Wednesday, August 15, 2001

Book Review:

Month-by-Month Gardening in Georgia

SATTERTHWAITE

[email protected]

There are two

ways to garden in Georgia.

One method,

practiced religiously, and futilely, by a busy local professional couple,

was to shout "Grow! Grow!" to their yard as they backed out

of their driveway on the way to work.

The other,

vastly more effective, is to own and consult "Month-by-Month Gardening

in Georgia," by favorite-Fayette-son Walter Reeves and horticulturist

and garden designer Erica Glasener.

Arguably the

most comprehensive green thumb instruction manual published for the region,

the genius of the 355-page book is in its organization. Where do you start,

when trying to cover such a broad subject in depth?

That would mean 12 huge chapters on everything from garden planning to

soil preparation to planting to maintenance of every plant from bulbs

and annuals to ornamental grasses, vegetables and trees.

Or should you

pour out watering tips on each plant species in one chapter, pruning directions

in the next? Or perhaps beginning with beginners and advancing to the

advanced?

Glasener and

Reeves approached their huge subject by identifying the major types of

plants and giving each a chapter: annuals, bulbs, edibles, houseplants,

lawns, perennials and ornamental grasses, roses, shrubs, trees, vines

and groundcover.

Each of these

chapters is then subdivided into months, each month on one spread, and

within each month, the needs of the subject are addressed consistently.

For example, the section on lawns includes planning, planting, lawn care,

watering, fertilizing and pest control, in that order, for January, for

February, and so through the year. Pruning instructions are included each

month within the tree and shrub chapters, while grooming is included for

houseplants and annuals.

A helpful hint

or perhaps a clearly drawn construction project may vary this format,

preventing tedium, and each chapter also gets a preface that provides

an overview to the subject. Lists of plants recommended for Georgia's

climate, with a description of their size and sun requirements, for example,

open the chapter on perennials and ornamental grasses.

The book begins

and ends with basic instructions that pertain to all horticultural endeavors

in Georgia: soil testing, sun versus shade, composting, important tools,

a glossary of gardening terms, the use of chemicals, basic planning, and

detailed zone maps that ­ finally! ­ make it clear even to "Grow!

Grow!" gardeners when it's safe to plant.

Best of all,

for the organizationally challenged, the book includes a table of contents,

an extensive bibliography and list of gardening resources, and two separate

indices ­ one listing every plant in the book and the other referring

to gardening techniques from air layering to xeriscaping. No one should

get lost in this exceptionally well-edited book, other than in the sense

that it's hard to put down.

Reeves' credentials

as a popular former DeKalb County extension agent are well known in the

Atlanta area, where he hosts a lawn and garden radio show and publishes

weekly columns in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His "Gardening

in Georgia" is shown weekly on Georgia Public Television. Reeves

now lives in Macon.

His son Grey

contributed to a children's gardening guide sponsored by Pike Family Nurseries

and included in "Gardening in Georgia."

Even dearer

to the hearts of Fayette countians is Reeves' local familiarity as the

son of Frances Reeves and the late Frank Reeves, lifelong Inman residents

and wide-ranging county activists. In virtually every interview, Walter

Reeves credits his hard-working farmer-parents with instilling in him

his love for the soil. What he can't say, however, is that his amiable

personality and accessibility precisely reflect his parents' best-loved

characteristics.

Glasener lives

in Atlanta and is a contributing editor to Fine Gardening magazine. She

also writes a gardening design column for the AJC. Formerly a director

of education for the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore,

Pa., she has written frequently for The New York Times, The Farmer's Almanac

and Atlanta magazine.

Glasener and

Reeves collaborated earlier on the "Georgia Gardener's Guide"

and "My Georgia Garden: A Gardener's Journal," also published

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