THE GARDENER'S MILL

BY BILL TWATIO

t was an unusual winter. The skating season on the canal ended early, February 22. We had April weather in March and it snowed in April. May might be the cruellest month of all. But, gardeners are an optimistic lot. "Don't worry about spring," says Tom Thomson, a horticulturist at the Humber nurseries in Brampton, Ontario. "Plant as soon as you can dig.

Val Ward, co-owner of "Buds" in Toronto, agrees, pointing out that most plants can handle unseasonable cold. She offers this useful hint: "The quickest, easiest way to harden plants it to leave them in your car for three or four days. After you've hardened them off, they're safe for minus 1ºC, maybe minus 2 overnight." There are many more hints for seasoned and novice gardeners in this year's crop of garden books. Here's a sampling:

READER'S DIGEST NEW ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO GARDENING IN CANADA

544 pages, $49.95

Pricey, but well worth the expense. This encyclopaedic guide is a good general reference for those who don't know the difference between a radish and a rutabaga - and those that do.

Revised from the 1979 edition with the help of Ottawa garden export Trevor Cole, it is handsomely laid out with 2,500 drawings and photographs. Three separate sections cover lawns and flower gardens, food plants and troubleshooting. Plant diseases are discussed and there are step-by-step instructions on such procedures as pruning and propagating. A must.

GARDENING FOR CANADIAN DUMMIES

By Liz Primeau

CDG Books Canada

406 pages, $27.99

The latest in the ubiquitous Dummies series. Liz Primeau, former editor of Canadian Gardening and a team of Canadian and American contributors have put together a clearly-written and comprehensive guide for gardening in Canada including a useful appendix of Web sites and mail-order suppliers.

Beginning with the basics, it covers climate zones and landscape planning and then moves on to discuss pretty near everything from composting to food gardens. Although there are very few pictures, this is a cheeky, user-friendly reference.

POCKET GARDENING: A GUIDE TO GARDENING IN IMPOSSIBLE PLACES

By Marjorie Harris

Harper Collins, 223 pages, $19.95

If all you have is small, shady balcony or a strip of land alongside a driveway that takes abuse from the garbagemen, Marjorie Harris's Pocket Gardening is just for your. "Little pockets of soil anywhere," she writes, "in any climate, are grist for the gardener's mill." The superb garden outside the Ottawa South Public Library is an excellent example.

From a small back yard to an imaginatively placed planter, Harris provides tips for designing, preparing the soil, planting and maintenance. As well, she lists and describes a large choice of plants for gardening in impossible places.

A CHILD'S GARDEN: ENCHANTING OUTDOOR SPACES FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS

By Molly Dannemaier

Simon & Schuster, 191 pages, $47

Instead of child-proofing your garden, why not invite them in. Making creative gardens for children that encourage exploration and play but that still can be enjoyed by adults is the aim of Molly Dannemaier's book. She "looks at what children do when they step outside ... experience nature in a way that is true to their own nature." The water gardens, mazes, climbing trees and forts she presents in her lavishly -illustrated book are proof positive that children's play and great-looking gardens can go hand in hand. Enchanting, indeed.

THE ESSENTIAL GARDEN BOOK: GETTING BACK TO BASICS

By Terence Conran and Dan Pearson

Three Rivers, 272 pages, $55

Glancing through the photographs in "The Essential Garden Book," I began to suspect that Conran and Pearson have been smoking their crops.

A garden design book like no other, it draws ideas from around the world. We are introduced to formal, boldly creative and flamboyant gardens that might have been designed by Salvador Dali. There are gardens in old car hulks, surreal gardens with fog machines and indirect lighting and a truly bizarre collection of lawn ornaments. Weird, but fun.