CHARLESTON, S.C. - Chances are, you're like a lot of people on this side of the pandemic: you spend three months talking about using the time at home to start a garden but you never did it.
Don't fret. We're here to help, and we called in some friends from the Garden Club of Charleston to help you make those backyard garden dreams a reality.
And this is the perfect week to get started! It's National Gardening Week, a chance to promote beautification, education of environmental efforts, gardening, and involvement of Garden Clubs in our community, and communities across the U.S.
We'll start with a book list curated by the Garden Club team. While you check out the list and start adding titles to your holds list, we'll also share some resources you can find in our databases with your CCPL library card.
So let's get to it!
A Garden Miscellany: An Illustrated Guide to the Elements of the Garden by Suzanne Staubach
Do you know a folly from a ha-ha? Can an allée be pleached? Does a skep belong on a plinth? Answers to these questions--plus a gazebo-ful of information, stories, and visual delights--await in this charming exploration of the stuff gardens are made of. Garden historian Suzanne Staubach covers everything from arbors to water features, reveling in the anecdotes that accompany each element. Filled with revelations and fanciful illustrations by Julia Yellow, A Garden Miscellany promises new discoveries with each reading--a book to be returned to again and again.
Planting the natural garden by Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen
The original publication of Planting the Natural Garden ushered in a revolution in landscape design: the New Perennial Movement. Spearheaded by internationally renowned designer Piet Oudolf, and incisively articulated by the late plantsman and designer Henk Gerritsen, it transformed private and public spaces with its emotionally resonant, naturalistic use of hardy perennials and grasses.
Now this classic has been expanded and updated to include scores of new plants and combinations. Packed with practical information and visual inspiration, Planting the Natural Garden zeroes in on the New Perennial Movement's power to move us, making its distinctive plant palette available to all. For enthusiasts of these vibrant landscapes, it is an essential text; for gardeners who love the dreamy moods and colors that Oudolf and Gerritsen celebrate, it's the key to a magic kingdom of garden beauty.
Orchid modern: living & designing with the world's most elegant houseplants by Marc Hachadourian
Add the vibrant colors and exotic blooms of orchids to your houseplant haven! It's easier than you think with the help of Orchid Modern. Marc Hachadourian, the curator of the orchid collection at the New York Botanical Garden, shares his secrets to successfully growing these sometimes finicky houseplants. Besides the basics, you'll learn his top 120 orchid picks for green and not-so-green thumbs. Ten inspirational, step-by-step projects, including terrariums, a wreath, and a kokedama, provide the confidence to make orchids a thriving, vivid part of your home's signature style.
Fruit trees for every garden: an organic approach to growing apples, pears, peaches, plums, citrus, and more by Orin Martin with Manjula Martin
For more than forty years, Orin Martin has taught thousands of apprentices, students, and home gardeners the art and craft of growing fruit trees organically. In Fruit Trees for Every Garden, Orin shares--with hard-won wisdom and plenty of humor--his recommended fruit varieties and techniques for productive trees, including apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, nectarine, sweet cherry, orange, lemon, fig, and more.
If you crave crisp apples, juicy peaches, or varieties of fruit that can never be found in the store, they are all within reach in your own backyard. Whether you have one tree or a hundred, Orin gives you all the tools you need, from tree selection and planting practices to seasonal feeding guidelines and in-depth pruning tutorials. Along the way, you'll gain a deeper understanding of the core principles of organic gardening and soil stewardship: compost, cultivation, cover crops, and increasing biodiversity for a healthier garden. This book is more than just a gardening manual; it's designed to help you understand the why behind the how, allowing you to apply these techniques to your own slice of paradise and make the best choices for your individual trees.
Filled with informative illustrations, full-color photography, and evocative intaglio etchings by artist Stephanie Martin, Fruit Trees for Every Garden is a striking and practical guide that will enable you to enjoy the great pleasure and beauty of raising homegrown, organic fruit for years to come.
The Lifelong Gardener: Garden with Ease and Joy at Any Age by Deborah A Broocker
You can keep gardening for life, you just need to make adjustment as you age. In The Lifelong Gardener, adaptive gardening expert Toni Gattone shares her proven methods for making your favorite hobby easier on your aging body--techniques that that will help you garden smarter, not harder. This helpful guide includes dozens tried-and-true methods that help eliminate the physical strain of gardening, like buying ergonomic tools, using raised beds, and moving tools around in bins on wheels. The Lifelong Gardener celebrates the joy of gardening, and Gattone's message of empowerment will stir you to find joy in your garden for years to come.
How to make a plant love you: cultivate green space in your home and heart by Summer Rayne Oakes
Summer Rayne Oakes keeps over 750 live houseplants spanning 400 species in her Brooklyn apartment. She is living proof that there's a strong psychological benefit to keeping plants. Taking care of other living beings is a basic human need. Urban Millennials with weaker community networks don't have the chance to do that. This book ties together all the obvious benefits of taking care of plants with a much bigger benefit: taking care of plants makes you a more life-giving person. Through colorful vignettes, Oakes shows how our chlorophyllous friends can be a gateway to a greater life.
Container succulents: creative ideas for beginners by Kentaro Kuroda and Ayako Eifuku
Container Succulents is the perfect book for container gardening beginners who don't have a lot of space to work with. The beautiful photographs of succulent decor are sure to inspire your inner gardener, interior designer and all-around house plant lover.
Learn how to care for and display individual succulent varieties, or get creative with groupings that combine multiple plants with complementary colors, shapes and sizes. Whether you prefer a garden that is simple or intricate, this book covers all the basics of container selection and succulent care to ensure healthy plants.
Each arrangement includes a "floor plan" showing you how to mix the colors, shapes and textures in ways that are pleasing to the eye and healthy for the plants. A reference guide to over 120 succulent varieties explains the different plants' characteristics to help you create compatible groupings.
Even succulent beginners can get involved in this low-maintenance gardening trend. With the help of this inspirational guide, anyone can have a beautiful succulent garden in no time at all!
Plant parenting: easy ways to make more houseplants, vegetables, and flowers by Leslie F. Halleck
Do you have a passion for houseplants? A desire to grow more tomatoes? Do you want a garden bursting with colorful flowers? No matter what kind of plant fan you are, it's easy to make more of your favorite plants--and it can be done for free! Plant Parenting is a beginner-friendly introduction to plant propagation. Leslie F. Halleck details the basic tools necessary, demystifies seed starting and saving, and shares easy-to-follow instructions for the most practical techniques. She also provides additional information on controlling pests and diseases and transplanting seedlings and cuttings. Charming, richly illustrated, and accessible, Plant Parenting is for anyone looking to make more of their favorite plants.
