Just released - the latest in the Fifth House Prairie Gardening Series is
Best Groundcovers & Vines For The Prairies
"This is a long-needed reference book and it couldn't have come from a more knowledgeable and reliable source. Everyone involved in creating gardens in this climate should have this book in their collection." - Wendy Mackie, former Director of Assiniboine Park Conservatory in Winnipeg
Groundcovers and vines are among the most useful hardy plants for the challenging prairie region, but until now gardeners have lacked a prairie-specific source of information about these versatile plants. Sara Williams and Hugh Skinner draw on their years of prairie gardening experience to provide landscaping and cultivation advice, along with comprehensive descriptions and photographs of the very best groundcovers and vines for the area.
Hugh Skinner has a B.S.A. in horticulture from the University of Manitoba and has been active in the nursery industry for thirty years. He grows a wide variety of hardy plants and maintains a large collection of trees in the Frank Skinner Arboretum near Roblin, Manitoba, the result of ninety years of plant collecting, testing, and breeding, first started by his father, Frank Skinner. His garden is home to a wide variety of vines and groundcover plants.
Sara Williams has retired as the horticultural specialist at the University of Saskatchewan. She is the co-author of Perennials for the Plains and Prairies and author of the award-winning Creating the Prairie Xeriscape and In a Cold Land: Saskatchewan's Horticultural Pioneers. She holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in horticulture from the University of Saskatchewan.
18948568059 x 6, 240 pages, Trade PaperRegional Gardening / Horticulture
$24.99 CAD http://www.fitzhenry.ca/detail.aspx?ID=10003
tip from
Best Groundcovers & Vines For The Prairies
Unifying Shrub Beds
Groundcovers unify shrub beds and borders, especially when these beds are newly planted and the shrubs are still small and seemingly very far apart. Select a groundcover that ties the permanent plantings together and visually complements rather than competes with them. If the shrub bed or border contains dwarf evergreen shrubs, consider a groundcover with a very delicate, airy appearance, such as lady’s mantle, or one with neutral silver or green foliage, such as thyme, speedwells such as Veronica whitleyii and V. pectinata, pussytoes, snow-in-summer, or ‘Silver Brocade’ artemisia.
Deciduous shrubs are more variable than evergreens and it may take more care to select an appropriate groundcover that complements both foliage and flowers. Gray pussytoes or snow-in-summer are neutral and work well with most shrubs. For deciduous shrubs with gray foliage, consider bright green dwarf phlox or blue-purple ‘Chocolate Chip’ bugleweed.
If the bed is small, you may wish to use only one species of groundcover for the entire bed. In a larger bed or border, think about using several different groundcovers, each within its own grouping.
Groundcovers for Unifying Shrub Beds
Ajuga reptans (carpet bugle, bugleweed)
Alchemilla spp. (lady’s mantle)
Antennaria spp. (pussytoes)
Bergenia cordifolia (heart-leaved bergenia, pigsqueak)
Campanula cochlearifolia (dwarf bellflower, fairy thimble)
Cerastium tomentosum (snow-in-summer)
Dianthus spp. (pinks)
Fragaria x ‘Pink Panda’ (‘Pink Panda’ strawberry)
Lamiastrum galeobdolon (yellow archangel)
Lamium maculatum (spotted dead nettle)
Lysimachia nummularia (creeping Jenny, moneywort)
Nepeta spp. (catmint)
Omphalodes verna alba (creeping forget-me-not)
Sedum spp. (stonecrop)
Thymus spp. (thyme)
Veronica spp. (speedwell)
Junipers on public walkway
FH Groundcovers book.indb 12 10/16/06 12:01:10 PM
Vinca herbacea (herbaceous periwinkle)
Viola canadensis (Western Canada violet, wood violet)
Waldsteinia ternata (Siberian barren strawberry)
Contents of
18948568059 x 6, 240 pages, Trade PaperRegional Gardening / Horticulture
$24.99 CAD http://www.fitzhenry.ca/detail.aspx?ID=10003
tip from
Best Groundcovers & Vines For The Prairies
Unifying Shrub Beds
Groundcovers unify shrub beds and borders, especially when these beds are newly planted and the shrubs are still small and seemingly very far apart. Select a groundcover that ties the permanent plantings together and visually complements rather than competes with them. If the shrub bed or border contains dwarf evergreen shrubs, consider a groundcover with a very delicate, airy appearance, such as lady’s mantle, or one with neutral silver or green foliage, such as thyme, speedwells such as Veronica whitleyii and V. pectinata, pussytoes, snow-in-summer, or ‘Silver Brocade’ artemisia.
Deciduous shrubs are more variable than evergreens and it may take more care to select an appropriate groundcover that complements both foliage and flowers. Gray pussytoes or snow-in-summer are neutral and work well with most shrubs. For deciduous shrubs with gray foliage, consider bright green dwarf phlox or blue-purple ‘Chocolate Chip’ bugleweed.
If the bed is small, you may wish to use only one species of groundcover for the entire bed. In a larger bed or border, think about using several different groundcovers, each within its own grouping.
Groundcovers for Unifying Shrub Beds
Ajuga reptans (carpet bugle, bugleweed)
Alchemilla spp. (lady’s mantle)
Antennaria spp. (pussytoes)
Bergenia cordifolia (heart-leaved bergenia, pigsqueak)
Campanula cochlearifolia (dwarf bellflower, fairy thimble)
Cerastium tomentosum (snow-in-summer)
Dianthus spp. (pinks)
Fragaria x ‘Pink Panda’ (‘Pink Panda’ strawberry)
Lamiastrum galeobdolon (yellow archangel)
Lamium maculatum (spotted dead nettle)
Lysimachia nummularia (creeping Jenny, moneywort)
Nepeta spp. (catmint)
Omphalodes verna alba (creeping forget-me-not)
Sedum spp. (stonecrop)
Thymus spp. (thyme)
Veronica spp. (speedwell)
Junipers on public walkway
FH Groundcovers book.indb 12 10/16/06 12:01:10 PM
Vinca herbacea (herbaceous periwinkle)
Viola canadensis (Western Canada violet, wood violet)
Waldsteinia ternata (Siberian barren strawberry)
Contents of
Best Groundcovers & Vines For The Prairies
Acknowledgements ii
Chapter One
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter Two
GROUNDCOVERS AND VINES IN THE LANDSCAPE
- Designing by Habitat 3
Designing by Function 6
Groundcovers 6
Vines 11
Chapter Three
PURCHASE, ESTABLISHMENT, AND MAINTENANCE OF GROUNDCOVERS AND VINES 27
- Getting Ready 27
How Do Groundcovers Cover Ground? 27
Preparing the Planting Site 28
Spacing 29
Purchase and Planting 30
Groundcovers 30
Vines 32
Propagating Groundcovers and Vines 32
Seed 33
Suckers, Divisions, and Layers 33
Hardwood and Softwood Cuttings 35
Maintaining Groundcovers and Vines 36
Mulching 37
Pruning 37
Fertilizing 38
Pest and Disease Control 39
Chapter Four
GROUNDCOVERS AND VINES FOR PRAIRIE GARDENS 41
- Groundcovers 44
Vines 195
Glossary 213
Index 221
Also by Hugh Skinner and Sara Williams
Best Trees and Shrubs for the Prairies
http://www.fitzhenry.ca/detail.aspx?ID=7866
