Question
QUESTION: I have no gardening experience.  (Unfortunately I have environmental allergies and lack patience.)
We recently rebuilt our home and so our "landscape" is a "clear canvas".  
We do not have the funds to have a professional landscaper come in and design for us.
I would like to try my hand at gardening, but I am very wary.  
Can you suggest books/magazines/websites that I might access to gather "book knowledge"?
What "zone" am I in?
What are my "best bets" for success?
Thanks so much for any help you might offer.


ANSWER: My friend, I can write a whole book to answer your question - but it would be much better if you would please followup your question WITHOUT checking the 'Private' box.  That way we can help other people with the same questions.

Meantime I'll answer your short-answer questions.

You are in USDA Zone 7.  Which is a very nice Zone.  Not too hot, not too cold.  Across Long Island Sound, in Connecticut, you are looking at Zone 6.  Can't grow Camellias there (without a lot of trouble).

Next, You don't need any books on this.  You don't want to know how to grow Grass in the mountains, or in Arizona, or in a Xeriscape.  Besides, a lot of those books are written by the Fertilizer/Pesticide companies to push their own products.  Your best resource will be one of the premier agricultural think tanks in the world, Cornell University School of Agriculture.  Their Cooperative Extension service is ne plus ultra.

First thing you're going to need is the right tools.  You must have a Lawnmower, a Spreader, a Rake, and a Composter (ordered at Whole Foods Markets in the Spring, by check, at a discount).

I can go on, but you should Follow-up here so that we can tell the rest of the planet how to start up a Lawn, too.  You're not the only homeowner in the world who has this problem.  And you will not be the last.

By the way, your name is not part of the public profile here, so no one will know who you are if I don't tell them.

rsvp - and thanks for your question.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much!
Actually, I have grass, that is about the only thing I do have though.  I should have been more specific - I will check out the Cornell Coop Extension.  I want to plant some annuals/biannuals and maybe some bushes.
Thanks so much again!

Answer
Step 1: Get a soil test.

This is the step no one wants to take.  Let's face it, what fun is it to go out and put some dirt in cup, then mail the stuff at the Post Office?  And you pay for this?  Then you have to wait 2 weeks for the 'analysis' while doing nothing?  Who cares what's in it -- as long as the Grass grows, isn't that enough?

So let me give you the short explanation of why this is the MOST IMPORTANT STEP.  The one you NEED to make intelligent decisions.

Look at it this way.  If you were going to make a cake, you would get out the cookbook and find a recipe, look at the Ingredients, make a list and then head to the supermarket.

But there's one thing you would do before you left.  You would look in the cupboard to see what you have.

Do you have Flour?  If you already have Flour, you don't need to buy any more.

Eggs?  Maybe you already have Eggs.  Scratch those off the shopping list.

Now, let's see: What's the temperature of the oven?

You didn't test for that?  How are you going to set the oven
temperature if you don't test it first?  How are you going to bake a cake, neighbor, if you don't know how hot the oven is?

You need to find that out!

What's the pH of your soil?

You don't know!

A soil test will tell you what's in the cupboard, what's the oven temperature, how long was the cake in there, if you have Eggs and Butter and Flour... These are things you NEED to know.  You can't grow wonderful Green Grass without this information.

Know what else?  A Soil Test will SAVE YOU MONEY!

Because you won't be buying all those things at the Supermarket that you already have!

Not all Soil is created equal.  This is a fact.  Does your Soil test high for Phosphorus?  Then you don't have to waste a penny on more Phosphorus!

Now, neighbor, do you know why MOST Americans who work on their Lawns put down an all-purpose Fertilizer and Lime on their Soil?  Sometimes Gypsum?  Because most of these people aren't getting a Soil Test.  So they got the idea from somewhere.  Where?

Take a guess.

If you guessed Scotts TV commercials, you win a prize.  Because Scotts sponsors garden shows and spends a fortune on pretty houses with perfect Grass to shoot their commercials.  And then they tell TV viewers that Scotts products are the way to get that Lawn perfect.  And THIS is why people put down all that fertilizer and other stuff.  Not because they NEED it.  But because Scotts TOLD THEM they needed it.

How would Scotts know?

Good question.  Because not only does most Grass NOT need those fertilizers, most Grass is better off without them!  Overdosing on a fertilizer risks burning the Grass, for one thing.  But the fertilizers are bad for the Soil, as well.  And to make it even worse, if you put down elements you don't need, you are probably going to interfere with healthy access to other necessary elements.  Meantime, the high Nitrogen doses pump up the Grass blades without strengthening the root system needed to support that Grass.  That causes weak Grass growth, which is easily attacked by disease-causing Fungi in the Soil.

I could go on.

But the bottom line is simply that you have to get a soil test.

Which is easy.  Cornell scientists will do one in their laboratories.  And send you the results.  It costs more to fill a small car at the gas station than it costs to get a Soil test.  Here's the contact info for Cornell:

http://www.css.cornell.edu/soiltest/soil_testing/forms/index.asp

But...

YOU CANNOT DO THAT NOW.  Wait until the Soil has warmed up in the Spring.  You'll get more accurate results.  Just have everything ready to work on - and read the instructions, 'How to take a Soil Sample'.

Next Step:  All that equipment you need.  Odds are, given your location, you have a lot of property -- minimum 1/4 acre, probably a lot more, possibly a whole lot more.  So you are not going to use a push mower for this task.  Mowing your Lawn is one of the most important favors you can do for your Grass.  It's good for your Lawn.  Faithfully mowing it right keeps your Grass strong, keeps the Weeds weak.

We don't have any idea what kind of Grass we are growing, do we?

Because if you have lots of Sun, you will be reviving your Grass if you over-seed it in the Spring with a good, recently developed Seed.  Throw some Clover into that mix -- it will pour Nitrogen into your Soil ALL SUMMER LONG, no Fertilizers needed.

About those Annuals and Bushes, have you ever shopped on the internet at Bluestone Perennials?

Bluestone has been around a while.  They have some very sharp prices on a LOT of different flowers and shrubs.  Everything is delivered to your door, and guaranteed or your money back (and I have used that option with them):

www.bluestoneperennials.com

There is an interactive program that allows you to put your area in, and describes that flowers/shrubs/trees you might want to grow based on how much Sun or Shade you have, the colors you want, etc.

Another favorite of mine: Graceful Gardens:

www.gracefulgardens.com

They take orders for Spring, and their stock is sensational.  They specialize in the King of Summer Flowers, the Delphinium.  But they also sell Annuals by the tray.  A first rate operation.

Finally, don't forget Seed.  Renee's Garden just mailed out their Spring catalogs.  How about growing some heirloom/striped/purple Tomatoes this year?

I'll shut up now.  Sorry, when I get started it's not easy to stop.  Thanks for your question - and your Followup.  Any more, please write again.  Good meeting you.