Powell Saum - Tips and Inspiration for Turning Your Brown Thumb Green

For my wife, Christian Joy, without whom this gardening tale would not have been possible. Your support, patience, confidence, and undying love are unmatched.

To my parents, Bill and Karen, who helped to sow the seeds of intrigue and exploration in this gardener.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1...Finding Confidence and Acquiring Knowledge in Gardening

Chapter 2...Choose a Spot Wisely, But Dont Be Afraid to Move it Later

Chapter 3...Prune it or Else!

Chapter 4...Soil is Gold

Chapter 5...Water Well, Water Smart

Chapter 6...Mulch for Life

Chapter 7...Make the Weather a Friend, Not a Foe

Chapter 8...How to Avoid the Over-planting Trap

Chapter 9...Common Troubles, Simple Fixes

Afterword

PREFACE

F rom a young age, I developed a love for the natural world. Family camping weekends and road trip adventures fostered a kinship with the outdoors. As a boy pressing his nose against the glass of our car window, many hours were spent admiring trees of all shapes and textures, as we passed through different climates. There was a magical yearning to gaze with wonder into dark and shady forests, or out to distant mountains poking above the horizon. There came to be a fascination and respect for water, developed in my early years while living on the Upper Texas Coast. I would look at the drivers seat to watch my Dad stealing a glimpse of creeks and rivers while crossing highway bridges. I have been blessed with a loving family and parents who value nature. My Mom kept our lawn and garden edges neatly trimmed; both my parents planted our first vegetable garden in Texas. My Dad took me on fishing canoe trips starting at eight years of age. While the comradery with extended family and friends was fun and memorable, there came a deep fostering of affection for the surroundings the landscape. To this day, I can see the giant silver maple trees leaning their arching branches over the river, the steep hillsides jutting up from the sandy river bank, and the rolling, rugged mountains of the Appalachians. Starting before adolescence there was a kinship with nature, as I admired my parents efforts to create beauty with new yard projects. Both my mother and father instilled a respect for nature and a pride in our property. We moved to a beautiful, wooded neighborhood in Maryland where I spent the remainder of my childhood. Each season offered a different fascination for a boy with a passion and drive for weather, storms, and the effects on vegetation and the landscape. I have always viewed weather and the landscape to be closely linked. Watching the seasons progress each year is best seen through the effects on trees, plants, and wildlife. Nature is always putting on a show if we are willing to stop, watch, and listen: the silence of winter nights, broken only by the crackling of ice on trees or the eerie roar of the wind through bare hardwoods; the first evening peepers in spring, then the first crickets chirping at night signaling summers arrival; the katydids and other summer insects singing in harmony on muggy late summer nights; the leaves rustling on the ground and that unmistakable smell when it rains during peak autumn foliage.

My first paying job as a teen was outside for a retail garden center; in the previous year I volunteered for the National Audubon Society. While pursuits varied over the coming decades, there has always been a loyalty to nature - especially trees and plants. As a twenty-something, I rented my first garden apartment and never thought twice about filling up the little space with stunning, tall perennials that waved in the wind with their bold, colorful blooms in summer. To this day, while hiking in the mountains or walking along a river or canal, the wonder of it all piques my curiosity, no matter the time of year. Admittedly, my taste in gardens is eclectic, which is similar to other preferences of mine. There is also a regionally-oriented, conservationist approach to landscaping with a focus on plants more common to the Middle Atlantic States.

While I have enjoyed creating landscape beds and gardens on other properties in my professional landscape pursuits, it has been here at our Pennsylvania homestead where the pride of new creations has brought fulfillment, pleasure, and a sense of closeness with nature. Its also been fun - a release from other stresses in life and an outlet for physical exercise. Also, I have savored the challenge to create big, brightly-colored gardens while learning from each new endeavor.

The intent of this book is twofold: to offer insight into gardening, planting, and maintenance; also, to offer tips based on what I have learned in my years of landscape gardening and exploration in nature. On that note, it occurred to me this year that all the endeavors, trials, and tribulations of the past have afforded a foundation for the success of today.

Whether you intend to take a shovel and plant for the first time, or you have struggled with getting plants to grow robustly, the tips in this book are designed to offer generalized assistance. My intent is to help you gain confidence in the art of landscape improvement. There are many other resources to consult for specific plant habits or specific design ideas. This is also true for particular insect and fungal problems; these nemeses will vary depending on geographic region, climate, and soil type. Along with helpful tips, my intent is to provide a healthy dose of inspiration. The first step toward a finished product is having a belief that we can accomplish an endeavor in the first place. Through the many years I spent in the nursery or garden center industry, there were common threads in the concerns, questions, and observations from discussions with customers. In most cases, people with whom I consulted were plant lovers too.

Gardeners share a kinship with nature; we build something that is tangible, workable, and of course, living. There will may be surprises when working with living things, as the only constant to be expected in nature is the unexpected. My hope is that you will find benefit in the analysis and inspirational words herein and that, in time, you too might develop solid confidence in your skill set, all while turning your thumb a proverbial bright green!