Summertime Garden Projects

            Now is the time to spruce up the yard and create an outdoor oasis for your enjoyment. Here are some books to help you reach that goal.

            The Gardener’s Guide to Weather and Climate, written by Michael Allaby, will help you understand how the weather (daily changing set of conditions) and climate (long-term weather averages) affect your garden and the successes and failures of its plants. Methods of protecting against harsh conditions also are given. Color photos and a glossary are provided.

            Gardening for Birds, Butterflies, and Bees: Everything You Need to Know to Create a Wildlife Habitat is presented by the editors of Birds & Blooms magazine and published by Reader’s Digest. Information is given on what annuals, perennials, grasses and vines, and trees and shrubs will attract wildlife to your yard. This is followed by information on the 70 bird species and 35 butterfly species you might see in your garden. Color photos and an index are provided.

            How to Mulch: Save Water, Feed the Soil, and Suppress Weeds is written by Stu Campbell. He explains how mulching, done correctly, can be beneficial for your vegetables, fruits, and flowers, and what types of mulch (wood chip, plastic sheets, living mulches, etc.) are best for each.  

            Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces is written by Daniel Winterbottom, a landscape architect, and Amy Wagenfeld, an occupational therapist. They provide ideas and designs for gardens promoting movement and physical rehabilitation, those for solace and comfort, those for promoting learning and sensory activities, and more. References, color photos, and an index support the information within the book.