Easy-care gardening. - book reviews

Sunset, May, 1988

Easy-Care Gardening

Watering less is a plus--not only does it save a valuable resource, it saves you time, too, especially if you water by hand. Tips on designing a garden that looks good but isn't time-consuming to maintain or water fill a new 96-page Sunset book, Easy-Care Gardening (Lane Publishing Co., Menlo Park, Calif., 1988; $6.95).

The book features a 56-page encyclopedia of annuals, perennials, ground covers, shrubs, trees, and vines that require less care, and often less water.

For example, it lists eight flowering annuals with moderate water needs: annual vinca (Catharanthus roseus), calendula, celosia, Gaillardia pulchella, geraniums, lantana, portulaca, and verbena. Once established, they can go 7 to 10 days or more between waterings and still bloom well (most annuals need more frequent watering to flower consistently). In mild-winter regions of the West, geraniums, lantana, and verbena will survive year after year as perennials if left in the ground.

To keep the water needs for all plants--not just flowering annuals--at a minimum, prepare the soil before planting by working in a 2- to 3-inch layer of organic matter. Install drip irrigation, and use mulch. Sunset's Easy-Care Gardening can help you with all of these steps.

Photo: Time-saving ideas for attractive, low-maintenance gardens fill this new guide

Photo: Feathery blooms of plume-type celosia come in worm shades of red, orange, and yellow. Plants love heat, meet little water

Photo: Ground-hugging, blood red verbena blooms all summer. Other types come in blue, red, pink, purple, and white

Photo: Annual vinca 'Polka Dot' ins't fussy, and it stands up to heat