Gardeners' World Perfect Plants for Problem Places

Nature deals the gardener an uneven hand, creating a range of situations that can frustrate veterans as well as novices. Search, co-host of several popular gardening shows on British TV, describes and analyzes some of these challenges in chapters arranged by climate (hot and dry, shady, boggy, windy, cold), soil type (chalky, acid, clay) and other environmental conditions. She neatly provides plant (and planting) suggestions. Her tips for tackling problems and turning them to your advantage include a list of appropriate plant choices at the end of each chapter. Search also suggests ways to accommodate favorite plants in undesirable situations: e.g., improve heavy, non-draining clay soil by double-digging in organic compost and sharp sand (not builder's sand which turns clay to concrete); provide more light for dark locations by painting a wall behind the area a light color or by mirroring the wall. She also suggests ways to make unwieldy plants behave: e.g., put Campanula portenschlagiana in a non-nurturant site where ""poor soil and low light"" can render it more manageable. Liberally illustrated with excellent photographs and appropriate diagrams, the book provides both the common English and official Latin names; e.g., the shrub Bachelor's Buttons (Kerria japonica) and busy lizzies (Impatiens). (Mar.)