Advice And Tips For The First Time Gardener

A collection of gardening advice/tips for the person who would like to start their first garden.

Find out what your gardening zone is on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Figure out what type of soil you have and buy a soil testing kit and make amendments.

Decide on the type of garden you'd like to start. Maybe a cut flower garden, an herb garden, a vegetable garden? If you can't plant in the ground because you rent- consider container gardening. Just about anything you can grow in the ground you can grow in a container of some kind or another. Maybe some of the recent trends in green living has got you interested in organic gardening and you would like to grow your own food.

Start your garden from seeds using plastic containers like soda bottle to make seed starting greenhouses. If you're interested in hydroponic gardening you can start your garden seeds using plastic baggies, since no soil is involved in the seed germination.

Sit down and plan out your garden taking into consideration plant sizes and the amount of light they need and make a plan of what seeds to plant in what location. If you can't draw you can still design your own garden using something like the Virtual Garden designer from the BBC. It allows you to make a plan of your garden and view it in 3-D. What could be better than a garden design you created yourself?

Going gardening forums like GardenWeb and search the forums for information that you're looking for. Not only are they a great place to learn but you can meet other gardeners who share their tips and gardening ideas and gardening ideas. You can find forums for just about any topic including but not limited to; lasagna gardening, square foot gardening, gardening tools and supplies. Forums like GardenWeb are a great resource for the first time gardener even if you're limited to indoor gardening.

Soon you'll be growing your own food or collecting your own seeds for next year and making gardening gifts for your friends and family.

Brown Tips On Houseplants

If you're finding that the tips of the leaves on your houseplants are turning brown it could be that you're not watering well or the air is too dry. Here's how to check to make sure it's not a watering problem: pick up your plant (where possible) and place your hand on the top of the pot, now turn the plant over so that the soil (and top of the pot) are now resting on your palm. With your free hand lift the pot off and examine the soil. Is it bone dry? Or is it still moist? What do the roots look like?