California Month-By-Month Gardening - by Claire Splan (Paperback)

About the Book

As the sister manual to our California Getting Started Garden Guide, California Month-by-Month Gardening dedicates a thoroughly detailed chapter to each month of the year, telling you what you should plant, precisely when you should plant it, and how to care for it.

Book Synopsis

It may be the Golden State, but your garden can be any color you want it to be. California is already famous as one of the world's leading fruit and vegetable producers--but a glance at a valley oak or California buckwheat is just a small glimpse of the native plants the state has to offer the home gardener. Written by Alameda resident and longtime gardening journalist Claire Splan, California Month-by-Month Gardening is the sister manual to our California Getting Started Garden Guide. Inside, Splan dedicates a thoroughly detailed chapter to each month of the year, telling you what species you should consider planting, precisely when you should plant them, and how to care for them for maximum health. Within each month are recommendations for annuals, bulbs, lawns (and lawn alternatives), natives, perennials, roses, shrubs, trees, vines, and groundcovers. An introductory overview of California's microclimates and soil types, along with a primer on general gardening techniques and a color-coded USDA zone map, prepares you to make your best effort as a gardener in California. Splan's instructions go much further than just the basics, as you learn how to plan, plant, care for, water, fertilize, and troubleshoot your diverse garden spaces during every single month of the year. Fully illustrated with beautiful color photography of the how to steps and plants, California Month-by-Month Gardening keeps your garden prosperous through all types of California weather and terrain. For our full introduction to gardening in California, we also recommend companion books California Getting Started Garden Guide and California Fruit & Vegetable Gardening.

About the Author

Claire Splan, a freelance writer and editor, is the author of California Month-by-Month Gardening and California Fruit and Vegetable Gardening, both published by Cool Springs Press. A member of the Garden Writers Association, Claire writes about gardening on her blog, An Alameda Garden, and has written for several garden-related websites. Claire has done presentations on various gardening topics at the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, the UC Botanical Garden, the Los Angeles County Arboretum, the Southern California Spring Garden Show, and numerous garden clubs and other venues; and been interviewed on radio shows such as GardenLife, Bob Tanem in the Garden, and Gardening Today.