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All contents copyright © 2012 by Gazella D.S. Pistorious. All rights reserved. No part of this document or accompanying files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or otherwise, by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This book is presented to you for informational purposes only and is not a substitution for any professional advice. The contents herein are based on the views and opinions of the author and all associated contributors.

While every effort has been made by the author and all associated contributors to present accurate and up to date information within this document, it is apparent technologies rapidly change. Therefore, the author and all associated contributors reserve the right to update the contents and information provided herein as these changes progress. The author and/or all associated contributors take no responsibility for any errors or omissions if such discrepancies exist within this document.

The author and all other contributors accept no responsibility for any consequential actions taken, whether monetary, legal, or otherwise, by any and all readers of the materials provided. It is the readers sole responsibility to seek professional advice before taking any action on their part.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Locating Your Garden Beds

Flower Beds

Shrubs and Trees

Vegetable Gardens

Container Gardens

Soil Preparation

Compost

Worm Farm

Mulch

Choosing Plants to Attract Birds and Butterflies

Spring Plants

Winter Plants

Growing Organic Vegetables

Spring Vegetables

Summer Vegetables

Fall Vegetables

Winter Vegetables

Companion Planting

Companion Plants to Repel Bugs

Companion Plants to Encourage Crop Growth

Growing Herbs

Preserving Herbs

Container Gardening

Finding Containers

Hanging Gardens

Soil Preparation for Containers

Tending and Care of Container Gardens

Choosing Plants

Conclusion

Introduction

It’s surprising just how many people believe that gardening is hard. They honestly believe it will be time consuming, back-breaking hard work. This just isn’t true. In fact, if you set up your garden correctly in the first place, you should find that it’s a really low-maintenance way to keep your home looking great all year around.

Creating a stunning garden that attracts birds and insects naturally is actually really easy, once you know how. Planting flower beds filled with brightly colored blossoms and flowers is also very easy. Your garden could be attracting wild birds and butterflies with very little effort.

It’s also just as easy to grow your own healthy, organic vegetables, herbs and fruit right in your own yard. Imagine being able to grow enough food for your family from your own garden to reduce your overall grocery shopping bill. What’s more, everything you grow is organic, so you know there are no harsh chemicals in the food you feed your family. Most vegetables are remarkably easy to grow, so it’s very possible for you to do this.

Even if you only have a relatively small area in which to create a garden, it’s still worth doing. Container gardens allow you far more flexibility than growing in garden beds. This is because you can move plants around to suit you, but you can also use them for decorative effect in patios, on balconies, or even just to brighten up a view of a boring brick wall.

The key to these things is all about understanding what works in your garden for your particular area and what doesn’t. Choosing the right plants to complement your yard is a factor you need to consider. Some plants love full sun, while others thrive in semi-shaded areas. Likewise, knowing what seasons are best for planting certain plants and vegetables will help you enormously. Once you know these things, maintaining your garden should be smooth sailing.

The basics of successful gardening won’t take you long to learn. Are you ready to get started?

Let’s get gardening…

Locating Your Garden Beds

The location you choose for your garden beds will make a big difference to your success rates. Some types of gardens are better planted on flat, level ground. Other plants prefer raised garden beds in order to thrive.

The only thing to keep in mind is that a garden bed should not be lower than surrounding yard areas. This can cause problems with drainage, which can affect the health of your plants.

It’s also wise to locate your garden beds away from large trees, if you can. This is because the shade and root systems for larger trees can affect how your other plants grow.

Flower Beds

Flower beds can make any yard look attractive and appealing right away. These should be located in areas of your garden where flowers can get enough sunlight. You should also consider using garden edging to keep lawn areas separate from flower bed areas.

The best part about flower beds is that they can look brilliant even when they’re relatively small compared to the rest of the yard. If you’re particularly creative, you should find it easy to create attractively shaped flower beds that highlight sections of your yard with bursts of vibrant color.

Shrubs and Trees

Shrubs and trees can help to create shade and provide some privacy around your yard. Where possible, try to locate large trees away from the foundations of your home. You may also find that tree roots can damage lawn areas, so locate them where they’re likely to do less damage.

Certain types of shrubs and trees can be excellent for attracting birds and insects into your yard. It’s also possible to create very formal landscaping effects with some types of shrubs and hedging plants.

Vegetable Gardens

The satisfaction of growing your own organic vegetables in your yard just can’t be beaten. Most vegetables love full sunlight, so try to position your vegetable garden somewhere your plants will get lots of sun.

Try to find an area in your yard with level ground. If you need to protect your garden bed from pets or other visitors to your yard, building a raised bed surrounded by timber may be the ideal solution. This should still feature level soil within the raised area.

Ideally, your vegetable garden should also be sheltered from strong winds and frosts.

The direction your garden bed faces should depend on where you live. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, try to make sure your garden bed faces in a south or south easterly direction. This will maximize the amount of sun your vegetables get throughout the day. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, be sure your vegetables have a north or north easterly aspect to maximum exposure to the sun.

Container Gardens

The best part about container gardens is that you can move them around to suit the space you have available. This means you can move them to shelter to protect plants against wind or snow, or move them around to take advantage of sunlight.

Soil Preparation

Regardless of what you intend to plant in your garden, you really need to spend a little time preparing the soil properly. This is the true foundation for any successful garden. It doesn’t take long and it really shouldn’t take you much effort, but it is an important factor in getting the most out of your garden.

Plants need good quality, nutrient-rich soil to thrive. They also need water in order to survive. The key here is to make the soil retain as much moisture as possible without actually drowning the plants.

You can begin by using the soil that’s already in your garden. Even if this is depleted and completely devoid of nutrients, it’s not difficult to replenish this. You can dig through some organic compost and some fertilizer to give the soil the nutrients your plants need.

Try to keep the soil in your gardens level wherever you can. Even in raised garden beds, you want to avoid mounds of soil. Always remember that planting in mounds can mean your soil dries out much faster than level garden beds. You also get far less water efficiency with mounded beds, as the water tends to run off the sides rather than soaking in properly.  If you really want to elevate your garden bed to a higher level than the rest of the yard, a raised garden is fine. Just be sure the soil is level within the bed rather than raised into mounds.

Ideally, you should dig some organic compost into your soil before you plant. This helps to enrich the soil and replenish nutrients. Use a garden fork to dig this through, turning the soil at the same time to aerate it.

Compost

You don’t need to spend money buying compost from the store if you don’t want to. This is especially true when it’s so easy to make your own.

Good quality organic compost does more than just supply your garden with nutrients. It also helps with recycling, so it’s great for the environment, and it saves you money at the same time.

You can easily make your own compost by forming a pile of plant matter and other organic material in one corner of your yard. Place fallen leaves, vegetable peels and scraps, lawn clippings, small twigs, and even shredded newspaper into your pile. Use a garden fork to turn over your pile every few days so that older material is turned to the top and newer material is buried deeper into the middle. This will help speed up the decomposition process.

Cover your compost pile with a tarp to stop it getting too wet when it rains. During summer, you may want to water it down a little before replacing the tarp cover. A little moisture helps to decompose, but too much or not enough will just take longer for everything to decompose properly.

If you have larger twigs or branches, break them up into small pieces. You might want to run them over with the lawn mower to break them down. If you have a wood chipper, use this to create smaller pieces. Then add these to your pile as well.

If you don’t like the idea of an untidy pile in the corner of your yard, you can purchase composting bins. This helps to keep everything in one convenient location and looks a little neater.

Don’t be surprised if your compost pile begins to attract worms and other bugs. These are actually helping the process and they’re completely normal.

Composting is nothing more than the process of decomposition. Out in the forests of the world there’s no one there digging through fertilizer into the soil. Yet, healthy plants grow naturally in these places all the time. This is because the surrounding forest drops leaves and twigs onto the forest floor that eventually decompose to become excellent compost. The soil is provided with nutrients from the trees and surrounding plants on its own.

The same principle holds true for your own garden beds. The more compost you can add to your soil over time, the more fertile it will become. Before planting, dig some compost through the soil to mix it in well. This will improve the condition of your soil and make it easier for your plants to gain the nutrients they need to grow properly.

You don’t have to add all your garden waste to your compost heap if you don’t wish to. If you have some fallen leaves, rake these up and spread them thinly around plants. You can do the same with fresh lawn clippings. Just be sure you spread these thinly around plants so they don’t form a thick clump when it dries out.

Worm Farm

It might sound strange to you if you’ve never seen one before, but a home worm farm is the ideal compost maker for smaller gardens. These are little more than plastic tubs set into several layers. You spread your vegetable scraps or fallen leaves or grass clippings into the plastic tubs and allow the worms to do their job of breaking down the organic matter.

Before long, any organic material you throw into the worm farm becomes luscious, rich compost that your garden will love. Dig your worm castings through your garden beds and you’ll be amazed at how healthy your plants are.

Worms also create liquid as they work to decompose your vegetable scraps. Collect this liquid and dilute it in a watering can with regular water. Sprinkle this over your potted plants or garden beds and you’ll find it’s a very potent fertilizer.

Mulch

Once your soil is prepared, you need to consider what type of mulch you will use. Mulch is necessary in most garden beds as it helps to retain moisture in the soil, but is also ideal for protecting plants against frost in cooler months. Mulch also helps to stop soil erosion and it’s ideal for reducing the number of weeds that come up in your garden. If you really hate pulling weeds, consider adding mulch to your gardens. You’ll be removing one of your least favorite chores.

It’s very possible to buy mulch from nurseries. This is usually made up of bark and wood chips that have been broken down into small pieces. Some nurseries offer a variety of mulch made from different trees or sources. These may end up giving your garden a different visual effect, especially when some are very dark brown, while others are available in natural light timber colors, and even through to reddish tones. For decorative flower beds and border gardens, this can be a lovely feature to highlight the plants you have.

You can also make your own mulch if you prefer. Fallen leaves and small twigs are excellent for this. You can simply spread leaves around the plants in your garden beds in a thin layer and leave them there. Leaves are likely to blow around the yard if it’s too windy, so wet them down with the hose if you wish. They will begin to decompose over time, so they’ll be helping to provide compost for the soil, but they will act as mulch while they’re doing this.

If you have too many fall leaves to put over your garden beds all at once, place them in large plastic bags. Add a little moisture into the bags before you seal them and poke two or three air holes into the bag. This is to allow air to get in to start the decomposition process.

By the time spring comes around, you should have a good amount of leaf mold growing, which makes excellent mulch and also provides the soil with nutrients at the same time.

Branches and larger twigs are also great for mulch. Use a wood chipper or mulcher to break these down into small chips and spread them around on your garden beds.

Choosing Plants to Attract Birds and Butterflies

Many people enjoy watching hummingbirds, butterflies and other wild birds visiting their gardens. Aside from enjoying the natural wildlife, birds and butterflies can also have other benefits for your gardens.

Some people hang bird feeders from trees to help encourage birds to visit. This can be a great way to get birds used to coming to your yard in the first place while you wait for your garden to grow. Birds do tend to return to places where they know they can get food, so this can be a great way to get them into your yard and accustomed to feeding there.

You may also want to provide a bird bath in the garden for them to drink from and bathe in, in the warmer months. Just be sure the bird bath is safe from cats and other predators in the area.

If you want to increase the amount of wild birds and butterflies that visit your garden, you can also plant particular shrubs and trees that are most likely to attract them. Remember, hummingbirds love plants that offer them nectar. Butterflies are very similar with their taste for nectar, but caterpillars tend to prefer different food sources. If you want to attract butterflies and keep them coming back, you may want to consider a mixture of plants that will keep them around your garden for longer.

Spring Plants

During the spring when everything is blooming and blossoming is when you can really notice how many birds and butterflies visit your garden. But if your garden really doesn’t receive its fair share of wild visitors, you can add some plants that will attract more of them.

The Butterfly Plant (asclepias tuberosa) is a type of milkweed and it is ideal for attracting gorgeous monarch butterflies, Tiger Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail butterflies into your yard. While the name indicates that it is a weed, don’t be put off by this. It still has a very attractive yellow bloom that can add visual appeal to any garden. Butterfly Plant is also ideal for butterflies to use as a host for their larvae, so you may find caterpillars around your yard before long that can eventually become even more butterflies.

The Butterfly Bush Shrub (Buddleia) is also ideal for attracting butterflies, but it’s equally good for attracting hummingbirds. Many gardeners shun this shrub, believing it is too invasive and may take over the garden. Yet, cultivar developers have released a type of Butterfly Bush, known as the Blue Chip (Buddleia davidii) that is believed to be non-invasive. This shrub has a purple-pink flower with a hint of blue in the color that butterflies and hummingbirds adore.

Flowering dogwood trees make a lovely landscape feature in their own right. However, they also serve as a brilliant source of caterpillar food. And where there are caterpillars, you’ll get butterflies.

You can plant dark purple Larkspurs (Delphinium) or colorful Hollyhocks around your garden beds to attract hummingbirds. As Hollyhocks tend to grow so tall, they’re ideal plants to use in the back rows of garden beds to provide color or even a border.

Red Columbine perennials are very early bloomers that tend to attract hummingbirds returning from their winter migrations.

If you prefer a border shrub for around the edges of your yard, you might consider a brightly colored Hibiscus shrub (hibiscus syriacus, sometimes called Rose of Sharon). These shrubs are able to grow up to 10’ in height, but they can be pruned to whatever height you prefer without damaging them. The bright blooms are available in white, pink, red or blue and hummingbirds just love these.

Zinnias (zinnia elegans) are lovely plants for any flower bed. Caterpillars love zinnias as a source of food, so you’ll tend to find butterflies hovering around these as they leave their larvae. However, if you want to keep the butterflies around you will need to provide food sources for them too, and not just the caterpillars.

Try planting a mixture of Asters, Violets and Goldenrod in your flowerbeds to really offer butterflies some of their favorite food sources.

Winter Plants

During winter, most trees and shrubs lose their foliage so many species of birds will migrate elsewhere. However, there are some plants you might consider adding to your garden to keep birds visiting throughout the colder months.

Evergreen holly is ideal for this, as it maintains shiny green foliage all year round and produces bright red berries in winter that birds love.

American Cranberry Bush Viburnum produces masses of red berries throughout winter that birds love. In summer, it produces lovely white flowers that attract butterflies beautifully. This shrub tends to be rounded and doesn’t get much taller than about 4’ to 5’ high when fully grown.

Winterberry Holly tends to lose its luscious green leaves through winter, but it replaces them with masses of bright red berries. Many wild birds love these berries and will visit your yard for a quick feast.

Growing Organic Vegetables

Growing your own vegetables allows you to create your own food, which could be handy in reducing your overall grocery bills. It may also encourage your family to experiment with healthy recipes as you grow more varieties of vegetables that need to be eaten or stored.

The very best part about growing your own vegetables from your yard is that you know they’re free of chemicals. You don’t need harsh pesticides or herbicides that are found in many commercially grown vegetables you buy from the store. You simply need to understand how to grow certain vegetables together to encourage growth and discourage bugs and snails from eating them.

You’re also helping the environment and reducing your carbon footprint. Think about this: the more vegetables you grow on your own, the less vegetables you buy from the grocery store. This means you’re not contributing to carbon emissions from trucks brought in to deliver those vegetables.

When you grow your own vegetables, you will find that you end up with an abundance of some things during each season. This can mean experimenting with new recipes to be sure nothing goes to waste, or it might even mean learning new ways to preserve the food you grow. Most vegetables freeze well, so it’s possible to grow enough to last you for the next season or two, if your crop is bountiful enough.

Before you plant anything in your garden, always take the time to prepare your soil properly. Dig through some good compost and turn over the soil to aerate it a couple of days before you’re ready to plant. You should also have some mulch prepared to spread around your vegetable seedlings to help retain moisture, protect young plants, and keep weeds to a minimum.

Spring Vegetables

Spring really is a great time to get your vegetable garden underway. There are so many excellent vegetables that can be sown and even harvested in early spring, so get your crops in as soon as the frosts have ended.

Here are some spring vegetables you might want to grow:

Asparagus

Broad beans

Carrots

Celery

Garlic

Lettuce

Onions

Parsnips

Peas

Potatoes

Radish

Spinach

Squash

Swedes

Turnips

Zucchini

Summer Vegetables

During the heat of summer you do need to be careful that your vegetables are getting adequate water each day. Many of your plants may also need to be protected against getting burned if it gets particularly hot where you live.

Here are some summer vegetables you might want to grow:

Beans (green beans, butter beans)

Beetroot

Capsicum

Celery

Chilies

Cucumber

Lettuce

Onions

Potatoes

Pumpkin

Radish

Rhubarb

Silver Beets

Spring Onion

Squash

Sweet Corn

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Fall Vegetables

There are still so many vegetables that will grow beautifully through most of the fall. Make the most of your garden by choosing varieties that will last up until the first frosts.

Here are some fall vegetables you might want to grow:

Artichoke

Beetroot

Broccoli

Capsicum

Cauliflower

Celery

Chilies

Cucumber

Eggplant

Kale

Onion

Parsnips

Potatoes

Pumpkin

Radish

Rhubarb

Silver beets

Squash

Sweet Corn

Sweet Potatoes

Tomatoes

Turnips

Zucchini

Winter Vegetables

Snow and frost in many areas can make growing some vegetables almost impossible. However, if you really want to make the most of your garden even in the colder months, there are some things you can still grow relatively easily. Always try to ensure that your vegetable garden gets as much sunlight as possible throughout the day.

You also may need to think about ways to protect your vegetables from frost damage. This can be done by using clear plastic and stakes. Your vegetables will still be getting sunlight, but you’ll be keeping frost off them.

Here are some winter vegetables you might want to grow:

Beetroot

Broad beans

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Garlic

Leek

Lettuce

Onion

Peas

Shallots

Spinach

No matter what season it is, you should be able to find some vegetables you can grow in your garden. To make the most of your harvest, work on ways to create easy-freeze recipes or even ways to preserve them so you don’t let any of your garden crops go to waste.

Companion Planting

Many vegetable plants thrive when planted next to other types of plants. Aside from this, if you choose your companion plants correctly, you should find that it can help repel slugs and snails and other bugs and crawlies from destroying your crops.

Wherever possible, try to grow companion plants with your existing crops. This will reduce the need to buy harsh chemicals to keep snails and slugs away from your vegetable garden, so it stays healthy. You’ll also reduce the number of harmful bugs and crawlies eating your crops.

Companion Plants to Repel Bugs

Here is a list of suggested companion plants that can help repel bugs and crawlies from your vegetable crops.

Companion Plants to Encourage Crop Growth

It’s also very possible to use companion plants to help other crops grow better. For example, there are some plants that fix nitrogen into the soil and others that leech nitrogen. Growing these two plants together allows them to assist each other to grow better.

However, there are some plants that will be harmful when grown near to other plants. Here’s a list of companion plants that are helpful to each other and some to avoid planting together.

Growing Herbs

Growing your own herbs can be an excellent accompaniment to growing a healthy vegetable garden. Aside from having an excellent source of fragrant, pungent herbs that can add zing to any recipe, you’ll always know your ingredients are fresh from your own garden.

Planting herbs is all about timing. You need to plant your seeds at the right time of the year to get the best possible harvest from your herb garden.

What’s more, most herbs grow very well in containers. This is excellent if you need to move your plants for protection during winter months, or take them further out into the yard for more sun during summer. Just be sure to monitor the moisture levels in the soil. Containers tend to dry out more quickly, so your plants may need more water during warmer months to keep them healthy.

You may also need to fertilize container-grown herbs occasionally, although most will remain healthy and hardy regardless of the soil conditions for most of the season.

The vast majority of herbs are very easy to grow from seed and many will self-propagate from year to year. This means they’ll create their own seeds and sprout wild again in your garden the following year.

Below are some of the more popular herbs to grow:

Basil

Borage

Chamomile

Chives

Coriander

Dill

Lavender

Lemon Balm

Marjoram

Mint

Oregano

Parsley

Rosemary

Sage

Tarragon

Thyme

Preserving Herbs

If you do tend to grow a lot of herbs throughout the season, don’t let them go to waste. Herbs can be easily preserved so you can use them all year around. Dried herbs don’t always have the same level of pungency as fresh herbs, but at least you know you’ll always have some on hand when you need them.

Besides, when you’ve grown them yourself you know they were fresh when picked and they’re organic, so you know they’re good quality herbs.

Air Dry

Tie small bunches of herbs together and hang them upside down in a dark, warm area. It should take between two and four weeks for your herbs to dry naturally this way. When the leaves are crumbly, store them in air-tight containers or zip-lock bags.

Oven Dry

Cover a baking tray with a cookie sheet and line this with a single layer of herbs. Set the oven to 170°F and bake your herbs for approximately 3-4 hours. You must do this with the oven door open so that moisture can escape. So your herbs don’t burn, stir them around occasionally across the sheet. When they’re dry, store them in air-tight containers.

Microwave Dry

If you really don’t like the idea of spending 3 or 4 hours drying your herbs in the oven, you can use the microwave instead. Place your herbs in a single layer on a paper towel. Cover them with another paper towel and place them in the microwave. Heat them on high for 2 minutes. Turn the towels over and heat again for only 30 seconds. Check how dry your herbs are at this point. If they need more, only heat for short bursts of 20 seconds at a time on high until they are dry and brittle. Store dried herbs in air-tight containers or zip-lock bags until needed.

Paste Storage

Storing excess herbs you’ve grown as a paste can be a great way to store them. They’re easy to use and often taste a little fresher than dried herbs. To do this, simply place your cleaned herbs in a food processor. Add just a little olive oil to the processor and blend it together until if forms a smooth paste. Store the paste in small containers in the freezer until needed. You will need to thaw these out before using them.

Freezer Storage

You can freeze your excess herbs in a couple of different ways. You can simply put washed and dried herbs into air-tight bags, either whole or chopped. Be sure you remove as much of the air from the container or bag as you possibly can.

If you’re likely to use your herbs to flavor your cooking, you might prefer to freeze them into ice cubes. Simply chop your herbs finely and place them into ice cube trays. Cover them with a little water and put into the freezer to store. When they’re frozen, put the cubes into air-tight zip-lock bags or containers until you need them. You can just add a cube or two to your cooking when you need them. Don’t forget to account for the additional liquid in your recipe.

Container Gardening

If you’ve always loved the idea of having a gorgeous flower garden or a productive vegetable garden but you just don’t have the space, there is a solution. Container gardening is a very easy way to create a garden almost anywhere.

Living in a limited space shouldn’t mean you have to go without a garden. Even if your yard is a concrete wasteland, it’s still easy enough to create garden space using containers. You can also mount pots or containers to brick walls to maximize the space you do have available.

Patio gardens and balcony gardens can yield incredible vegetable and herb harvests from containers. You also have plenty of options for creating visually stunning flower gardens in containers to brighten your home and add visual appeal.

The best part about container gardening is that you can easily move plants around to get the best benefits from sunlight or to protect them from wind or snow when needed. You can even take them inside to help them stay healthy if the weather is less than ideal.

Finding Containers

You really don’t need to go out and spend lots of money on containers or pots. In fact, you can use almost anything that is capable of holding soil. Old pots and pans or even broken kettles or buckets work great.

Keep plastic soda bottles and chop the tops off. These make great containers for seedlings. Likewise, any plastic containers you’ve emptied in the kitchen can be put to use in a herb garden.

Just be sure you poke some drainage holes into any container you do decide to use. This stops your plants from drowning and helps to avoid the root systems getting damaged.

Hanging Gardens

If you only have a small patio or balcony and can’t possibly fit any more containers in, you can make the most of the air-space available and create hanging gardens. Pots and containers can also be hung from vertical surfaces, such as brick walls, so you get to maximize the garden space you have available.  You can also install shelves to put pots on if you want to add more levels.

Some plants do very well in hanging containers. For example, strawberries grow beautifully in hanging containers. They have lovely delicate white flowers so they look great and the fruit grows beautifully in pots.

Soil Preparation for Containers

As with any garden, the soil you use needs to be good quality. You can use purchased bags of potting soil from a nursery if you really can’t find any other soil to use. Just be sure you mix through some good quality organic compost before you plant your seeds or seedlings.

Whenever it’s time to pull out dead plants, re-use the old soil you have in pots. Mix this with more compost to rejuvenate and replenish it. This will feed more nutrients into it and your plants will thrive.

Tending and Care of Container Gardens

Always be aware that soil in container gardens is likely to dry out much faster than soil in a garden bed. Drainage holes in containers allow moisture to drain away and the plant will take what moisture it needs to survive.

For this reason, you should always water container plants every day. Ideally, you should water them in the morning. If it’s particularly warm, try to water them later in the day as well.

As your plants begin to grow, be sure to tend them regularly. With flowering plants, pull or cut off dead flower heads or leaves to avoid disease and rot within the containers. Pick any ripe vegetables the moment you can.

Choosing Plants

You may prefer to create a colorful haven of brightly colored plants and flowers within the container garden you have. This lets you add splashes of color and can really help to brighten even the bleakest view from any window.

Of course, you do have the option of growing your favorite vegetables in containers. You can still benefit from a plentiful harvest from container-grown plants. The same is true with herbs, which tend to grow beautifully in window sills or in small pots.

The key to choosing the right plants to suit your own container garden is to consider the time of year those plants are likely to thrive. Then plant your seeds or seedlings accordingly.

Conclusion

Growing a stunning, lush garden that attracts wild birds and butterflies and still creates a beautiful visual appeal doesn’t need to be difficult. Take some time to learn what plants will do well in your local area for your own climate conditions.

When you have a range of plants you want to grow, sit down and work out where each of them will work best for your yard. Trees can help to create a natural boundary for the edges of your property and provide shade for smaller plants. Shrubs can be used to hide various elements or aspects of your home or garden you want to soften or create features for.

Flowers, including bulbs, annuals and perennials can be excellent for creating colorful features within garden beds, around borders or even around taller trees.

Of course, your vegetable garden can also form a stunning feature within any yard. A healthy, bountiful vegetable garden always looks fabulous, especially when you know it’s providing food for you and your family.

No matter how big or small an area you’re working with, it’s always possible to create a garden. Now it’s up to you to make the most of the garden area.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Locating Your Garden Beds

Flower Beds

Shrubs and Trees

Vegetable Gardens

Container Gardens

Soil Preparation

Compost

Worm Farm

Mulch

Choosing Plants to Attract Birds and Butterflies

Spring Plants

Winter Plants

Growing Organic Vegetables

Spring Vegetables

Summer Vegetables

Fall Vegetables

Winter Vegetables

Companion Planting

Companion Plants to Repel Bugs

Companion Plants to Encourage Crop Growth

Growing Herbs

Preserving Herbs

Container Gardening

Finding Containers

Hanging Gardens

Soil Preparation for Containers

Tending and Care of Container Gardens

Choosing Plants

Conclusion

Table of Contents

Introduction

Locating Your Garden Beds

Flower Beds

Shrubs and Trees

Vegetable Gardens

Container Gardens

Soil Preparation

Compost

Worm Farm

Mulch

Choosing Plants to Attract Birds and Butterflies

Spring Plants

Winter Plants

Growing Organic Vegetables

Spring Vegetables

Summer Vegetables

Fall Vegetables

Winter Vegetables

Companion Planting

Companion Plants to Repel Bugs

Companion Plants to Encourage Crop Growth

Growing Herbs

Preserving Herbs

Container Gardening

Finding Containers

Hanging Gardens

Soil Preparation for Containers

Tending and Care of Container Gardens

Choosing Plants

Conclusion