Garden Tools: tips, resources and reviews for gardeners

If you love Sweet Peas you may want to join the National Sweet Pea Society from England, or at least visit their website for tips on getting the most from this cottage garden favorite.

Successful gardeners know that healthy soil translates to healthy plants. Learn about the fine points of soil management for the home gardener from WSU Cooperative Extension.

The Rodale family of Emmaus, Pennsylvania has a 60 year history of publishing books and magazines that promote organic gardening and their encyclopedias have come to be regarded as the standards on the subject. A good example is the Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (DK Publishing, 2002 $40.00). A must-have for serious organic gardeners certainly, but the user-friendly qualities that are a trademark of DK will make it one of the first books in a beginning gardener's library as well.

Wondering what to plant at your cabin in Cle Elum? Or perhaps something to give your cousin who's just moved to Spokane? A new series of booklets on gardening in the Inland Northwest gives a perspective not found in the many titles written by westsiders. Published by the Washington State University Cooperative Extension, separate volumes cover roses, berries, vegetables, landscape plants, perennials, fruit trees and native plants, each for $12 or less. To order, call the WSU Bulletin office at 1-800-723-1763 or order online

Feeling stressed? Recent research shows that visiting a botanical garden or arboretum can help you cope and make you feel less stressed, at least temporarily. Go see the foliar beauty at the Washington Park Arboretum,the Bellevue Botanical Garden or your local public garden and start coping with your stress!

Tammy Kohlleppel, Jennifer Campbell Bradley, Steve Jacob. "A walk through the garden: Can a visit to a botanic garden reduce stress?" HortTechnology 12(3), July-September 2002, 489-491.

The Washington State Department of Ecology has many publications to assist homeowners and others interested in learning about Washington state environmental regulations and resources. Of particular interest are the free publications on protecting slopes, bluffs and hillsides from erosion. All are available for downloading from the Department of Ecology's publications web page.

• Controlling Erosion using vegetation
• Managing vegetation on coastal slopes
• Managing drainage on coastal bluffs

Growing Up: A Gardener's Guide to Climbing Plants for the Pacific Northwest by Christine Allen. (Steller Press, 2001)

Urban gardeners need to maximize every inch of their gardens and growing vertically adds another potential place for more plants. Growing up details vines to plant season by season for a year of vertical interest, plus lists the best plants to use for a particular situation, like covering a chain link fence, or for training up a tree.

Silvics of North America Online by United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, 1990.

Property owners with woodlots and tree lovers alike will find the Silvics of North America an informative and authoritative reference source on trees. Two hundred, mostly North American native trees are described including native habitat, associated trees and shrubs, propagation details, growth rate, and information on the major pests that may damage the tree. Many entries have information on the root development, which can be helpful in learning if a chosen tree will tolerate construction, or be appropriate for planting over water utilities.

Trees are Good, a page maintained by the International Society of Arboriculture, has tree care brochures for the public. Learn why you should pay for the services of a certified arborist, how to plant a tree the right way, and how to identify tree hazards. Included on the page is a link to search for certified arborist by zip code so you can find out who the professionals are in your region.

National Gardening Association's Pest Control Library is a pictorial guide to diagnosing pests and diseases. Every article has a color picture to help confirm if the pest in question looks like the bug eating your plant. Major plant diseases are also included and organized by the part of the plant it infects: leaf, fruit, roots or all parts.