How to Choose Plants for a Garden

To Choose Plants for a Garden, you have to select the type of gardening you are interested in. After that, Talk to people in your neighborhood who garden successfully. Then, Check the phone book under government services. Next, Go for what you like. Forth, Check for different sizes. After that, Give some thought for the location of your garden. Then, Go to the outdoor or garden section of the local big box store or home improvement center as they usually have a pretty good selection appropriate for your area and the season you find yourself in. Next, Browse around, looking at the labels of plants you may be interested in trying. Forth, choose a few "container started" plants that you want to try, looking for healthy plants with a good plant size to container proportion. After that, Look for seeds, too, if the idea of planting "from scratch" interests you. Then, Plan to start on a small scale, don't fill up a shopping cart the first trip down to the store. Next, Browse the fertilizer area of the store, and check out the soil amendments available. Forth, choose the spot for your garden, keeping it out of the way of frequently used areas of the yard. Using a shovel or garden spade, you need to turn the soil by digging up shovel fulls and breaking the clumps, then dumping it back in the hole. After that, Remove any vegetative matter like roots, branches, leaves, clumps of grass and such that the soil turning has dislodged. Then, Add any soil amendments (compost, etc) and rake them into the top 4 or 5 inches (10.2 or 12.7 cm) of soil. Next, Make rows, usually about 3 feet (0.9 m) apart in your new "garden" and if you are using container grown seedlings, dig holes for each one. Forth, Place your plant in the hole, keeping the bottom of the stem level or slightly lower than the soil around it. After that, Dig rows for seeds if you have bought them. Then, Drop the seeds into this furrow at the spacing recommended on the seed package. Next, Water your new plants or seed beds lightly, and fairly often, depending on existing soil moisture for the first week or two. Forth, Watch your new plants for healthy appearance. After that, Keep an eye out for predators. Then, Keep the ground around your plants clean and free of weeds as much as you are able. Last, Keep some kind of records of your efforts.