Table of Contents
Introduction 6
Getting Started
Which way does your garden face? 10
Know your soil 12
Improving your soil 16
Choosing the right potting soil 18
Choosing healthy plants 20
Flowers & Foliage
Sowing seeds outdoors 24
Sowing seeds indoors 26
Growing plants that last 28
Growing sunflowers 30
Preparing pots for planting 34
Plant up a colorful container 36
Make a spring hanging basket 38
Planting a shady window box 40
Planting bulbs in a pot 42
Making a border 44
Making raised beds and edges 50
Choosing flowers and foliage for spring containers 54
Choosing flowers and foliage for summer containers 56
Lawns
Laying sod 60
Sowing grass seed 62
How to make a lawn edging 64
Growing bulbs m grass 68
Caring for your lawn 70
Climbers
Planting a climber 76
Potting up climbers 78
Planting an obelisk 80
Create a tower of climbers 82
Make an ivy topiary ball 84
Build a rose arch 88
Pruning a rose arch 92
Pruning a rose on a wall 94
Pruning wisteria 98
Cutting back ivy 100
Raise new plants by layering 102
Choosing climbers for spring interest 104
Choosing climbers for summer interest 106
Shrubs
Planting a shrub 110
Planting a shrub in a pot 112
Planting a bare-root rose 116
Pruning an early summer-flowering shrub 118
Lightly pruning shrubs 120
Pruning a shrub rose 122
Pruning hydrangea 124
Pruning lavender 128
Pruning for winter stems 130
Planting a hedge 132
Trimming a hedge 134
Making a topiary cone 136
Repotting a shrub 138
Choosing shrubs for year-round interest 140
Choosing shrubs for autumn interest 142
Grasses
Planting grasses in the ground 146
Caring for grasses 148
Cutting back grasses 152
Dividing grasses 154
Choosing grasses 156
Small Trees
Planting a tree 160
Removing a branch 166
Moving a tree or shrub 168
Choosing trees for small gardens 170
Vegetables
Growing seeds in trays 174
Sowing seeds in small pots 178
Growing vegetables from plug plants 180
Raising lettuces on a windowsill 182
Growing tomatoes 184
Growing climbing beans 186
Growing root crops 190
Growing early potatoes 192
Growing potatoes in a trash can 194
Herbs
Growing herbs from seed 198
Planting an herb garden 204
Planting an herb hanging basket 206
Making a lavender hedge 208
Growing herbs from cuttings 210
Dividing herbs 214
Fruit
Planting a basket of strawberries 218
Planting an apple tree in a pot 220
Pruning an apple tree 224
Soft fruit in small spaces 226
Tree fruit in small spaces 228
Practicalities
Watering plants 232
Making your own compost 234
How and when to prune 236
Caring for your tools 238
Troubleshooting weeds 242
Dealing with pests 244
Preventing diseases 246
Know your garden friends 248
Index 250
Acknowledgments 256
