tree, golden chain tree, horse chestnut, magnolia, redbud, serviceberry, silk tree, snowbell, and stewartia

       Shade trees: Ash, basswood, beech, catalpa, elm, ginkgo, honey locust, Kentucky coffee tree, linden, locust, various maples, various oaks, sourwood, sweet gum, and tupelo

       Evergreen: Arborvitae, cedar, cypress, false cypress, fir, hemlock, juniper, Norfolk Island pine, pine, spruce, and yew

       Fruit and nut trees: Almond, apple, apricot, avocado, cherry, chestnut, citrus, crabapple, fig, filbert (hazelnut), juneberry, loquat, mulberry, nectarine, olive, pawpaw, peach, pear, pecan, plum, quince, and walnut

      Roles trees can play involve things like

       Shade

       Privacy (including noise reduction)

       Grandeur and substance in the landscape

       Food (fruits, berries, and nuts — for you and your family as well as for wildlife)

       Decorative beauty due to foliage (including fall color!)

       Shelter and food for birds and other wild creatures

Referring to any trees as terrible may be heresy, but some trees can cause real problems like producing huge quantities of seeds that sprout all over where they aren’t wanted and messy seed heads or fruit that are a pain to clean up. Some trees produce soft, weak growth that results in limbs breaking and falling on your house. Some of the undesirables are boxelder (sheds fruit and twigs, plus shelters yucky boxelder bugs), Bradford pear (heavy seeding and splitting branches), ginkgo (stinky fruit), silver maple (splitting branches), sweetgum (nuisance spiny balls), and tree of heaven (weak weedy growth). For checking out other invasive trees refer to www.invasive.org/species/trees.cfm.

      For much more information on trees in general, please turn to Chapter 12. For info on fruit and nut trees, check out Chapter 18.

      Vines

      Annual vines like morning glory, nasturtium, moonflower, and so on aren’t woody, but vines — woody or not — can be a substantial presence in your landscape. Vines like to grow upward, though some need assistance in terms of occasional judicious pruning/trimming, guidance, and/or support.

      Some vines are valued mainly for their lush foliage. Others flower and fruit, with attractive seedheads or berries by fall — all factors that naturally add to their appeal and affect placement and maintenance. Choose vines based on whether and when you want these extra, color-contributing features. Also, when purchasing, be sure to inquire about predicted mature size.

      Some of my favorite vines for home landscapes that are both attractive and have bird and wildlife appeal are

       Bougainvillea

       Clematis

       Climbing hydrangea

       Climbing roses

       Creeping fig

       Dutchman’s pipe

       Grape

       Honeysuckle

       Jasmine

       Kiwi

       Mandevilla

      Roles vines can play include

       Cloaking or disguising a fence (especially if it’s unattractive; or just use vines to make it into a more substantial barrier)

       Climbing a trellis that’s either against a wall or fence or out in the open (if well-supported)

       Covering a gazebo to give shade and privacy as well as beauty

       Decorating a pillar, arbor, or pergola, adding shade and beauty as well as making a major contribution to your garden landscape

       Adding extra, vertical color to your garden (which is especially nice if your garden is small or you want to give it a feeling of enclosure)

       Draping over an outbuilding or shed, an old or dead tree trunk, or another larger structure in need of some softening or disguise

       Providing flowers and edible fruit for decorating and eating

      Note: Even ridiculously strong vines can’t help you swing from tree to tree, namely because they’re attached to the ground and not-so-attached at the top. If you really don’t want to stay grounded, Chapter 19 can give you info on installing a tire swing. For much more information on vines, please turn to Chapter 14. I address climbing roses in more detail in Chapter 9.

      

Some vines are rogues. They may smother or pull down supports, provide a haven for porch- or trellis-munching insects, shed too much, or produce unwanted many seedlings. A few to watch out for are akebia, Chinese wisteria, English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, kudzu, Oriental bittersweet, porcelain vine, trumpet creeper, and wintercreeper. I’ve seen some of these vines used very effectively in certain circumstances. Just be careful and know that they can outgrow their welcome. For more info on invasive vines, check out www.invasive.org/species/vines.cfm.

The World Is Flat: Caring for Your Lawn

      Some gardeners love lawn care; others think it’s just a necessary chore. Whichever way you feel, one thing can’t be denied: Lawns, even small ones, can define a garden. They frame and provide a backdrop for all your other plants. If your lawn looks shabby, unfortunately, the rest of your garden creations just don’t look as good.

      I appreciate that everyone these days is pressed for time and can’t spend the time on manicuring their turf like golf course managers do, so in Chapter 11, I give you the basic, nitty-gritty information so that your lawn can do you proud without taking too much time away from the rest of your creative garden pursuits.

Chapter 2

      Creating a Landscape That You’ll Love

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Working with what you already have