Aloha, gardeners and readers! Many of us here in Hawai’i have some sort of garden, be it big, small or just a natural wild growth in the yard (bitter melon, anyone?). Yet, even with what space we have, sometimes either
Aloha, gardeners and readers!
Many of us here in Hawai’i have some sort of garden, be it big, small or just a natural wild growth in the yard (bitter melon, anyone?).
Yet, even with what space we have, sometimes either the soil isn’t so good or is real tough to work with, or, perhaps given our lifestyle or aesthetic choices, having plants in the ground isn’t really going to work, which is why we picked this weeks’ book.
“Container Gardening in Hawaii: How to Grow Paradise In a Pot,” by master gardener Janice Crowl, shows us the various options to explore that really “unearths” (pun intentended) the many possibilities in growing a container garden!
Whether you are making a vast landscaped garden or just want a nice selection of potted plants on your lanai or in the house, whatever you choose to do is covered here, and with many more ideas for container types, plants type, and even layout suggestions. Both edibles and ornamental plants are given good overviews in this book, including shading requirements for all the various types and even their Hawaiian names!
Presented in a larger-size format with high-quality colorful pictures, “Container Gardening” covers it all: the Basics; Island Landscapes in Small Spaces; Creating a High-rise Paradise; Popular Island Designs, “Onolicios” Edibles; Unusual & Thrifty Containers; Maintenance; Plants for Hawai’i Container Gardens; and Resources for Container Gardening, including a well-executed index!
Being in Hanapepe ourselves, which is a lot of sun and a lot of compact red dirt, we have found container gardening to be very, very useful for our many cacti, succulents, and culinary herbs (especially because they are easy to move around, too)!
So, if you are ready for your own beautiful ‘self-contained’ (wink) paradisiacal Hawaiian garden, this all-in-one guide is the book we recommend.
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Ed and Cynthia Justus are owners of The Bookstore in Hanapepe.
