Hello Spring!

I am a gardening fanatic!  I love plants!  I love working in the garden and watching things sprout and bring forth beauty and nourishment.  So, I thought I would spend some time sharing with you things I have learned that can help you have a successful garden.  

When I say "garden" I don't just mean a vegetable garden.  I mean your entire yard.  Everything surrounding you that can have growth.  Whether it is in the ground, raised beds, or pots; large, medium, or small, it is all your garden.  

Gardening 101 (according to me and a bunch of really smart people):

1. Have fun with your garden!  Gardening is fun, therapeutic, healthy for both the outside and inside of your body, and a great lesson in endurance and hard work for you and your family.
2. Organize yourselves and make a plan:
1. Every successful garden begins with a plan.  What do you want your garden to look like? Be creative.  Think of all the beautiful gardens you have every seen---they are not a lot of lawn with tiny beds for plants.  They are organized, even when they are whimsical. There are straight lines, curves, various shapes and sizes, some have specific color schemes and themes.  Do you want it simple, modern, natural, cottage-style, etc., or very simply constructed with pots?
2. Draw out your plan with all the locations of hard landscape (paths, concrete, beds), irrigation lines, and plants.  Follow this order for installation as well.  It is easy to move a garden bed later, not so easy to move your concrete pad that you have planned for a covered patio or gazebo. (I will share some gardening plot plans and ideas tomorrow)
3. TREES- If you are wanting to add trees to your garden, make sure to call 811 before you dig.  Trees need to be planted in large holes (almost twice their root size). You don't want to dig into any gas, electrical, or water lines.  
4. Research the kind of plants that you want to plant.  Note that many veggies and flowers can be grown together and are beneficial to each other.  Also, ground cover is important for keeping weeds down.  Most people choose bark or rocks, which is fine, but there are a lot of ground cover plants that do the job just as well, and also add to the beauty of your garden and sometimes food to your dinner table. (I will discuss plant selection more later)
5. One more thing for today--After you have your plan, you and your family need to decide if you will do all of the project at once, or if you will pick one area at a time to conquer. Don't break the bank and don't bite off more than you can chew.  Remember tip #1--Have fun with your garden!

If you want to get inspired, you can watch one of my most favorite gardening shows: 

 

Below is just one of the many inspiring episodes: