Make Sure How-To Books Speak to California Climate
The end of August and the beginning of September are somewhat like the dead of winter. That is, any gardener with good sense is indoors--out of the weather--which is often hot and smoggy. Early morning is the time to take care of chores such as watering and weeding, but the rest of the day is best spent reading or making plans for the fall planting season just ahead.
There is no shortage of gardening books within the past few years; serious collectors are rapidly running out of shelf space. But California gardeners must beware: Most of these books are coming from Britain or the East Coast, and while the pictures are pretty, the advice is perplexing and the plants pictured are puzzling.
There are good ideas to be gleaned from these pretty volumes, to be sure, but even an experienced gardener must rely on books that speak to local climate and conditions. For instance, you do not want to add lime to any Southern California soil, and hardiness is seldom a factor. (In garden jargon, hardy refers to cold-tolerance, not whether or not it is a tough plant, and lime is only for acid soils; ours are alkaline).
Though I have accumulated hundreds of garden books, only a few sit close at hand and are covered with dirty fingerprints from constant use. The most dog-eared is the “Sunset New Western Garden Book.” This is the bible of West Coast gardening and, while it has few pretty pictures, the “new” edition does illustrate one representative plant from every genus.
More importantly, it talks about how to grow these plants in the West. Maps divide all of Southern California into climate “zones” and these zones appear after each plant listing. Find the zone where you live, and then check to see if the plant you are reading about does well in your zone.
You can probably grow more tender plants than Sunset recommends, so don’t be afraid to push the limits a little. It appears that since these zones were worked out by the University of California, our climate has warmed about 10 degrees in winter--thanks to all the paving and rooftops that act as a heat sink.
If you have never read the chapters on basic-gardening practices in the front, do so--they will get your garden off to a sound start or help you get back on course.
Right next to the “Western Garden Book” on my shelf is what I consider to be the perfect companion, HP Books’ “Western Home Landscaping.” Written by Southern California landscape architect Ken Smith, it picks up where Sunset leaves off, telling in understandable terms how to plan and build a garden. It even includes good estimates of what each part will cost.
Both books have good lists of plants that help one remember the possibilities when it comes time to select plants. Smith’s lists also include the plant descriptions and photos on the same page, so you don’t have to look it up, as you do in Sunset.
Another good HP Book is “Western Fruit, Berries & Nuts” by Lance Walheim and Robert L. Stebbins, which has the best and most up-to-date information on what specific varieties will grow in Southern California’s unusual climate. Don’t plant any fruit without first consulting this reference, because many of the most popular varieties don’t succeed here.
HP’s “Bulbs, How to Select, Grow and Enjoy” by George Harmon Scott, is another good choice for Californians. It is the only Western reference that deals with all of the unusual bulbs that are not hardy in the rest of the country but thrive here. The how-to information is excellent: If you’ve always wondered how people grow handsome tulips in containers, this tells how--and it isn’t easy.
