With proper planning, gardening doesn't have to be a fool's errand. And Eagle Eye is here to help!
Starting a garden can be an overwhelming task, whether you’re planning your first season or have some experience under your belt. Beyond choosing which plants you want to grow, you must also consider garden placement, sunlight, potential landscaping changes, and rainfall accumulation.
Not to mention, using the internet as a research tool can lead to an overload of often conflicting information, especially if you turn to unregulated forums like Reddit.
Luckily for you, Eagle Eye has a wide array of gardening books and even a few members of staff who can point you in the right direction to get your garden going. With a little research and a can-do attitude, gardening can be a rewarding and fulfilling hobby.
If you’re interested in environmental stewardship, our staff’s top recommendation is Native Plants of the Southeast by Larry Mellichamp, a former professor of botany at UNC Charlotte. This beautiful, full-color guide to hundreds of southeastern native plants can help you determine which plants will thrive in your yard. It’s a wonderful addition to your home library, or even a gift for the native plant enthusiast in your life.
A popular type of garden is the classic vegetable garden. Eagle Eye is fully stocked on Joe Lamp'l's The Vegetable Gardening Book, a seed to harvest guide on organic vegetable gardening. This comprehensive volume covers everything from soil and mulch to pest control -- very handy come late summer when the invasive Joro spider makes a reappearance.
Even if you're an established gardener, Eagle Eye may have a book which appeals to a burgeoning interest -- perhaps raising chickens? If so, take a peek at An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Backyard Chickens by Jenna Woginrich. Regulations on raising fowl vary between municipalities, so be sure to check your local ordinances before making an impulse run to the Feed & Seed.
If poultry is of no interest to you, perhaps you could look into keeping an apiary -- a word first used in 1654 to describe a bee yard. Local ordinances apply to beekeeping as well, so be sure to do your research. Or, check out Pollinator Gardening for the South by Danesha Seth Carley and Anne M. Spafford to learn all about nurturing bee habitats without donning a bee suit.
Not everyone has access to outdoor space, whether a backyard or a community garden. For the housebound plant lovers, the wonderful world of houseplants awaits within the pages of House Planted, a guide to styling your indoor space with plants by Lisa Muñoz.
If you've got more of a black thumb, you could give succulents a try, or some windowsill herbs -- both notoriously challenging to kill. Or start easy with The Unkillables, Jo Lambell's guide to 40 houseplants which just might survive no matter the level of neglect.
Perhaps you're the type who's more interested in the function of plants over their cultivation. Why not check out Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide or Eat the Weeds: A Forager's Guide by Deane Jordan.
These are only a few gardening options. The beauty of a garden is that it can be anything you imagine, whether ornamental perennial, tropical exotic, or a plain old rock garden. No matter which level of gardening, herbalism, or foraging you're at, Eagle Eye has a book for you. It's never too late to plant a seed and watch what grows. Before you head in, send your local 4-H agriculture agent an email to inquire about soil testing, and consider signing up for a home composting service to turn your garbage into black gold because remember -- all successful gardens sprout from healthy soil!
