Planting Resources

A Head Start in the Yard & Garden that Busy People Will Love

Time is precious. And when you have little to spare, you may be tempted to jump in and just get ‘er done. We love that and want to help make sure you can do anything you put your mind to with these easy gardening tips.

So here are our 5 Easy Gardening Tips in 5 Minutes:

TIP 1: Walk your yard

Ok, this step takes a little time. But you’ll be glad you did it. Grab your paper, tablet or phone and walk your yard.

Look for and note:  

  • Problem areas and why they bother you
  • Areas that feel like they’re ‘missing something’
  • General size of the space
  • Other plants in the area
  • Exposure (full sun, partial or full shade)
  • Type of groundcover (grass, mulch bed, bare and muddy, etc.)
  • Irrigation in the area (exposed to rain, sprinkler system, etc.)
  • Ideas you’ve seen and liked (someone’s yard, Pinterest, Home Show, etc.)
  • Priorities based on schedule, budget or personal preference

Tip2-Take-a-Picture-of-your-landscapingTIP 2: Take a picture, it lasts longer

Pictures help jog the memory and can come in handy when you’re ready to get started (see #5). Plus, you’ll love the way the Before and After makes you feel later.

TIP 3: Eliminate time wasters

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, right? And yet we plant full shade plants in full sun, ding up the mailbox post every week when we use the edge trimmer and curse our bad luck.

Think ahead before you plant (see #4) and rethink things like ‘stupid grass’—those silly little areas that make it almost impossible to succeed without a lot of time or attention, such as:

  • around your mailbox or utilities
  • in high traffic areas
  • in low lying, extremely wet areas

Consider extending your mulch beds or using groundcover, stone and/or stepping stones in these areas.

TIP 4: Use the tags

This one may the be most important of all. The difference between this season’s success or failure (and failure really is just a trial run at what works best. But it can also be frustrating and expensive and we don’t want that!).

Here it is: buy the right plant for the right place. And there’s no need to let that intimidate you. Thankfully, plants have info and care tags that will tell you virtually everything you need to know, including: 

  • Light exposure
  • Water usage
  • Bloom time
  • Spacing
  • Growth rate
  • Average mature size
  • Cold hardiness
  • Pruning info
  • Fertilization info

Use these tags and the people at the garden center to make it easy on yourself. They’ll answer your questions and arm you with the information you need to succeed in projects big and small.  

TIP 5: See it to believe it

Sometimes you don’t know what you want until you see it. And that’s hard when you may not have any experience with yard and garden projects (it can be hard even when you do). 

Snap some pictures of the area from different angles. Study these photos, print them out and even sketch over them to give you some idea of the possibilities. Walk the garden center and find plants you love and ones that work for your yard and garden.

You can go one step further by bringing your thoughts and photos to the garden center and talking with a professional landscape designer.

Snapshot Gardening services give you one-on-one time with a designer to talk about a small area you need help with. The designer makes recommendations, quick sketches and walks you around to suggest plants and materials that are a perfect fit for you and your DIY project. Find out more about Snapshot Gardening and Onsite Consultations for bigger jobs.