GardenersCardiff answers:

You are gonna love gardening, don’t try to do it all in one year. Get to know where the sun shines the most, and where the shaded areas are. Because you will need flowers for the sun areas, and flowers for the shaded areas.

Since you are a beginner, this year start your garden with plants that you get from a garden center or nursery. They are called bedding plants and come in a six pack. Look for a little tag sticking in the six pact showing directions on how to grow the plants. If the tag is not there, ask for one or buy something else. Directions are VERY important.

Seeds are not always easy to grow. And wildflowers are the hardest so don’t be disappointed if they don’t show up.

Two good things to do for yourself is to call your local County Extension Service and ask for all the information that they have about gardening in your area. They usually have a packet/kit of things for the home gardener.

And number two would be to pick up a couple of beginner books. You really do need to know about soil, compost, mulch and etc.

To keep from over watering or not watering enough, buy a water analyzer from a nursery or garden center. Be sure to read the directions. This will be one of your best tools.

Send for some free gardening catalogs and get use to the different types of plants, colors, and when to plant. They are filled with good informtion and pictures. And they will keep you company during the long winter months. Here is a list of just a very few. There are hundreds more. You do not have to buy from them:

http://www.waysidegardens.com
http://www.dutchbulbs.com
http://www.jacksonandperkins.com (Roses)
http://www.parkseed.com
http://www.burpee.com

Other catalogs:
http://www.leevalley.com
http://www.gardeners.com
http://www.GardensAlive.com
http://www.deerbusters.com (all types of animal control)
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Container/pots/window boxes needs:

All need holes in the bottem for water drainage,
Potting soil that comes in bags,
Slow release fertilizer for flowers (not for green plants), OR liquid fertilizer that will need to be used more often-read directions,
Water crystals to be mixed into the soil for holding water,
Bedding plants or full grown plants.

Here is an excellent link to check out for color combinations and plants that look good together:

http://www.fernlea.com/awesomeaccents/recipes.html

GardenersCardiff answers:

Instructions

1.
* 1

Grow only those vegetables you enjoy eating. Give priority to those prized for incredible flavor when eaten fresh from the garden: sweet corn, beans and peas, tomatoes and young spinach, among others.
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Prepare a plot of flat ground that gets full sun nearly all day. Break up and turn the soil and add compost or other organic material (See How to Buy Soil Amendments). A full day of blazing sunshine is especially important if you grow vegetables in the cool weather of early spring, early fall or winter.
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* 3

Figure out how much growing space you have and plant accordingly. Lettuce, for example, can be grown in a solid mat, but tomatoes need to be spaced about 2 feet (60 cm) apart. Give pumpkins at least 4 feet (120 cm) of growing room. Growing requirements are provided on seed packets, in catalogs, and on nursery tags, as well as in books on growing vegetables.
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Choose crops that require less room if you have a small vegetable garden or grow vegetables in a container. Lettuce is a great pot plant, and ‘Patio’ or ‘Tumbler’ tomatoes will grow well in a hanging basket. Plants that climb and vine, such as cucumbers and pole beans, can be trained up a trellis to take up less room horizontally. Tuck herbs and parsley into flower beds.
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Schedule plantings around the two main growing seasons which vary by region: cool (spring and fall) and warm (summer). Common cool-season vegetables include beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach and turnips. Warm-season crops include beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, peppers, pumpkins, squash and tomatoes.
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Sow some seeds directly in the ground as they grow best that way: beans, beets, carrots, chard, corn, lettuce, melons, peas, pumpkins, squash and turnips. Starting seeds is, of course, much less expensive than planting seedlings sold in flats, packs and pots.
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Start with nursery seedlings of certain other crops unless you are an experienced vegetable grower. These plants tend to do better when set out in the garden as seedlings: eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. Squash and cucumbers are among a few you can plant just as effectively as either seeds or seedlings.
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Buy seeds at nurseries or by mail order starting just after the New Year, when the selection is freshest. Look for seed packets marked as having been packed for the current year.
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Buy vegetables online and from mail-order seed companies for a far greater selection than you’ll find at neighborhood nurseries. Burpee (burpee.com), Johnny’s Selected Seeds (johnnyseeds .com), Park Seed Company (parkseed.com) and Thompson and Morgan (thompson-morgan.com) are a few long-established sources.
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Shop for seedlings when your soil is prepared and you are ready to plant. Keep them moist and don’t let them sit around for more than three days. Buy healthy and vigorous seedlings. They should stand up straight and be stocky, not lanky, with no yellow leaves or bug holes.
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Save money and get truly involved with your garden by starting seeds indoors in winter and transplanting them into the garden in spring. It’s simplest to start with complete kits, sold at garden centers and through catalogs, containing fluorescent lights, soil mix, containers and watering devices.
* 12

Sow seeds of colorful radishes or giant sunflowers to introduce children to the satisfaction and fun of growing their own food. Or lean 3 stakes together, tie them together at the top, and train pole beans up the stakes. Voila! A bean teepee.

GardenersCardiff answers:

Take the grapes off your list, for starters. If you’re a newbie, start small, with a few plants, and expand your garden as you gain experience. A common mistake for first-timers is that they put in too big a garden, with too much, and then are overwhelmed, and give up in frustration.

Strawberries I recommend growing in containers where you see them every day, and can keep an eye on them. A small vegetable garden with a couple tomatoes or peppers, or 1 or 2 other things is a good start. Pick your spot – a 3 foot by 10 or 12 foot is plenty big for your first year – in a sunny place, that isn’t too far from water or a hose. Till or just turn the soil with a shovel, and work in a lot of compost a couple weeks before your last frost date, and you’ll be ready to plant.

Grapes are a whole learning curve in themselves, and I recommend them NOT being the first thing your plant.

Blueberries, if your soil ph is below 6.5, are do-able, as they’re fairly simple to plant. If your soil ph is close to 7.0, though, they will never be very happy.

Tomatoes will want about 9 square feet of space per plant (I often see them planted about a foot apart – easy to do when they’re so small when you plant). Watermelon will sprawl – the vines traveling 10 to 20 feet…but if you have the space, you can kind of “direct” where the vine goes as it grows.

GardenersCardiff answers:

Plant something like squash that makes a lot and give it to your neighbors. Share what you have even if its not much at all. Talk to people who walk by while you are gardening. Give it a year or so. People don’t steal from their friends so be their friend.

Friendship and talk brings a sense of community instead of distrust and bickering.

I get more pleasure from sharing my produce with friends than actully eatting it all myself. Nobody in my area would steal becasue all they have to a do is ask.

Downtown in summer you must lock your car doors. If you don’t somebody will fill it with squash!

GardenersCardiff answers:

What is the NT? Don’t forget, this is an international site and what you take for granted, some of us have never heard of!

GardenersCardiff answers:

An old wise tale is plant after you can place your bare bottom on the dirt comfortably! I would highly advise you not to plant until the ground teperature is above 50 degrees. Your seeds will not germinate until they reach the 50 degree mark. How do you know? Take your kitchen thermometer (cooking thermometer and go out at like 9 AM and place it in the ground 1.5-2 inches wait about 10 minutes and check the temperature. For a newbie gardener i would also recommend purchasing your tomatoes and peppers as plants not by seed. You should be fine planting all of those that you wish to plant!
Good Luck!!

GardenersCardiff answers:

Target’s dollar section sometimes has gardening tools. T.j. Maxx always has a gardening section with the BEST prices. On Amazon you can get already used stuff in good condition for good prices.

GardenersCardiff answers:

Ames is the best