Recommendation for Gardening Primer or Website??

[annasmom]

Can anyone recommend a good website or book for someone who knows nothing about gardening. I have checked out some websites, but they seem too advanced for me with their elaborate garden plans. I need a step-by-step guide to gardening, for example, "It's the end of March, do X. Next week, do Y." I am really that pathetic! Our yards are actually landscaped very nicely (we just moved in last Summer), I would just like to keep them that way, and maybe plant a few flowering and/or vegetable plants here & there.

Oh, and if anyone can point me to some sites re roses in particular that would be great. I have some really beautiful rose bushes, that I was thinking about getting rid of by the end of last Summer because of how much work they entail. They are beautiful though, and huge, and they flowered until really late November, so down deep I know it would be horrible to get rid of them.

Thanks so much!!

[kristenk]

I don't have any specific recommendations, but definitely try to find a website about your particular part of the country. A lot of the gardening books out there don't help me too much b/c I live in Texas and conditions are just a little different. Do any of your local radio shows have a gardening show? Does your state university have an agriculture program, by any chance? Sorry I don't have any specific answers for you, but our yard started doing great when we followed recommendations in a DFW-area gardening book! Good luck!

[brittone2]

Try the gardening forums at www.thegardenweb.com

[mclianne]

I second the garden web forum recommendation. I read it when I started out gardening and learned a lot. There are experts gardeners and most of them are happy to share their knowledge. I do recommend searching for answers to specific questions first before you post a question though. Some do get a little testy if it is something they have answered many times before...

And depending on what kind of roses you have, they may or may not require lots of work. The hybrid teas (what most people think of when talking about roses) can require loads of work. But some of the floribundas or grandifloras (roses that have lots of flowers on one stem, like a bouquet on one stem) can be quite easy to care for. The garden web forum has a great rose forum...

[niccig]

I'm in the exact same position as you. Moved in Feb 2005, beautiful landscaped garden and the little I know I picked up by watching my parents when I was a kid, so only bits and pieces. I have too many roses to count, in fact I don't want to know how many I have.

My advice:
1. see if someone from the local nursery (not LOWES or Home Depot) can come out for a consultation, at the very least to tell you what each plant is.
2. get some good gardening books. Sunset publishes gardening books by region. I have the Western book and it's my encylopedia with A-z of plants index. Talk to your local nursery about recommendations. I've also got one that is month-by-month for southern california - I need to look at it more than I do.
3. keep going back to the nursery and ask questions.
4. I have a few books on roses, each talks about the same things but with different pictures and explanations, so I don't use just one. They're outside in the garage, I'll try to remember and post the titles. Please email me if I forget to do it tomorrow. One website I know about is www.rosemania.com
5. Don't get rid of your roses, once you get a system down they're not difficult plants. My problem is that I have so many (80!) so it adds up for me. our routine: DH and I de-head the roses once a week (or bi-weekly if we're busy) when in bloom, fertilize every 4-6 weeks if I remember, I have a natural rememdy that I'm supposed to spray once a month or so for pests/scale etc, but I often don't get to this. I want lovely roses, not show-roses so I don't do everything as often as I should. I did spend a lot of time in Jan. pruning them back, the previous owner didn't really prune so it took me a while. I think this will cut back on the number of blooms, but the bushes are no longer unwiedly, and hey with 80 bushes there will still be plenty of flowers. This year I'm going to mark on the calendar when I fertilized/sprayed and when it's due again as a visual reminder

We're still trying to figure out our garden. Our biggest problem is how much to water and the lawn - still can't work these two out.

Good luck. And have fun.

[MrsZaz]

Ok -- I must be doing something wrong. When I select the link I get brought to a web page that says 'thegardenweb' but it has nothing to do with gardening. Can anyone help?

Colleen

[writermama]

I liked this book, incidentally called The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch, for a basic and thorough introduction to gardening:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0894803166/sr=8-1/qid=1143075073/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1647323-1963000?%5Fencoding=UTF8

A professional landscaper friend recommended this book as an excellent step-by-step manual for care of existing plants when I "inherited" a landscaped yard:

Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques (Hardcover)
by Tracy DiSabato-Aust
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881924148/sr=8-1/qid=1143075327/ref=sr_1_1/103-1647323-1963000?%5Fencoding=UTF8

I also liked the Sunset regional guides (got them from my library).

You could also try looking for a "Gardener's Almanac" or "Gardener's Calendar" for your region -- these will list the frost-free date and have reminders for when to prune back roses, divide bulbs and transplant, etc. You might find one online sponsored by a nearby university agricultural department, or agricultural "extension" program, or sometimes even larger garden centers or display gardens will have them (or at least sell them in their gift shops.)

Hope this helps and happy gardening! (Edited for spelling)

[mclianne]

try this...

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/

[annasmom]

WOW, thanks so much ladies!

You certainly have given me a lot to consider and read! Our State U. has a master gardener progam and hotline, so I am going to call them to to see if there is a guide to this local specifically.

And, Mum to B., 80 rose bushes, are you kidding?!?!?! I think I would faint!

[MrsZaz]

Thank you - that makes lot more sense!

Colleen

[niccig]

Yep, it's 80. I counted when I pruned in January. It took me 3 full days, but I'm hoping it goes faster next time as they were very overgrown. We bought the house in middle-winter, everything was dormant and the roses are planted close together so what you think is one bush is actually two. They do look stunning when in full bloom. They're planted along the side fence beside the road and local walking route. Everyone comments on them and I let neighbours cut blooms, there's plenty to spare.

Here are the 2 roses books I mostly use:

Foolproof Guide to Growing Roses by Field Roebuck, published by Creative Homeowner

Ortho's All About Roses, by Dr. Tommy cairns, published by Ortho Books

I also have the Dummies Guide to Roses.

HTH
Nicci