Gardening for city slickers

zilo

My wife and I bought a house a few months back and now that spring is here it's time to start paying attention to the landscaping. Unfortunately the last time I worked a mower was 15 years ago, and I've never grown anything more sophisticated than a potato in a glass of water.

Our landscaping is new, the house was finished in November and the last bit of landscaping in the back yard is wrapping up now. We've been paying a guy to mow it but we're going to take over once the reel mower I just ordered arrives (our yard is big for LA, small for any normal place). We have dwarf fescue sod, a bunch of ground cover in beds of bark mulch, and various kinds of flowers. We live in the hills north of Los Angeles so it gets dry in the summers.

I'm terrified that I'll forget to do something fundamental and all of our new grass and plants will die. I have no idea how or when to apply fertilizer or plant food. We'd like to plant some flowers (daisies?) around a pot fountain I built but I have very little idea of what to buy to even get started. We've also got some narrow (<1 foot) strips of dirt to fill with... something. They're down the side of the house that doesn't get a lot of sun, surrounding a wooden box that has some dwarf fruit trees in it.

I'm looking for resources on gardening for beginners but not coming up with much. I'd also appreciate any suggestions on what would be reasonably idiot-proof to plant on the side of the house. My best idea so far is to stake down some trellis and grow vines but that's as far as I got. I'm willing and able to apply some elbow grease but before I go buy Gardening for Dummies I figured I would beseech the oracles of H&A.

Pel

My experience with gardening is this: Find a plant or plants you think are interesting or attractive, learn whether that plant will work with your budget and situation, plant it and see if it works. Over time, with a bit of trial and error and frequent questions for my local garden center, my garden has often survived and occasionally even flourished. I wouldn't experiment with vines until you verify what you're dealing with: certain vines have their own agendas and can grow far beyond what you intend unless they are carefully groomed, and sometimes even then.

MetroidZoid

See this book?

Get it. Now, it is not going to be an easy reference book right off the back. And it's going to take some getting used to with the terminology. But you can take this down to your local garden center, and even if they don't have an extremely knowledgeable staff (which I recommend finding one that does, they'll be your best friends in the plant world), and almost every single thing you find there will be in this book. Even if the tag only says 'Geranium', you can flip to it in the book and know more than you ever needed to know about how to make them happy. Now, the book I linked to is the previous edition; the newest one circling about is this

Which, yeah, has a little more updated info. New hybrids and varieties and such, but on the whole is vastly unchanged except for NO INDEX. So I highly recommend getting the first one, 2001 edition.

Then Pel's advice is spot on. It takes time. You'll make mistakes. You'll revisit things you failed the first time through, and then succeed. Maybe fail again but you can always try again. It took me three years to get tomatoes down but now I can grow the best of 'em.

Also feel free to PM me, even the really specific stuff. I work in a nursery and am a Master Gardener (this isn't boasting, it's a real club, and also worth looking into to see if there's a chapter in your area. Despite the name, it's really geared to getting new gardeners together and helping everyone), so feel free to reach out with questions.

Djeet

My timetable for lawncare ought to work for you (I'm in central Texas), but if the climate is significantly different you may have to move your dates around. In mid-Feb (after the frosts/freezes) spread a pre-emergent to prevent weeds from growing from seed (note: if you want to grow stuff from seed in your lawn, then do not spread pre-emergent). I don't aerate my lawn, but spring is when you're supposed to do it if you are going to. Once your lawn is green and growing (maybe late march or early april) spread your lawn fertilizer or weed-and-feed in quantities and frequency as directed by the packaging. Don't pull weeds when the ground is too dry or you'll just leave the roots in. Water once or twice a week (sometime between dusk and dawn). Cut high (leave the grass relatively high to promote deeper rooting). Overseed in the fall.

For the 1ft strips of ground look into monkey/mondo grass.

For established beds/planting I clear debris in late January, early February (often deep freezes don't happen here til late winter), and also prune then. I fertilize and compost/mulch (lightly) once the freezes are definitely over, but before the rains have gotten well under way.

Pick from plants that do well in your zone. Factor in the adult size of the plant when making plantings. Be aware of how much sunlight/shade the area of the planting will receive and choose accordingly. Try a few different types each year. The following year note what does well and what dies. Don't replant what dies. Buy more of what does well, or when you pick stuff up at home depot or the nursery, pick up stuff that you like that is positioned near (they usually have shade, partial, and sunny area) stuff that did well for you.

Neyla

When we got our first house, I decided to give my green (sometimes black) thumb a try. It's been very hit or miss for me still. I started by looking up garden layout plans. Alot of them are sorted out (ie shadow, lots of sun. etc) I found a really good site once, but saddly I am at work and can't remember where. I think have a print out at home still I can take a look for. To give you an idea here is a link to one similar:

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardendesignplans/Free_Garden_Design_Plans_You_Can_Use_in_Your_Yard.htm

I use those designs as an idea what I can plant where. Don't be afraid to ask a Nursery for advice. Alot of plants have extra bonuses, for example, planting Marigolds helps deter slugs. Also, make sure you check the "zone" your in when your pre-planning. Not all designs you find on the interwebs will apply to you considering climate.

zilo

Awesome advice, thanks all. I think my first step is to pick up that book MetroidZoid recommended, and hit up a local nursery for suggestions on what to plant.

What do you guys recommend for plant fertilizer? I know I'm supposed to fertilize the sod after a month, do I need to do the same to the flowers and shrubs? Is it possible to over-fertilize them?

MetroidZoid

Yes it's possible to over fertilize plants; Nitrogen burn (too much Nitrogen, the first number on fertilizer bags. You'll notice that every fertilizer, liquid or granular or whatever has three numbers on it? First is always Nitrogen, second is Phosphorus, third is Potassium. If there's a fourth number, it's probably Sulpher, but don't worry about that for now). You can also plant-OD on the other two, but it's more uncommon.

Stick with a fertilizer for your area. A good nursery / garden center will have one. Preferably something along the lines of "this is our spring mix, then there's a summer one, etc" and not just an all-purpose same-numbers-across-the-board deal.

And shrubs and flowers will have their own sets of nutrients they want. That book will call out specifics, but in general finding something your happy with (price range + whether it's organic or not, up to you) that's labeled for what you're fertilizing is a safe bet. My preference is Dr Earth brand, but only for the fertilizer. Their over-priced soil can bite me, for that I stick to Gardener & Bloome brand.