By William Scheick

Book Reviewer

Natalie Bernhisel Robinson. Living Wreaths: 20 Beautiful Projects for Gifts and Décor. Gibbs Smith, 2014. 128 pp. $19.99.

Josie Jeffery. The Mix and Match Guide to Companion Planting. Ten Speed Press, 2014. 131 pp. $17.99.

Keith Reid. Improving Your Soil: A Practical Guide to Soil Management for the Serious Home Gardener. Firefly Books, 2014. 272 pp. $29.95.

Living Wreaths is so beautifully produced it will visually delight its readers whether or not they have time to create such floral art. And I am sure that after perusing this book, some gardeners who might have initially doubted they would make a living wreath will in fact be inspired to give it a try.

The range of possibilities is amazing. It includes gorgeous succulent-based designs as well as lavender, herb, ivy, strawberry and even cherry tomato projects.

The easiest of all, in my opinion, is a spider plant wreath. It gives a surprisingly rich effect with no hint of just how easy this wreath is to create and maintai  n.

You have to see this book to believe what is possible with living wreaths. Living Wreaths is so dazzling that once you glance at it, you will find it hard not to want it.

The format of The Mix and Match Guide to Companion Gardening is fascinating in a different way. Most of its pages are cut into three segments, with a different plant depicted on each of these thick strips.

Each middle strip features a photo with data on a main crop. Each top strip identifies a plant that potentially supports a crop's above-ground needs (such as attracting beneficial insects), while each bottom strip identifies a plant that contributes to a crop's below-ground needs (such as providing soil nutrients).

By turning these strips and matching color-coded dots, the reader can easily learn which plants companion well and which do not.

There is more to this book than might seem at first. A considerable amount of thought has gone into its presentation of organic ways to "deter pests, prevent disease, improve flavor and increase yields in your vegetable garden."

Soil-matters are addressed in this book, too, but Improving Your Soil provides a full-length consideration of the subject. "My goal in writing this book," Keith Reid explains, "is to demystify soil and offer practical methods that will allow you to grow a better garden."

"But I also hope," the author adds, "this book will open your eyes to the many wonders of what goes on under your feet." For instance, did you know that soil goes through seasonal changes no less dramatic than our plants?

That's just one insight from Reid's eye-opening discussion of how soil "is an integral part of all terrestrial cycles." The trick to successful gardening is "to harness these cycles for our benefit."

Improving Your Soil features a reader-friendly discussion, organization and format - feats indeed, considering the wealth of scientific information included in this book. I don't think the topic of soil can be covered better than Keith Reid has managed here.

The Hill Country Gardener

The purple martins are already finishing up nesting and breeding for the year. They will hang around for a month or two more but do not breed in mid-summer. Once they move on, lower the martin house to prevent several more generations of English sparrows and starlings.

Change your hummingbird feeder sugar water every week once the warm weather arrives.

Wait to mid-month to plant periwinkles.

Mandevilla, bougainvillea and Chinese hibiscus are great patio plants.

Deadhead (pinch/cut off) spent flowers from perennial blooming plants to encourage more blooms.

As the weather gets warmer, regular fertilizing of your pot plants with a water soluble product will bring rich color to your environment.

Roses should be blooming with color. Continue to fertilize them for continued blooming.

Let your wildflowers go to seed (probably turning brown) before mowing.

Fertilize container plants and hanging basket plants on a regular basis with a water-soluble fertilizer.

Peaches are ready to harvest when the base color changes from green to yellow.

Pick peaches, apples and plums as soon as they ripen.

Keep suckers pruned off your fruit trees - they come from the root stock and will take over if unattended.

Keep fruit trees well watered as long as there is fruit on the tree.

If you collected bluebonnet seeds, hold them in paper bags in the fridge until September/October.

Caladium are to be planted now. Wait until the soil warms and night temperatures are above 70 F. Caladiums prefer a loose, well drained soil with plenty of organic matter.

This is not a good month to prune oak trees. If you must prune, be sure to paint with a latex-based paint immediately after cutting.

Be careful with string trimmers around young trees. One trip around the bark at the base could kill it.

Leaf miners make translucent trails in the leaves of Texas red oak and other plants. They can be controlled early with Bt or Spinosad, but usually are not a major problem.

Don't bag those lawn clippings.

If you're starting a new Bermuda grass lawn, use 2-3 lbs. of seed per 1,000 sq. ft. on well prepared soil and water twice a day.

Your St. Augustine grass will fill in drought-killed areas quickly if you can water regularly.

Place several tuna or cat food cans around the lawn and measure how long it takes the sprinklers to put 3/4-inch in the cans. That's how long you set the timer on the sprinkler system.

If you didn't get the lawn fertilized in April, there's still time if you do it early.

Tomatoes are ready to pick when they change from green to green-white color. For maximum production, pick them at this stage and let them ripen to a red color on the kitchen counter.

Side dress vegetables with 1 cup slow release lawn fertilizer (2 cups of organic fertilizer) per 10 feet of row every 6 weeks.

Harvest, harvest, harvest. If you don't, production will slow or stop.

Onions are ready to harvest when the green tops fall over. Pull them up and let them dry on the garden surface for two days before collecting them.

Austin: The Garden Club of Austin's annual show & plant sale will be held June 7 and 8 at Zilker Park Botanical Gardens, 2220 Barton Springs Rd., Austin. The juried plant, vegetable & flower show is open to all amateur gardeners. Show contest plants will be accepted Friday, June 5, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday, June 7, from 8 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. Plant sale hours will be Saturday from 9 until 5 and Sunday from 10 until 5. Enter your favorite plant or vegetable or buy some beautiful, very well priced items at the plant sale. More information is available at www.thegardenclubofaustin.org. Click on events and scroll down to the garden show. 

Austin: The Austin Pond Society will host its 20th Annual Pond Tour in June and will feature ponds and gardens at more than 20 locations in North, Central and South Austin. Ponds of every size and description are included in the tour, along with waterfalls, streams, and fountains. Some gardens are Certified Wildlife Habitats, and most have native plants.Tour Dates and Times: Saturday, June 7 - South and Central Austin (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) Saturday Night - Night pond locations (8 p.m. to 10 p.m.) Sunday, June 8 - North Austin (9 .am. to 5 p.m.) Wristbands for the three events are $15 in advance and can be purchased using PayPal at austinpondsociety.org; at Emerald Garden, Hill Country Water Gardens, McIntire's Garden Center, Shoal Creek Nursery, and The Great Outdoors. Wristbands can be purchased at each site during the event for $20. Wristbands for children 12 and under are free with a paid adult. Volunteers who work a four-hour shift on either day of the tour will receive entry to all of the tour sites, a tour T-shirt, and an invitation to the SPLASH! Party on May 31. Sign up at volunteers@austinpondsociety.org. For more information visit austinpondsociety.org.

• Many, many practical and timely garden tips that are for Texas - not Maine or California!
• Organic, earth friendly tips to make your garden grow and prosper
• Lots of space to record your own activities for future reference
• Planting dates and tips for vegetables, flowers, herbs, fruit and lawns

The Vegetable Book

By Dr. Sam Cotner

Finally, back by popular demand and in its fourth printing, the most informative and comprehensive "how-to" book on vegetable gardening in Texas (also, suitable for most other areas of the South) written by the late, great Dr. Sam Cotner, former head of horticulture at Texas A&M University and lifelong gardener. This interesting read has over 370 pages of detailed information on every crop, from Asparagus to Watermelon including problem/solving sections for each vegetable. If you want to maximize your enjoyment and success growing vegetables in Texas, this book is a "must have," whether you are a beginner or a seasoned gardener. Price $34.02

By William D. Adams

The best thing for tomato enthusiasts since the tomato itself! Adams draws on more than thirty years of experience to provide a complete, step-by-step guide to success in the tomato patch. Learn everything from soil preparation, planting, feeding, caging and watering. Liberally sprinkled with the author's easy humor and illustrated with his own excellent photographs, this must-have book has everything you'll need to assure a bumper crop! 189 pages. Lots of color photographs! Price: $31.94

($15.82 if ordered separately)

Remit payment to:

TG Books * PO Box 9005 * Waco, TX 76714

or call Toll-Free 1-800-727-9020

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