The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden: Review and Giveaway

If you've every looked at your front yard with a sigh of dismay and thought to yourself, "I don't even know where to begin," this book's for you.

Landscaping the front of your house can be intimidating. If you live on a busy street corner like I do, your successes, and to a more troubling degree, your failures are out front for all the world to see.
Gardening itself can seem like a mysterious business that demands skill and a knowledge of plants.
But what if you don't know a lot about gardening? Where do you even begin to choose plants, trees and shrubs? And let's not forget all the work involved in creating a front garden! Looking at a vast expanse of nondescript lawn, reworking it into a appealing garden can seem like a very daunting, labor intensive task.

From The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden by Sally Roth. Photography by Matt Bartmann © 2017 Published by Timber Press. 

Excerpted with the permission of the publisher.  

The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden breaks what seems like a huge task into smaller, more manageable projects. Rather than feeling over whelmed by the prospect of landscaping the entire yard, each of the book's chapters focuses on one specific area; the entrance to your home, the tree in the middle of the lawn, the corner of your lot, and so on, through a total of ten projects. As well as improving the curb appeal of your home overall, a few of the chapters address common front yard challenges; disguising eyesores like a utility poles, electrical boxes or fire hydrants and addressing a shady area at the base of a large yard tree. 

This practical, common-sense approach grew out of personal experience. One Christmas author Sally Roth and her photographer-husband Matt Bartmann presented a plan to Matt's father and step-mother to makeover their front garden as a gift. With limited time and budget, Sally and Matt focused on one small, specific area at a time. With each chapter, the book follows the transformation and showcases other possible interpretations of same project.

From The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden by Sally Roth. Photography by Matt Bartmann © 2017 Published by Timber Press. 

Excerpted with the permission of the publisher.  

Every one of the ten projects is accompanied with inspirational photographs of similar gardens and an illustrated plan complete with a list of plants. Throughout the book there are helpful tips, plant lists and suggestions to help you save time and money. There is even a fun quiz to help you identify your gardening style.

If you are concerned that landscaping a front yard in such a piecemeal fashion will result in a garden that doesn't work as a whole, don't worry. The author guides you through the process of pulling cues from one completed project and applying them to the next.

From The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden by Sally Roth. Photography by Matt Bartmann © 2017 Published by Timber Press. 

Excerpted with the permission of the publisher.  

From The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden by Sally Roth. Photography by Matt Bartmann © 2017 Published by Timber Press. 

Excerpted with the permission of the publisher.  

From The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden by Sally Roth. Photography by Matt Bartmann © 2017 Published by Timber Press. 

Excerpted with the permission of the publisher.  

Grand gardens and glamorous closeups of flowers are beautiful, but they don't relay much useful information to a suburban homeowner. The photographs in this book beauitiful but practical at the same time. You're going to able to look at the sample front gardens and identify with them. You'll find yourself thinking, "That's nice. I could do that."

In a nutshell, The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden is a great confidence booster. It's going to show step by step how to make your front garden look terrific. As Sally writes,"Your eye is the best gauge of your design. Give it credit and listen to what it's telling you."

Thomas Allen & Sons has kindly given me a copy of The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden to give away. Because this book will go to a winner through the mail, I will have to limit entry in the draw to readers in Canada and the USA. 

Please leave a comment below, if you would like to be included in the book draw. The draw will remain open for the until May 14th. If you are not a blogger, you can enter to win by leaving a comment on the Three Dogs in a Garden Facebook page. You are also welcome to enter by sending me an email (jenc_art@hotmail.com).

About the Author:

Sally Roth is the author of numerous gardening books. She is a former contributing editor of Fine Gardening magazine and a contributing editor of Birds and Blooms magazine. She has provided designs and consultant services for everything from rooftop city gardens to bird-friendly backyards throughout the USA. She lives with her husband Matt Bartmann in the high rocky mountains of Colorado. Visit the author's website. Find The Beginner's Guide to Starting a Garden on Amazon.

Creating a Garden in Miniature

I came away from my recent trip to Nova Scotia with a renewed fascination for some of 

plant world's smallest members.

The rockgarden in Truro, Nova Scotia

Back home in Ontario, I have two miniature gardens that I created a few years ago using old concrete birdbaths. 

I like the birdbaths because they bring these delicate looking plants up where you can best admire their texture and diminutive blooms.

Both birdbaths have homes in my back garden. Usually I remove the saucer-like top of each birdbath and put them in a protected spot to overwinter. Last fall was hectic, however. I managed to remove only one of the two birdbath tops, and only got as far as placing it on the ground.  As luck would have it, a winter long covering of snow protected this saucer. 

Unfortunately, the other birdbath top was left on its stand all winter and took a beating. Harsh winds and extremely cold temperatures ended up killing all its plants.

Thankfully the birdbath top on the ground sprang back to life this spring.

The moral of this story is: In areas as far north as zone 6b, all birdbath planters definitely 

need some sort of winter protection!

Inspired by my trip home to Nova Scotia, I decided to create a third birdbath planter for the front garden.

Like most birdbaths, this terra cotta birdbath comes in two pieces. (purchased at Terra Nurseries in Milton, ON)

(Terra cotta will crack in winter, so this birdbath will need to be stored in a cool, dry place like a  heated garage overwinter. So far (knock wood!), I have had not problems with my concrete birdbaths cracking in winter.)

To start your birdbath planter, fill the top saucer halfway with fine gravel. I used pea gravel, but if you can find a finer gravel, so much the better. (Note: I have never drilled a hole in the bottom of my birdbaths for drainage. The gravel alone seems to provide enough drainage.)

Find yourself an empty pot and mix together equal portions of fine gravel and a good quality top soil. Gauge the amount of topsoil/gravel mixture you need according to the size of your birdbath.

Now pour the gravel and topsoil mixture on top of your first layer of pea gravel. Ideally when you are finished pouring, the soil/gravel mixture should be just below the top lip of the birdbath.

Now you are ready to start planting.

This particular birdbath planter will be in full sun. 

There is a wide array of plants you could choose from for sunny conditions. I could imagine a birdbath planted with something as simple as tiny white alyssum or trailing mini-petunias could be quite nice.

For my own birdbath planter, I chose perennials: Thrift 'Nifty Thrifty' (top left), Scotch Moss, Sagina Subulata 'Aurea' (top right), Elfin Thyme (bottom left), and Crane's Bill Geranium, Erodium 'Bishop's Form'. I also used (not show here): Pink's 'Brilliant', Dianthus deloides and Adriatic Bellflower, Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold', Wooly thyme and a tray of succulents.

If you have shade, fear not. There are still lots of plants you can choose from.

There are small scale ferns and Creeping Jenny (as seen here).

How about using Ajuga, 'Chocolate Chip' (top left), Dwarf Goatsbeard, Aruncus aethusifolius (top right), Lamium 'Red Nancy' (bottom left) or Creeping Speedwell, Veronica filiformis (bottom right)?

Miniature hostas are another group of plants you might want to consider for shade conditions. (Warning: these hosta are adorable, but very pricy! Maybe get a gardening friend to buy a second variety and trade pieces.) 

Hosta 'Ruffled Mouse Ears' (top left), Hosta 'Cherish' (top right), Hosta 'Mini Skirt' (bottom left), and Hosta 'Cracker Crumbs' (bottom right). Who comes up with these names anyway? Hosta 'Cracker Crumbs'. How cute is that?

Adriatic Bellflower, Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold'

Begin planting along the outer circumference of the top saucer. Plants that will trail or spill over the lip of the birdbath are a nice choice. 

As you dig down carefully, you will displace some of the soil and gravel to make room for the roots of the potted plants you are adding. 

Spread the displaced soil evenly, slightly mounding it up in centre. In doing so, you are creating a bit of a rounded mushroom shape. (If you need to, you can always discard some excess soil mix back into the terra cotta pot where you created your soil/gavel mixture.)

Top dress any gaps between your plants with a sprinkling of more gravel. Add any decorations you want. I added a trio of little ceramic mushrooms purchased at the Dollarstore.

Water well until your plants are established and enjoy.

Here are two other birdbath planters that might inspire you. This birdbath is filled with an assortment of hostas and has Creeping Jenny spilling over the sides.

This birdbath is a shady spot is planted with ferns and Creeping Jenny.

What really makes it special however, is not the plants. It's the wonderful smooth, black pebbles.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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