early-spring pruning foray. This is also the time to do drastic chopping back, say, if you want to reduce a hedge’s height; cut no more than one-third at a time — you can prune again next season. Spring pruning is preferred because plants are surging into new growth, and they’ll be better able to recover from cutting back. Fall pruning can be a mistake, because it may inspire fresh new growth that then gets damaged by cold weather/frost.
For flowering shrubs and trees, always prune them right after they flower before they develop flower buds for the following season. Otherwise you’ll be removing next year’s flowers.
You have too much sun
If your garden space is sunnier than you’d prefer, the quick solution is to add human-made items — try an umbrella or two, a pergola (arbor), or an outdoor tent. For the long term, you can make a planting plan with shade trees (see Chapter 12) and vines (see Chapter 14) that cover trellises and other structures.
Your yard is too big
Here are three good ways to reduce that maintenance-demanding, water-hogging lawn and create ideal spaces for gardening:
Make garden beds around the sides of the yard, widening or extending them as you can. Alternatively, create what landscapers call island beds, which are flat or mounded beds (in any shape and size you like) in the middle of a lawn.
Add large, sprawling structures that take up a lot of yard space.Some ways to do this arePathwaysA terrace, patio, or deckA pool (swimming or ornamental)A potting shed or gazeboAdding garden beds around these structures really spruces things up.
Fence in or otherwise enclose individual garden spaces like rose or herb gardens around your yard. The fence can be an artificial fence made of wood or metal, or it can be made of hedges, ornamental grasses, or trellises overhung with vines. Use your imagination! Fences offer so many possibilities. They create private spaces and add a whole new vertical element that you can festoon with vining fruits, veggies, climbing roses, annuals, or perennials. For example, consider adding a white metal fence festooned with blue morning glories, or a wooden one with a blooming rose bush swooning over it.
Your yard is too little
A small yard can seem bigger, more welcoming, and a lot more charming when you employ a few basic gardening techniques. With these methods, you can transform your cozy little yard into the garden of your dreams:
Soften the edges of your lawn so they don’t seem so imposing.If you have a fence, you canPaint the fence a bright color (dark colors heighten the sense of constriction).Add lush vines or climbing roses.Adorn the fence with potted plants.
Create a varied layering effect. That is, position different plant types and textures above and behind one another, stepping up to the edges of your yard. Some gardeners literally display a combination of in-ground and potted plants on and around a rack or stepladder.
Add a focal point. Ideas include a statue, a small fountain, or one spectacular pot or urn with a big, dramatic plant or showy combination of plants; a focal point draws attention away from the close boundaries.
The soil isn’t the type or quality you want
Every gardener wishes for beautiful well-drained rich black garden loam (rich, dark soil), but for most folks that’s a pipe dream. Good soil is usually made by the gardener and rarely comes with the property. More often than you may think, poor soil thwarts gardening plans. People just forget or underestimate the importance of good soil to plant in.
Try growing only those types of plants proven to work in your soil.
See what the neighbors are growing in their gardens.
Check with the local nursery for the best plants to grow in your area.
Dig into the soil and mix in the materials you want (sort of like making cake batter, only more work).
Work to change and improve the soil.Some folks use a rototiller for this job, but it has its drawbacks. A rototiller can pulverize the soil to such a degree that it destroys its texture. It also has other drawbacks. It brings weed seeds and bits to the surface where they begin to grow, and it damages the habitat of helpful soil organisms (from barely visible creatures that help break down organic matter to helpful earthworms).A rototiller can be useful for doing the initial soil or sod busting, but after that initial work, forks and shovels will probably be your best bet. Just remember to add plenty of organic matter like compost or composed pine bark as you can (see Chapter 5 for more about rototillers). Remember to work down to a depth of 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) for most garden plants — less for shallow-rooted grass, more for trees and shrubs.
Too many weeds!
You can attack these unwelcome plants any time of the year, but you’ll make faster progress if you start in late fall or early spring and thwart them before or just as they’re sprouting. Use a hoe, smother weeds with plastic or mulch, or carefully use an herbicide (or some combination of these tactics).
Then, in midsummer, make sure you don’t let weeds go to seed. Pull them, mow them down, and discard them outside your garden to keep them from coming back. There is a saying that nature abhors a vacuum; after you get weeds out, don’t leave empty space to tempt more weeds to move in. Overplant or cover the area as soon as possible. If the weeds go to seed, your weed problem has just gotten much worse. Weeding after a rain when the ground is damp and soft makes it much easier and more effective. Weeding can almost be therapeutic!
Taking advantage of your yard’s assets
Every garden space has its strengths and its good spots, if only you look, and some of the problems I mention in earlier sections can actually be benefits if you see them that way. You can save yourself a lot of time, effort, and grief by identifying these types of spots and working with what you have rather than knocking yourself out to impose an ambitious or inappropriate plan upon your garden space. Go with the flow, in other words! Refer to Part 2 for more on the specific types. Here are a few examples of conditions you may find within your garden space and how to handle them:
Sunny days: Many plants, especially those with colorful flowers, love bright sunshine. Rejoice and be glad you have it; then go shopping for a wide range of bright and lively plants. Have fun with color combinations. No combinations are wrong as long as you like them. Full sun also affords you the opportunity to grow many vegetables, herbs, fruits, and waterlilies.
The dark side: If your lot in life is shade, don’t fret. Consider it a gift, a chance to create a cool, soothing, even enchanting oasis. Without direct blasts from the hot sun, plants in a shady area look fresher and crisper for far longer. Wilting and withering in the heat aren’t
