Q:What is the most informative gardening/landscaping book?

As a MASTER GARDENER for the UNIV. of CALIF. COOP EXTENSION for over 15 years, I have had to teach about and answer questions from homeowners on all matters involving home and garden. Everything from plant identification, landscape care and design, soil water conservation, integrated pest management, basic irrigation, insect control and identification, diagnosing plant problems and diseases, good bugs, bad bugs, what to grow and when to grow it, etc, etc, etc. There is but one book every master gardener has at his side 24/7. The homeowner's best friend in the garden. The garden BIBLE for many gardeners! It is the only garden book you will ever need. But I can't tell you because of spam. Just kidding. SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK !! (don't let the western fool you. if it grows in new york city, it will tell you about it) Plant selections, including color pictures of OVER 8000 PLANTS, info you need to create and maintain a healthy garden, state by state resource directory, special effects in the garden and a glossary of gardening terms are but a few areas covered. everything from catching roof rats to attracting butterflys. you won't find a better garden book anywhere. Retails for 'bout $35.00, but you'll often find places like Home Depot, Target Walmart putting it on sale for as low as $16.00. Think how many plants you could kill for $16.00? The price is worth every dime. Impress your neighbors with your garden smarts! Makes a great gift for Dad. Ah, next Father's Day. Mom would love it for Christmas too. Hell, keep it for your own garden let Mom Dad buy their own copy. SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK I have often served as a plant Judge at the San Diego County Fair, and I couldn't do without it! (yes, we have a county fair in San Diego. It's in June)

Q:I know this is the wrong section, but most people frequent this section instead of Home GardenMy fiance and I just bought a house, and almost the entire backyard is covered in ant mounds. We have only had an apartment before, so have never had to buy ant killer and not sure which kind is best. We need it to work really well and really fast. We are moving our dog into the house and she will be using the backyard in two days. So something that won't hurt her would be great, too. If not, we can work around that. I just need to know the best ant killer for the best price. Any help is VERY grealty appreciated!! TIA

I just had to click here because I had to see why someone would need ant killer in singles and dating. LOL! they actually talk about this quite often over in Home Garden. I lurk there a lot when Family Relationships stress me out too much. what kind of ants? If they are fire ants then you will need something specifically for them. Most home improvement centers and hardware stores carry them. You put the killer out once a season. Andro is the brand that seems to work best for fire ants (I second the pellets over the powder). if these are other types of ants then Orange Oil (about 1/4 cup to 1 gallon of water) sprayed on the ant mound when they crop up will kill the ants and is non toxic to pets. If can't find orange oil (usually in the cleaning section of the hardware stores. it's a natural disinfectant used in homemade cleaning supplies), then Terro makes a liquid ant killer that works very well and very fast. You only have to keep the dog away from the product until the ants eat all of the product. A little goes a long way. I usually only have to apply it once a year. A homemade version of the terro product uses jelly (flavor doesn't matter) or corn syrup and boric acid. You mix 2 tablespoons of boric acid to 1/4 cup of jelly or syrup and place it where the ants can get to it and keep your dog away from the product until the ants eat it all. all of the products and home made methods I have recommended, I have used and they do work. And I have dogs.

Q:does enyone have eny good websites that i can vist to inprove my gardening skills.?

okorder is great and will also lead u to other helpful links. Peace.

Q:I have a small home garden my backyard about 20' by 4'. I have the standard home garden vegetables planted, tomatoes, peppers, basil, celery, etc. I was thinking about planting some red clover in between all the plants to create a nice bed that will choke out weeds so I don't have to weed all the time, put some nitrogen back in soil, and hold in moisture during those long hot dry spells here in New Jersey. The plants are all at least a foot tall now. Would you recommend this? Or would the clover and the vegetables start competing and therefor take away from my harvest? I figured they are all big enough now that the clover will stay well below them. But I don't know if underground there will be a battle going on with the root systems. I already plan on planting the clover in the fall when everything is done growing and then till it in in the spring. Thanks!

The trick with a cover crop is that you are tilling it into the soil before it flowers to return the nitrogen it pulls from the air into the soil. Planting it between garden plants might not be the best. If you do it, you'll at least want to mow it regularly to keep it from flowering, setting seed, and coming up EVERYWHERE in your garden. Usually cover crops are sown, grown, and tilled under either in the off season (fall/winter/early spring) or for a season in a field that is being rested (growing no crops that you're going to harvest).

Q:I have been doing lots of homemade bread making, home brewing, and home gardening recently and realized that I could try growing rye. Does anyone have experience with this? Does it seem worth it for ~400-500 sq ft? Will people think I'm just neglecting my lawn? Vegetable gardens are common, but I don't know about grain gardens. I'm located in the suburbs of Minneapolis.

Neighbors would just be jealous that they weren't doing with they felt like doing.It won't look like an unkempt yard. It'll look like a farmer's field in miniature. A handmill could do 30 lbs and you'd get the satisfaction of growing your own.

Q:Or you don't have enough time in ur busy lifestyle.

i love to garden at home, right now i have been going through what i am going to plant, change,etc in my gardens already for this year. i also have a ton of inddor plants that i putter with all winter. i find it helps with the winter blahs. i cant wait for spring!!!

Q:I am having my parents over in July and would like to have some pretty flowering plants in containers. Is it too late to plant them?

My mom-in-law gave me Gardening in Containers book by Taunton press. There are a lot of pictures and examples of what to plant and what kind of planters you can use in. I think this is a good guide book for the beginner like you and me. I've done a lot of yard work, but container gardening is still new to me. There are great plants for containers out now, so you'll enjoy making it. Unlike planting flowers in ground, there is no time limit on container planting. You can also go to the nurseries and ask people at there. They can suggest what you need. Have fun!

Q:Has anyone been to the National home gardening club website? If you are interested in gardening they have a great and forum, gardening ideas and more. I am interested in gardening and have tried the Yahoo gardening chat room and it was full of middle eastern guys trying to pick me up and girls trying to get me to look at thier pics. I guess I am nieve, I thought someone might want to talk about gardening on there. So if your lookin for somewhere to check out, try this site...

thanks for the info!

Q:I'm moving into my first home ever in March. I'm trying to avoid department stores, since they tend to be WAY out of my price range. I would love new furniture, but I can find any that's not extremely expensive. So I searched Craigslist , etc. and had no luck. I need a couch to start off, and a dining table.

www.okorder / has a great selection of furniture to suit all tastes and budgets. Happy Shopping!