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General Gardening: Expert Guides and Resources
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Articles & Books From General Gardening
Step by Step / Updated 06-12-2026
Perennial plant division is a straightforward gardening technique used to keep your garden healthy by splitting overgrown clumps into smaller, vigorous plants. You'll know it's time for dividing perennials when clumps become dense, the interior becomes disappointingly unproductive, and the flower show isn’t as prolific as it was in previous years.
An easy, step-by-step guide to a fun and relaxing form of gardening Interested in exploring gardening but worried you don’t have enough time or space? Concerned that the constant bending and stooping might create a problem for you physically? Then it’s time you discovered raised-bed gardening. In Raised-Bed Gardening For Dummies, experienced gardener and author, Teri Chace, delivers a practical and hands-on guide to a rewarding and physically accessible style of gardening you can get the hang of immediately.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-24-2026
Raised beds make growing healthy, productive plants amazingly easy. That’s because you can fill a bed with an excellent soil mix to create an environment plants relish: warm, nourishing, and well-drained. Installing and using them isn’t difficult and the rewards are great. Here’s a handy reference to keep near as you embark on this exciting new gardening adventure.
Article / Updated 08-03-2023
After you choose a good sunny spot for your vegetable garden and draw a plan on paper, you need to clean up the area so the soil will be easier to work. ©New Africa / Adobe StockYou can clear your garden area any time during the year, but the season before planting works best — clear in the fall for spring planting, or clear in the spring for summer or fall planting.
Article / Updated 04-27-2023
If you're trying to conserve water for your yard and garden, it's worth looking into the various ways you can grab and save this precious resource — thereby not having to turn on the house spigot.Water collection is easy, convenient, affordable … and smart. The two main options are rain barrels and cisterns. You may hear these projects referred to as rainwater harvesting.
Article / Updated 02-09-2023
Water conservation is becoming ever more important in sustaining a healthy planet. Paying attention to your water usage in the garden is one way to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle. You have two primary goals for green watering: Water your garden as infrequently as possible. By using native plants, you can design the sort of garden that can stay green without a lot of water in the first place.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-07-2023
Growing your garden requires the aid and cooperation of many forces including the climate in your hardiness zone; insects, good and bad; fertilizers; and soil amendments.Decorative material (such as mulch, stone, sand, and gravel) adds a nice finish, so know how much you need to buy. Adapting each element to your garden's needs — as best you can — leads to a successful gardening experience.
Article / Updated 12-14-2022
Pacific Northwest, including the milder parts of British Columbia, has a long season from spring through fall. West of the Cascade Range, the lingering cool spring tends to favor cool-season annuals, and the relatively cool summers encourage spectacular displays of annuals. East of the Cascades, where winters are longer and much colder, the annual season is shorter, but the heat and the dry climate are terrific for sun-loving annuals.
Article / Updated 10-18-2022
The Southwest deserts encompass mild-winter climates of the low-elevation deserts of Arizona and California. (The mountains of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as west Texas, have a more typical cold-winter, summer-only season for growing annuals.)Glory time for annuals is late winter and early spring in low-desert Arizona, primarily around Phoenix and Tucson, and California’s Coachella Valley.
Article / Updated 07-28-2022
The best advice for planning your first vegetable garden is to start small. Just be sure you locate your garden in a sunny spot where expansion is possible. As for actual size, it depends on what you want to grow. Here's what you can put in the following standard-size gardens: A 6 x 8 foot plot can support a couple tomato plants, maybe some bush beans, and some lettuce.
