Gardening 101: Gardening for Beginners

Basic gardening procedures, maps and guides

There is no such thing as "I can't Grow a Plant"...
You just haven't learned how to care for it properly yet!

Treddian is a very knowledgable Garden Gnome

All plant groups have the same elemental needs of water, light and air, but the quantity and intensity of each of these elements varies greatly.
Cacti thrive in continuous sun with very little water, but would quickly rot in a bog.
Mosses and Lichens won't survive without the cool, moist, dimly lit environment of the forest. Some plants grow well in alkaline soil, while others thrive in acid soil.

Thankfully, gardening isn't based on a set of 'absolute rules' but can be more appropriately considered to be 'suggested guidelines' for growing.
With experience, you will learn to bend the rules a little and make adaptations to your gardens to allow you to grow a wider variety of plants to your landscape.
Shade can be created with plants or hardscape materials.
Drainage can be increased or slowed for drought tolerant or bog loving plants.

Soil can be amended and the pH can be adjusted.

Plant Growing Maps and Guides

A plant designated as 'hardy to zone 8' would never survive a winter in zone 5, but it might survive in zone 7 if planted right next to your house where the temperature is moderated a bit.
Do your research on the plants you'd like to grow and see if you can find a way to adapt your garden to suit their needs.
We chose to use the USDA Plant Hardiness Maps at The Garden Helper because they are more universally used by growers when rating a plants hardiness.
You will also want to check on the last killing frost date in your area before you begin planting in the spring.

Most plants can survive in a variety of soils with a pH ranging from moderately acidic to mildly alkaline.
Soil pH can be adjusted by the addition of lime to increase alkalinity or sulfur to raise the acidity.

Talking About Gardening

Occasionally, a gardener's banter will suddenly begin to sound like a combination of strange foreign languages.
This babbling will normally stop after a while but if you start to get too confused over these
strange phrases, you may find the translation on the Why Botanical Names? page.
General gardening terms are defined on the Garden Glossary page...

Check out the other links in the side bar to learn about the different tools that are designed
to make your gardening easier, How to choose healthy plants, making a compost pile, state flowers and much more!

Gardening 101: Deciding what kind of garden you'd like to grow.
Gardening 101: Preparing the planting site to grow your new garden.
Gardening 101: How to plant container grown plants into the garden
Gardening 101: How to sow and grow new plants from seed.
Gardening 101: Planting and Growing a Vegetable Garden.
How to grow, maintain and care for your House Plants

The Plant of the Week

The Vibrant Purple Berries of the BeautyBerry Bush

BeautyBerry
Callicarpa bodinieri

The foliage of the BeautyBerry plant is a beautiful bronze color as it emerges, but soon turns to a bright green. Small lavender flowers produce clusters of berries which ripen to an intensely purple color, and remain on the plant after the foliage drops, providing a beautiful contrast during the winter months.
Hardy in USDA zones 6-8

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