General Gardening Tips

Yes, You CAN Have a Green Thumb!

Looking for some general gardening tips to help you develop your green thumb?

Well, you're in luck, because general tips are just what you'll find here...

These tips are geared towards new gardeners, assuming you're just getting started. But expert gardeners may find a few nuggets of wisdom too!

Whatever you do, try to keep gardening fun. After all, if it's just a chore, it will be hard for you to "reap" the so-called fruits of your labors, won't it? So, keep things in perspective and have a good time. And if it doesn't work out this year... there's always next year!

One of the best gardening tips I can give you is to start out with a small garden for your first project. It will be easier to manage and may be more attractive than some overgrown monstrosity as well.

Starting small is a good way to master the basics, such as water and soil requirements, pest control, plant selection, and garden design.

It's important to develop an understanding of your plant hardiness zones for your area. Our gardening zones map talks more about the various gardening zones around the world and will help you with the gardening tips you need to ensure your green thumb success, but to summarize, knowing your zone will help you in the following ways:

• Picking the best plants for your climate
• Knowing when to plant your garden
• Caring for your plants in the proper way

OK, you know from our first 2 gardening tips that you should start small and pick plants that are right for your climate and your space. The next step to demonstrating your green thumb is to choose where on your property you're going to plant the garden.

You need to consider how much sun the space will get, the soil quality, and how much water it will receive. There are no right or wrong answers here. Much depends on what type of garden you're planning to plant and what your garden will need in terms of sun, water, and soil.

The surest path to green thumb success is this gardening tip: you have to be in your garden on a regular basis. That's the only way to identify early on whether there are pest problems, if soil or watering are not sufficient to nourish the plant life, and to get rid of unwanted weeds.

It'll only take about 10 minutes a day to be on top of your garden. Check it with your morning coffee, on your lunch hour, or when you first get home from work.

So, there are a few beginning gardening tips to get all you new green thumbs started. Now, go out there and start growing!

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