George Books No. 2 and 3

January 13th, 2015

Looking for a very big to-do list to help you keep track of what to do when in the yard this year?

The “galley” or proof-reading version of “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening.”

I just finished the writing part of my second garden book for Cool Springs Press – called “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” – and it’s 242 pages on all the various jobs you might need to do to keep the landscape looking good (or to get it back into shape if it’s looking lousy).

It still has to go through final editing and printing and is due out in May.

“Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” is a companion to my “Pennsylvania Getting Started Garden Guide” that came out in October. That one focuses mainly on the 170 best plants for Pennsylvania landscapes.

The format of the new book is like a calendar, taking you through each month with a look at what jobs are best done at which times in Pennsylvania’s climate.

Each month is broken down by six main job headings – Plan, Plant, Care, Water, Fertilize and Problem-Solve.

Then under each of those, I go through nine main plant categories with the specifics of what needs to be done to each. These include Annuals and Tropicals, Bulbs, Lawns, Perennials and Groundcovers, Roses, Shrubs, Trees, Vines and an “All” category, which covers overall or general jobs.

Cool Springs Press does these regional guides all around the country, using local writers like me so the information can laser-focus on the plants and techniques peculiar to each area.

I like the concept because gardening is such a local venture. What works in one part of the country usually doesn’t in another. That’s why the more local you can make the information, the more useful it is.

Liz Ball, a garden writer from the Philadelphia area, did the original version of “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” in 2001 and updated it in 2006. Cool Springs was ready to update it again, this time changing the format to what I described above.

Since Liz is now retired, she recommended me as her successor. Wasn’t that nice?

Both of our names will be on this book since both of our tips are rolled into it.

The earlier versions of “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” used plant-based chapters with January-to-December monthly rundowns under each one. In other words, the Rose chapter took you through the whole year, then the Shrubs chapter did the same thing, and so on.

Cool Springs decided that month-based chapters rather than plant-by-plant chapters made more sense.

I’ll warn you in case you’re a veggie gardener – the “Month-by-Month Gardening” series sticks with ornamentals. My editor, Billie Brownell, told me there already were plenty of books on edible gardening. Plus, enough details are needed to fully keep tabs on a vegetable garden that the topic really should have its own whole book anyway.

Besides the 12 monthly chapters, “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” has an introductory chapter that covers the vagaries of gardening around here, including dealing with our lousy soil, navigating our erratic weather, side-stepping common troubles, and learning how to make the biggest impact with the least work.

“Here’s How” boxes throughout the book zero in on specific topics, such as how to start seeds, how to divide perennials, how to transplant shrubs, and how to start new plants from cuttings.

Back-of-the-book chapters include using nature’s cues to time your gardening work, water-gardening tips, the pros and cons of various mulches, and how to figure out how much mulch and how many plants you need.

“Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” will be in bookstores and available through online book-sellers in May, plus I’ll have it for sale here on my website, where I’ll be happy to sign it for you.

As with the “Pennsylvania Getting Started Garden Guide,” I don’t get any royalties on sales other than the books I sell directly. So if you’d rather support me than Amazon’s budget, buy yours here!

Cool Springs must have been happy with the Pennsylvania version because Billie asked me to write the new version of “Mid-Atlantic Month-by-Month Gardening.” That one covers Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

It’ll be very similar to the Pennsylvania book, except tweaked and altered to suit the timing in those areas. “Mid-Atlantic Month-by-Month Gardening” is due out this fall. I’m putting the finishing touches on that this winter.

That’ll be three books in a little more than a year. I’m ready for a break. And it’s only January.