National Gardening Association - Gardening Basics for Dummies

Gardening Basics For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021932177

ISBN: 978-1-119-78203-2

ISBN: 978-1-119-78204-9 (ebk); ISBN: 978-1-119-78205-6 (ebk)

1. Chapter 4
2. Chapter 6
3. Chapter 7
4. Chapter 11
5. Chapter 12
6. Chapter 15
7. Chapter 16
8. Chapter 17
9. Chapter 18
10. Appendix A

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20

Arent you lucky! Youre entering or are already part of the most popular and rewarding lifelong hobby that exists worldwide. Gardening is a common language that knows no national, socioeconomic, or age boundaries. Its a common thread that binds all of us together. Whether youre discussing your outrageous zucchini harvest of the previous year or sharing your secret tips for prizewinning roses, youve probably found that gardeners have an instant bond, no matter what their level of experience.

Because gardening is a huge topic that encompasses a wide field of cultivation interests and disciplines, its impossible for anyone book to cover everything there is to know about gardening. However, when youre armed with the gardening basics, like those presented in this book, youre ready for just about anything that the art and science of gardening can throw at you.

Sure, gardening requires some exertion. But its healthy exercise. It makes you feel a great sense of accomplishment when the flowerbeds are weeded, the bulbs are planted, and the seeds are sown. Its primal. And reaping the rewards of your labor by cutting flowers for your dinner party or fresh herbs for your salad is a special joy that makes the noisy, electronic stimulation that surrounds you (cars, phones, and the like) seem trivial. Gardening fosters a deep satisfaction that nurtures your body and soul. Thats why this book, Gardening Basics For Dummies, 2nd edition, exists. In addition to giving you basic pointers on how to make your gardening as successful and rewarding as possible, its a celebration of the art and sheer joy of gardening.

In this book, Ive tried to distill my more than 50 years of gardening experience as well as the knowledge of some of my other gardening friends, because everyone can discover something from each other.

I hope you find this book is fun reading: Sometimes gardeners can get way too serious about this pursuit. Ive always felt that gardening is supposed to relieve anxiety, not add to it. After all, this is gardening, not brain surgery! Making a mistake (and you will) isnt a big deal. Gardens can recover quickly from our bumbling efforts to care for them. My main mission in this book is to bring you gardening success and the inimitable pleasure that comes from it. Its no fun if all your efforts end up in the compost pile.

In this second edition, look for the following:

• A new chapter on multiplying plants
• Revised and updated content in nearly every chapter
• More than 50 new or revised illustrations
• A color insert of great plants and climate maps for Canada and the United States
• A new Part of Tens chapter for northern gardeners

Following the classic For Dummies format, this book gives you the most basic gardening information you need, organized and presented in an easy-to-follow, modular manner. Although you can read from cover-to-cover, you dont have to. This book can function as a reference work, so you can jump in, find what you need, and get back to your stand of birch trees or the koi pond or the garden center or wherever else youd like to be.

After reading this book, you may not be an expert, but you should be well on your way to taking on most gardening tasks with new confidence. Gardening is part science and part art, and how you mix them up is a very personal thing. After getting a handle on the basics presented here, you can move on to develop your own style and techniques that work best for you.

As you advance in gardening, you find that in certain branches of horticulture (like perennials, some trees and shrubs, and orchids), youre confronted with dreaded scientific names (usually Latin, sometimes Greek). People use such names in these plant categories for very legitimate reasons, and you can choose to follow the path to those reasons later. For now, I spare you that step by mostly using common names for the plants throughout this book. When I do provide the scientific name, I give common plant names first, followed by the botanical name.