Summary:
Spring has finally returned to the northern states, and you´re ready to work on that yard and start that garden. This book review of The Montana Gardener´s Companion offers several tips from serious pros - and busts a few gardening myths, too!

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Details or Sample:
Your yard and garden in early spring, if you live in the northern states, are far behind those of your friends who live farther south. But that doesn´t mean you can´t have a gorgeous yard and productive garden. You can - you just need a good guide.

The Montana Gardener´s Companion - An Insider´s Guide to Gardening under the Big Sky is just what it says it is - and it´s loaded with details that will help gardeners in any northern state. Authors Bob Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough are insiders for sure, and what they´ve compiled in this book will give even outsiders an edge on Montanans with the urge to grow things.

The authors, both professional horticulturists, are more than qualified for writing such a book. Bob Gough is professor of horticulture at Montana State University and the author of nine gardening books. Cheryl Moore-Gough is the Montana State University Extension state horticulturist and coordinates the state´s Master Gardener program.

"For years hundreds of gardeners new to the state and frustrated with books that do not pertain to Montana have pleaded with us to write a book specifically on Montana gardening," they say.

This is that book.
Don´t know what your soil type in your yard and garden is? The authors explain how to find out and why you should care. And once you find out, the book has detailed recommendations for improving your soil.

Want to grow potatoes? Had troubles with potato scabs? "Agriculturists recommend a soil pH of about 5.5 for potatoes," say the authors, "because at that pH the microorganism that causes potato scab becomes inactive and infection rates are low." They note that spuds will grow just as well with a pH of 7 but that the scab organism will grow even better - and they offer specifics on how to adjust the pH of your potato bed.

The authors do a handy job of myth-busting about growing things in Montana. For example, if you´ve planted flower bulbs for anything longer than a couple years, you´ve probably heard that mixing bonemeal into the bulb planting hole will help promote root growth. Nope. It doesn´t. "While the bonemeal won´t harm anything," the authors say, "it won´t do much for the bulbs. In our alkaline soils it takes about eight years for the phosphorus in bonemeal to become available to the plant roots." They say the phosphorus provided by a complete fertilizer mix would become available to the bulbs a lot sooner than what would be provided by spiking the bulb planting with bonemeal.

The authors apparently have a well-developed sense of humor (and after a few years working with the Extension Service, that´s not surprising). They refer to tulips as deer food. And they might be tired of questions about maintenance-free lawns.

"People often ask us to recommend a grass that needs no mowing, no watering, and no fertilizing, and that will remain green all year. We recommend artificial turf."

But they follow that with an extensive list and descriptions of grass seeds available in Montana, with recommendations for lawn grasses that will thrive in various areas under various conditions.

The book is essentially a "gardener´s guide," but covers far more than just vegetable gardens. It includes in-depth information on lawns, trees, shrubs, annual and perennial flowers, vegetables, and native plants - including a section on heirloom seeds. It´s got lists of drought-tolerant plants, how to deal with windy areas, and a thorough section on pests, plant diseases, and problems. There are recommended plants for the butterflies and birds and bees, and suggested plants resistant to bunny and deer damage - including bleeding heart, columbine, yarrow, and iris.

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