Gardening guides
Plain, checked guides for your first seasons, plus our watering and garden blogging sections.
- Start a gardenStart your first garden step by step: pick a sunny spot, test and improve the soil, choose easy plants, plant at the right time and water well.
- Start seeds indoorsStart vegetable and flower seeds indoors: when to sow, the right mix, light and warmth, potting up and hardening off, with timing from extension tables.
- Organic gardening basicsOrganic gardening at home: build living soil with compost, test before you feed, mulch, rotate crops, encourage helpful insects and handle pests by hand.
- USDA hardiness zonesWhat USDA hardiness zones mean, how the 2023 map works (10°F zones, 5°F half zones), how to find yours and how to use zones when choosing plants.
- Essential garden toolsThe few garden tools a beginner really needs: trowel, spade, hoe, rake, pruners, hose and watering can, plus how to clean, sharpen and store them.
- Watering and hosesHose sizes, threads, soaker hoses and how long to water.
- Garden bloggingTips for writing and photographing a garden blog.
- Zone tool and planting calendarWhat survives in your zone and when to sow.