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How to Harden Off Seedlings
Harden off seedlings to toughen them up for transplanting outdoors. When you harden off vegetable and flower seedlings that began life indoors (thanks to you or a commercial grower), you help the seedlings [more…]
Tips for Filling Garden Pots with Soil
When making a container garden, you fill pots with soil, stick in the plants, and add more soil. Here are some tricks to container gardening outdoors that'll help you grow healthy vegetables and ornamentals [more…]
How to Build a Cold Frame for Your Garden
A cold frame is, essentially, a mini-greenhouse. By growing plants in a cold frame, you can harvest cold-tolerant vegetables year-round, even if you live in zone 5 where winter temperatures can dip as [more…]
How to Start Seeds Indoors
If you have the space for it, you can start your own seeds. Starting seeds indoors is easy and a lot less expensive than buying plants from a nursery. When you start your own seeds, you can grow unusual [more…]
How to Choose Mulch for Your Vegetable Garden
For vegetable gardeners, each type of mulch — organic and inorganic — has a unique purpose. No matter which you choose, however, mulching your vegetable garden has multiple rewards: It suppresses weeds [more…]
How to Transplant Seedlings
After you prepare your garden beds and harden off the seedlings, it's time to transplant your seedlings into the garden. Transplant seedlings on a calm, cloudy day, if possible. Late afternoon is a good [more…]
How to Test Your Soil
To have a successful garden, test your soil and amend it if necessary to create the best possible growing environment for plants. Testing your soil means you determine the pH level and nutrient content [more…]
How to Adjust Soil pH for Your Garden
Most garden soils have a pH between 5.5 and 8.0. This number helps you determine when and how to adjust your garden soil's pH level. If the pH level is below 6, the soil is too acidic, and you need to [more…]
How to Improve Garden Soil with Organic Matter
Organic matter is the key to amending less-than perfect garden soil. To fix mucky clay or sandy sand soil, add plenty of organic matter. You can't change the type of soil you have, but adding organic matter [more…]
Watering Systems for Your Vegetable Garden
You can water your vegetable garden several different ways. Basic watering techniques for vegetable gardens include creating simple furrows and basins. Watering systems involve sprinklers, regular hoses [more…]
Gardening Tips for Conserving Water
Whether you're a novice or experienced gardener, embrace water-conservation methods even if you don't live in a water-restricted area. Conserve water as you garden, and you'll help save this precious resource [more…]
When to Mulch Your Vegetable Garden
Choosing a mulch and deciding when to use it in your vegetable garden depends on the type of vegetables that you grow and when you plant them. Check out these mulching tips for different types of vegetables [more…]
Choosing a Fertilizer for Your Vegetable Garden
As garden vegetables grow, they undergo an intensive process that strips nutrients from the soil. Adding fertilizer keeps soil in optimum shape to feed your garden. Choosing the right type of fertilizer [more…]
How to Side-Dress Your Vegetable Garden
Some garden vegetable plants and soil types require a consistent side-dressing of fertilizer throughout the growing season. To side-dress vegetable plants, you apply fertilizer to the soil on or around [more…]
Garden Stakes, Trellises, and Cages for Your Edible Garden
Staking garden plants, tying them to a trellis, or growing them inside wire cylinders reduces disease problems because it allows for better air circulation and keeps the fruits off the ground where they [more…]
How to Plant Perennials in Spring or Fall
Although you can plant some perennials in your flower garden in the fall, springtime is preferable. All the conditions that perennials relish and respond to are in place: warming soil, warm sunshine, longer [more…]
How to Force Bulbs to Bloom Early
Forcing bulbs merely means encouraging the plants to bloom early by treating them in a special way. Some of the easiest and most popular bulbs to force are [more…]
How to Care for Bulbs
With a little tender, loving care, bulbs can do their thing and be wonderfully reliable. Bulbs come as a package of life — that is, with the embryonic plant and flower within, plus stored food to fuel [more…]
How to Apply Fertilizer to a Vegetable Garden
The method you use to apply fertilizer to your vegetable garden depends on the fertilizer you've chosen, whether it's liquid or granular. If your vegetable garden has fertile soil enhanced by compost and [more…]
How to Create a New Garden Bed
Creating a new garden bed can time consuming, but with good planning and some muscle, it'll be worthwhile. Decide where the garden bed will go and draw a plan on paper. Then, you'll need to clean up the [more…]
Growing Vegetables by Succession Planting and Square-Foot Gardening
Succession planting and square-foot gardening are two gardening methods that help you produce more vegetables no matter how long your growing season is. [more…]
How to Prepare Garden Soil for Planting
The biggest mistake beginning gardeners make is using lousy or too-thin soil. Before planting anything in your yard, prepare your garden beds by digging to loosen the soil and adding organic material! [more…]
Growing Vegetables on Hills, Rows, or Raised Beds
After you determine the best spot for your vegetable garden, sketch a plan and decide the planting method: rows, hills or raised garden beds. These basic garden layouts have different advantages and uses [more…]
How to Support Perennials with Stakes or Rings
Because some perennials are tall, or tall and broad, you can support them with stakes or rings. Using stakes and rings keep perennials manageable, and prevents them from falling under their own weight. [more…]
How to Make Compost
Compost is an essential soil amendment that contributes nutrients and improves soil texture. You can buy it, but making your own compost saves money. The process isn't complicated, and commercial composting [more…]
