help! I don't know how to garden....

Just for a starter, now that it's spring, you could plant some annuals in the flower beds (tear out the weeds and till the soil a bit). Annuals are relatively cheap in flats, they come in all sort of colors and varieties, and are almost guaranteed to grow (with just a little care). Over the summer months, you can think about improving the beds with more varieties, such as small shrubs, perennials, and maybe putting in some bulbs in the fall.

By the way, Southern Living publishes some good books about lawns and gardens in the south.

first, landscaping.
start looking at pictures. look for things you like.
if you are unsure about growing things, go with low maintenance plants such as perrenials (all these plants are going to tell you specifically if they are a full shade, full sun or partial sun/shade) so get things specific to where they would be in your yard.
Typical landscape rule is avoiding straight lines. (curved beds) and plants of the same variety should be in sets of three or five - odd numbers - per bed.
use mulch to keep the weeds down.
go with different sized plants. if you go with something big, make sure you know how big it's going to get and you space it accordingly and make sure you're aware of how much maintenance is involved when it's full size.
before you start planting draw a picture of it. (you can find landscape drawings online to help you)

as for gardening. Start out small. just go with a couple of plants of each thing you want in the garden so you don't overwhelm yourself. If the plants are vine type plants, you'll need cages or stakes and string to keep them up. Keep them watered, pick them when they're ready. The packages of seeds will tell you when to plant each thing, what kinds of things to plant next to it, and how long it takes to yield.
That's all.

Gardening is labor intensive. Pick an area, dig it up, remove everything from the dirt, leaving just the dirt. Then, you can think about planting something.

As to weeds in the lawn, you can start by removing all the visible ones by hand, than using a good fertilizer.

Here: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,218920,00.html

Hit the lottery and hire someone who knows what they're doing

That's my plan, at least.

A good place to start is getting a gardening book for beginners. That way you will learn what tools you may need. If your thinking of growing food stuffs then start with root veg, carrots and that kind of thing as they are not to hard to grow.

Start simple:

Take one flower pot, add some gravel and dirt. Plant the seed, cover with soil and water.
In about 4-6 weeks, transfer flower from pot to soil.

Helps build confidence.

wrangler said:

Start simple:

Take one flower pot, add some gravel and dirt. Plant the seed, cover with soil and water.
In about 4-6 weeks, transfer flower from pot to soil.

Helps build confidence.

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This is exactly how I raised my first child. By the time I got to number three, I was able to skip the pot, entirely.

Stew21 said:

first, landscaping.

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I started to mention this, but then I saw sass had been in her house three years so I thought maybe she already had considered that.

Yes, by all means, if you haven't thought about the overall landscaping picture, do that first. Perhaps create a plan on paper of what you'd like the lawn to look like. There's no reason to spend a lot of time putting in a flower bed only to decide what you really need at that location is a windbreak of pine trees and a flowering dogwood.

So, plan first. Get advice. Learn to accept failure. Try again.

Oh, and grow some tomatoes. ;-)

And another thing--as Trish can certainly tell you--it's very important to always wear very short, very tight white shorts when you're doing your gardening.

and cool off in the hose as frequently as necessary.

robeiae said:

And another thing--as Trish can certainly tell you--it's very important to always wear very short, very tight white shorts when you're doing your gardening.

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I once had a neighbor like that (no joke); I almost ran my mower into a tree one time.

my advice is to save the white tight shorts until after you have finished pulling up the weeds and you have everything (or almost everything) where you want it to be. in the beginning, keep the pants long -the shirts too.

savor the white skimpy tight shorts for that one moment.

Interestingly enough, "tight white shorts" was a very fruitful google image search...





Sorry for the derail, Sass. Back to gardening...

We've got a huge yard/garden that we're starting to reclaim (kinda went by the wayside while my parents were ill). The biggest thing is not to let it overwhelm you. Start with maintenance - get rid of the weeds (digging out in the gardens, weed killer in the lawn) then every day go out and pull whatever has popped up. Gardening is just like housework - do the little stuff as you see it and it doesn't pile up.

Then, as others have said, make a plan. Get basic gardening books or check online - there's a lot of stuff for getting started. Once you have your plan so you know where the gardens will be and where it'll be grass - accept that it probably won't all get done in one year. Take a piece that you really want done first and work on that. Then move on to the next.

Oh, and while you're doing your planning, consider watering systems. The less you have to rely on sprinklers, the lower your water bills will be

Ask OFG. She tried the topsyturvy last year, IIRC.

Tomatoes are fairly easy, if you've got a place for then. You just need to take a precaution again cutworms when you first plant them, then either stake or cage them as they get bigger. You can also buy a type of tomato often called "patio tomatoes" that you can plant in pots. You should go ahead and plant tomatoes now.

Tomatoes are crazy easy - I grow them in a pot on my deck. Only the first year, no one told me you have to pinch off the flowers if you want to control how many tomatoes you get. I couldn't pay people to take them, we had so many.

I planted tulips this year - they bloomed so beautifully for one day. Then something ate them... I started sunflowers in pots and had to chase a squirrel from them this morning (I looked like a lunatic, because I'd just taken my daughter to the bus stop and was coming up the driveway when I saw the little thief, so I took off running, yelling at it. Oy.)

Flowers are fairly easy - I plant some every year. Usually pansies or petunias (which are really low maintenance - just water and deadhead them and you're good to go.) This year, I decided on snapdragons - also low maintenance. Geraniums are easy if you want a few potted plants, like on the front porch or whatever) And flats are very inexpensive, so if they die, you aren't out a fortune.

A garden is labor intensive. When I was a kid, we had one behind our house - grew everything under the sun and it was a LOT of work with the weeding and the watering and the chasing animals away. Ugh. I spent all summer taking care of it. Never. Again.

Jersey Chick said:

A garden is labor intensive. When I was a kid, we had one behind our house - grew everything under the sun and it was a LOT of work with the weeding and the watering and the chasing animals away. Ugh. I spent all summer taking care of it. Never. Again.

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It doesn't have to be, though. I had a vegetable garden (10x25') for several years and only had to plant and harvest. I went the "intensive" gardening route, with an in-ground watering system and mulch. The most work I did during the summer was fill the water barrel if it got too low. The harvest was something else - but that paid off over the winter. Same with flower beds - mulch and hose system. All we do is turn on the tap and dead-head.

I'm a total gardening freak. If anyone wants me to draw up a landscape design, I get giddy doing that. I make low-maintenence gardens, color scheme gardens -- anything, really.

I draw up fantasy designs just for kicks, really

Alabama can be rough with the heat and humidity. There are still all kinds of awesome plants, but many can't take the kind of parboiling y'all (and I) get!

Bulbs--Gardening Preschool!

Bulbs.

They really care for themselves in most temperate climes and soil types (pop off the flowers after they wither so that the plants do not spend calories on useless seed heads), and your neighbors will forgive your ambivalence with everything else when they have little clumps of daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and lilies waving "Hello!"

When you have a chance, check out Fenika's gardening discussion over in the Cooking forum, which you might helpful.

shadowwalker said:

It doesn't have to be, though. I had a vegetable garden (10x25') for several years and only had to plant and harvest. I went the "intensive" gardening route, with an in-ground watering system and mulch. The most work I did during the summer was fill the water barrel if it got too low. The harvest was something else - but that paid off over the winter. Same with flower beds - mulch and hose system. All we do is turn on the tap and dead-head.

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You were lucky... I still have nightmares...

I like my flowers. I know it's spring when I get the mad desire to plant stuff.

This year, I also added herbs. I'm growing basil in a pot on my kitchen windowsill. I loves me some fresh basil...