Black & decker The complete guide to lower Midwest gardening : techniques for growing landscape & garden plants in Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, southern Michigan & southern Ontario

241 Pages·2012·87.645 MB·English

by  Lynn M Steiner

The Complete Guide to
LOWER MIDWEST
GARDENING
Techniques for Growing Landscape & Garden Plants in
Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia,
southern Michigan & southern Ontario
by Lynn Steiner
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
www.creativepub.com
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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CONTENTS
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO
LOWER MIDWEST GARDENING
ABOUT THIS BOOK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
A GARDEN OF YOUR OWN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
THE BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Talking the Talk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Zoning In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Going Underground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Creating a New Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
000
The Shady Side of Gardening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Buying Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Staring Plants from Seeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Getting Plants in the Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Plants to Avoid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
THE PLANNING STAGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Make It Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
000
Taking Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Establishing Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Making the Most of Small Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Gardening Up Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Going to Pots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
FIT TO EAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Planning and Preparing Your Garden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Deciding What to Grow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Planting Your Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Care of Your Vegetable Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Reaping the Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Growing Culinary Herbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
Vegetables & Herbs for the Lower Midwest . . . . . . . . . . .86
000
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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CONTENTS
Continued
JUST FOR FUN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Annuals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Perennials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Bulbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Groundcovers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Ornamental Grasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Groundcovers
and Grasses for the Lower Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
CREATING STRUCTURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Selecting Shrubs, Vines & Small Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Care of Shrubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Hedges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Vines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Shrubs, Vines and Small Trees
for the Lower Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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FRAMING AND SHADING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Choosing the Right Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Care of Trees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Trees for the Lower Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 98
TAKING CARE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Watering Your Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Controlling Weeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Mulching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Fertilizing Your Plants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Composting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
What Can Go Wrong. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Cultural and Environmental Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Troubleshooting Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Insects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Animal Pests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
RESOURCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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About this Book
Just like North America is made up of many diff erent types of people, it is also
made up of many diff erent plant-growing regions. And just as you can often tell
where a person comes from by the way they dress, speak, or act, you can often tell
where a plant comes from by the way it looks and how it grows. This book is all
about celebrating the region where you live and enjoying the unique gardening
opportunities it has to off er.
You’ll fi nd many benefi ts to be reaped from tending a home garden. Not only will
you add beauty to your landscape and neighborhood, you will increase the value of
your property and improve your quality of life.
Gardening allows you to mix relaxation with benefi cial outdoor activity while
providing an outlet to relieve stress. When you add vegetables and herbs to your
garden, you will also reap the additional health benefi ts you get from growing your
own food.
In addition to providing you with a place to relax and spend time with friends and
family, your garden can also help preserve part of your region’s plant heritage. When
populated with regional plants, your gardens will provide food and habitat for native
fauna, especially benefi cial insects and birds and butterfl ies. Native pollinating
insects rely on regional plants for food and nectar, and gardens are becoming more
and more important in this process as natural plant habitats are lost.
This book is intended for anyone who wants to take a more regional approach
to his or her gardening. Maybe you’ve just purchased your fi rst house and you are
looking to spruce it up. Maybe you’re fi nally ready to make the commitment to
growing your own food and want to know how to get started. Maybe you’re looking to
install your fi rst perennial border. Or maybe you’ve inherited an overgrown landscape
and need to know how to get it back in shape.
Whether you garden a tiny city lot or a sprawling country estate, you’ll fi nd this
book is just what you need to get started and to sharpen your skills. The pages are
packed with practical information and hundreds of step-by-step photos to take
you through the basic techniques involved in all major aspects of gardening. The
information is designed to help you become a responsible and sustainable gardener
so you can complement your natural surroundings. Priority is put on choosing the
right plant for the right place so you can reduce or eliminate your need for chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, and watering, as well as on choosing plants that are benefi cial
to native pollinating insects and birds.
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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A Garden of Your Own
The Lower Midwest was once dominated by stately, shaded forests, ranging from
the dense shade of maples and basswoods to the more open shade provided by oaks.
Scattered throughout was a mosaic of plant communities, including wetlands, open
sunny grasslands, and partially-shaded savannas. These included many types of
water features, ranging from trickling streams and small ponds to rushing rivers
and lakeshores. All of these habitats provide inspiration for gardeners in this area
to celebrate their plant heritage and create special places of their own—places where
they feel comfortable, surrounded by plants refl ecting their heritage and the people
who have come before them.
Gardeners in the Lower Midwest have four distinct seasons to contend with. Each
year, the welcome new growth of spring glides into lush summer gardens fi lled with a
brash show of color. Fall brings a more diff used, but just as showy, color palette—one
This region’s unique climate, last gasp before the subtlety of winter returns. Gardening heightens our awareness of
geography, and natural features these seasons and allows us to experience them in all their glory in our own yards.
make it a special place to tend a
plot of land.
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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO LOWER MIDWEST GARDENING
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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Capitalize on the beauty of the
The climate of this region provides enough natural moisture, sunlight, and Lower Midwest and use native
plants to their best advantage.
summer warmth to support many types of plants. Soils range from clay to loam to
Many native prairie plants make
sand, and are generally fertile enough to successfully grow a wide variety of plants beautiful garden fl owers. This
shade garden includes native
without a lot of input.
yellow lady’s slipper, foamfl ower
But this region also provides many challenges for gardeners. Harsh winter wild geranium, and Solomon’s
seal, interplanted with hostas and
temperatures and late spring frosts or early fall cold snaps can occur unexpectedly
bleeding hearts.
and be devastating. This region can also receive long dry spells and periods of
torrential, unending rain, both of which can be stressful for plants. By acknowledging
these challenges and choosing plants that tolerate, and even thrive, in these
conditions, you will be on your way toward a successful garden.
This book will help you sort through the many plants available and choose the
ones that are best suited to your landscape, your growing conditions, and your
lifestyle. Plants included in this book were chosen based on their suitability for the
climate of the Lower Midwest, their availability at local garden centers, and their low
maintenance. Many of them are native plants that have evolved in the same growing
conditions, and most are resistant to insect and disease problems and adapted to
natural rainfall amounts. Many also provide important pollen and food sources for
native insects and birds.
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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Native pollinating insects rely
on regional plants for food and
nectar sources, and gardens
become more and more
important for this as more and
more natural areas are lost. Here
a bee and a swallowtail butterfl y
both enjoy purple conefl owers.
It’s important to have fun in your
garden. There are no hard-and-fast
rules in gardening. Experiment to
learn what works best for you and
your lifestyle.
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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO LOWER MIDWEST GARDENING
Job: 02691 Title:Gardening Series_CG CG Lower Midwest (Book 5) (CPI)
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