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LupinePredator
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Gardening 101 Guide?

Another post/topic that I can't seem to find elsewhere, and hope is okay here.

I am very new to gardening - this summer new, actually. I've managed to kill a few philodendrons in the past, and that's the extent of my experience. (I've been been told it's impossible to kill a philodendron, but I've done it).

I was wondering if some kind soul could point me to a fairly easy to follow guide to the basics for a beginning gardener? I want to grow mostly flowers, in beds alongside my house. Nothing spectacular, but I'd like a pretty and attractive looking display. I need some help in everything, literally.

So, could we possibly see a "Gardening 101" guide for the beginning flower gardener?

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gixxerific
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That is really a hard one. Given that here is a billion things to know abut gardening.

Maybe if you narrowed it down a bit it would be easier to help you. :D

What kind of flowers are you looking for how much space do you have those kinds of things would help.

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hendi_alex
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IMO it would be better to buy a beginner's flower gardening guide, or just google the broader topic. Then as specific questions come to mind, ask those at the appropriate board here at H.G.

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The [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/]main part of the website[/url] has many articles about the different aspects of gardening. [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/search.php]Searching the forum[/url] can also yield many answers to specific issues.
Last edited by webmaster on Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

tylianna
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I was going to reccomend a "Month by Month Guide to Gardening in Vermont" but I guess that book is only available in certain states and Vermont is not one of them. I have that book for Indiana and I love it. Along with my Guide to Vegetable Gardening in Indiana.

I also like the Gardening for Dummies or the Idiots Guide for Gardening. Check them out at your local library. Look for any books that the library has and they will almost always be for your area!

cynthia_h
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I'm here to tell ya that you CAN kill a philodendron. I've done it, too. Back in college. Post-mortem analysis, a few years after the fact, revealed the possibility that it could have succumbed to a disease, but still...a philodendron???

Cynthia H.
who agrees with the recommendation to check out a book--maybe from the local library (doesn't cost $! you get to see which one you like best! :D )

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LupinePredator
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Location: Castleton, Vermont

gixxerific wrote:That is really a hard one. Given that here is a billion things to know abut gardening.

Maybe if you narrowed it down a bit it would be easier to help you. :D

What kind of flowers are you looking for how much space do you have those kinds of things would help.
Well, what kind is a bit iffy - I'm not sure what works well here. I do want tulips, crocus, daffodil - the blub plants. But I'd also like to plant some seed perennials - again, not sure what works best here. I'll need help with sun, sun/shade, and shade plants.

As for space, not much. I did plant tomatoes and peppers this year - I have a small plot that's only big enough for six plants. Other than that, I have a strip down each side and the along the front of the house. This is about six feet deep. Finally, there are five small ornamental trees in the yard (remnants from the last owner) hat I've cleared about a four-foot diameter circle each. Obviously, this will need to have something that thrives in shade.
hendi_alex wrote:IMO it would be better to buy a beginner's flower gardening guide, or just google the broader topic. Then as specific questions come to mind, ask those at the appropriate board here at H.G.
I've done some googling, and that's why I ended up here. I don't get what's being talked about most of the time. The book idea... Isn't it odd? The computer age - I grew up with a book almost literally glued to my hands all the time. I constantly read. Now, well... Not so much. Once in a while, but not often. What a shame...
webmaster wrote:The [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/]main part of the website[/url] has many articles about the different aspects of gardening. [urlhttp://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/search.php]Searching the forum[/url] can also yield many answers to specific issues.
Thanks, I'll check them out.
tylianna wrote:I was going to reccomend a "Month by Month Guide to Gardening in Vermont" but I guess that book is only available in certain states and Vermont is not one of them. I have that book for Indiana and I love it. Along with my Guide to Vegetable Gardening in Indiana.

I also like the Gardening for Dummies or the Idiots Guide for Gardening. Check them out at your local library. Look for any books that the library has and they will almost always be for your area!
Wow - that's interesting. Who, I wonder, is responsible for marketing this book?

My comment above about books still holds, but I do have a library card. I can do that... :D
cynthia_h wrote:I'm here to tell ya that you CAN kill a philodendron. I've done it, too. Back in college. Post-mortem analysis, a few years after the fact, revealed the possibility that it could have succumbed to a disease, but still...a philodendron???

Cynthia H.
who agrees with the recommendation to check out a book--maybe from the local library (doesn't cost $! you get to see which one you like best! :D )
Yeppers, I'll be heading to the library this week - small town, with only part time hours, but I'll get up there.

Yay! Another philodendron killer!! I'm not the only one... :D We have one here that my wife takes care of. Second marriage for both of us. She had it for something like ten years before we married, we've been married for seven years. She hardly ever touches it, but it thrives.

Sometimes I want to hate her... LOL...

Thanks everyone, for taking time to answer me here. I really have felt overwhelmed with all this stuff I need to learn. But I'm excited about it, too. No big discussion about it, but I'm disabled - not anything that keeps me from doing some light gardening, but it does keep me on a disability pension. So I have all this time, and I'm really excited about having something to do with it.

Having a place like this to find help is going to be so awesome.

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rainbowgardener
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For the areas along the sides of the house, you can think about a modified prairie garden/ meadow. Lots of the meadow wildflowers though they are often labelled as full sun, can handle part sun too. This would include things like queen of the prairie, milkweed/ butterfly weed, cardinal flower/ great blue lobelia, beebalm, penstemon, coneflower, black eyed susan, obedient plant, asters and golden rod. Many of these are not hard to start from seed. They are all native plants and attractive to birds, butterflies, etc.

For your under tree areas, you can do beautiful shade gardens with columbine, wild ginger (a nice spreading ground cover, that gives a carpet effect), native ferns, bleeding heart, and spring ephemerals (virginia bluebells, trillium, mayapple, jack in the pulpit, etc).


Two suggestions: get to know a good local nursery where they know what grows well in your area (are you anywhere near this place: https://www.elmoreroots.com ? It looked pretty cool. Their website has a VT native plants list and lots of good info ) and check out the plant database at

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/

It's sponsored by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Ctr at UTx. But it is a searchable database of native plants. You put in your state and the conditions you have (sun, moisture etc) and the type of plant (herbaceous, shrub, tree etc) and it pops up a great list of native plants that would work for your conditions.

Susan W
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As you drive around town, notice others gardens. What is there in sun and shade? And then if the person happens to be outside catch his/her ear. Don't be in a hurry as gardeners love to talk about their gardens!! Check out the local garden centers for hints for your area.

It is going on late for a real season, but you could prepare a couple of small beds and get a few pretties in. Perhaps prepare a bed and put in some annual starts from the garden center. Also your friends and neighbors may get wind of you doing this project and start gifting you stuff. Then watch out! Some of their plants are getting out of control, and need to be given to a good home.

Have fun with this endeavor, and keep us up-to-date.

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LupinePredator
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Location: Castleton, Vermont

Susan & Rainbowgardener, thanks to both for the hints.

Rainbow, do you know, I had to google for Elmore, VT, because Id never heard of it. It's not too far from me - an hour to an hour and a half. It would make a nice day trip.

Susan, I hadn't planned on doing anything this year except prep soil (meaning, get rid of the grass weeds there, edge,, etc. I plan to spend this summer and winter reading and learning. I did put in tomatoes and peppers, but those were bought in flats. Nothing spectacular, just getting my feet wet.

Trust me, I'll be keeping everyone up to date on how this goes.... :D



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